Earlier today while I was surfing the net . I came across this nugget by Ian Begley of ESPN New York in which he reports that Omar Minaya – our former general manager told him that he plans to sit down with GM Sandy Alderson after the holidays to discuss a potential return to the Mets in a new role . Minaya goes on to say that he has offers on the table, one from Kevin Towers, the new General Manger the Diamondbacks.
Look I hold no ill will towards Omar. He did take this team from laughing-stock status in ’04 and had a team that should have in the least been in the World Series. But it were the moves that Omar made after that that led to his demise. Signing aging players to expensive long term contracts ( Luis Castillo, Moises Alou), and caving in to sign Oliver Perez to a three year thirty-six million dollar contract after the pitching market dropped out from under his feet ( remember Derek Lowe ?)
I think if Alderson were to hire Minaya it would be perceived by both the press as well as the fan base as a misstep. The Mets still owe Minaya roughly two million dollars on his contract, and I could see Fred and Jeff Wilpon wanting to keep Omar on to reward him for his loyalty to the organization. Omar’s strengths has always lied within the ranks of international scouting. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t think he could be a asset to the Mets in that capacity.
But with that said, I think that the wounds are still fresh between the fan base and Omar. I think it would be seen as a ” same old Mets ” type of move. So I say that the relationship should be severed. If Minaya has offers from other teams let him accept one.
The Mets are entering a brave new world in which smart choices will be the norm and knee jerk acquisitions will be a thing of the past ( hopefully). I just think we should look back with fondness of Omar’s first two years here with reverence and try to forget his last three years where he was reduced to a punchline.
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!
Mets alumni celebrating birthdays today are:
Spot starter/ middle reliever from the ’98 team, Willie Blair is 45 (1965) .
New York Mets signed free agent outfielder/first baseman, Joe Orsulak on December 18, 1992. Orsulak was one of the better players the Mets had from ’92-’95. He was a fan favorite.
New York Mets signed free agent spot starter/middle reliever, Brian Bohanon on December 18, 1996.
New York Mets traded minor league outfielder, Fletcher Bates and minor league pitcher Scott Comer to the Florida Marlins for middle reliever, Dennis Cook on December 18, 1997. Cook was a welcome addition to the Mets bullpen which at the time included Turk Wendell, John Franco and Armando Benitez.
Pittsburgh Pirates signed outfielder, Steve Bieser of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 18, 1997.
Colorado Rockies signed utility man, Jim Tatum of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 18, 1998.
New York Mets signed free agent center fielder, Mike Cameron of the Seattle Mariners on December 18, 2003. I was not a big fan of this signing. I had felt that the Mets decided to go with Cameron, a relatively inexpensive outfielder because they didn’t want to at the time break the 100 million dollar level when it came to payroll.
New York Mets signed free agent middle reliever, Matt Wise of the Milwaukee Brewers on December 18, 2007. Matt Wise was the precursor to Sean Green – a ineffective middle reliever who got injured early and was unceremoniously dumped when his contract expired.
And while you are watching college football and waiting for the Mets to acquire starting pitching, just remember – there are just 104 days until the Mets open the 2011 season against the Florida Marlins in Miami and 111 days until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
Mo Vaughns favorite movie – Eating Raoul !!
14 comments
TRS86
12/18/2010-3:04pm at 3:04 pm (UTC -4)
Honestly as long as he has Sandy and others that he has to report to and we never really hear from him (as you would not normally hear from a international scout) then I can’t see how it hurts.
rustyjr
12/18/2010-3:14pm at 3:14 pm (UTC -4)
Public perception – kinda like if isaiah Thomas came back to the Knicks as a scout
TRS86
12/18/2010-3:38pm at 3:38 pm (UTC -4)
Oh I get it but I don’t think it’s the same. So many jobs on the MLB level that no one hears or knows anything about. If Sandy decides he is the best fit he can’t really screw anything up.
rustyjr
12/18/2010-3:47pm at 3:47 pm (UTC -4)
Never under estimate the venom of a mets fan lol
oleosmirf
12/18/2010-4:36pm at 4:36 pm (UTC -4)
Omar does a fantastic job of acquiring young Latin teenagers. I would 100% support keeping him in a role where he can specialize in that aspect and that aspect alone. I look at guys like F-Mart, Mejia, Tejada, Puello, Aderlin Rodriguez, Urbina, Armando Rodriguez, Gilbert Gomez, Marte, Familia, Yohan Almonte that Omar brought in that rank highly in the Mets system.
I cant think of anyone more qualified than Omar for that role…
hazmet
12/18/2010-5:26pm at 5:26 pm (UTC -4)
And other great latino picks from Omar like:
Pelfrey, Niese, Gee, Thole, Davis, Murphy, Duda, Capt. Kirk, Vaughan, Parnell, Havens, and others. One of the great myths is Omar leaning towards latino players and only being able to associate better with the latino player, and thereby only getting the rare latino talent find. Fact is, he has an eye for talent regardless of cultural background. The irony is alot of the hope for our future will be built on the draft’s and young talent from the Minaya regime. Like any draft some will pan out and some won’t but also considering the budget perspective for adhering to the slotting system they held during his tenure it’s impressive the list of youngsters he was able to accumulate. Sandy actually would be wise to keep Omar around in a uberscouting capacity since he’s getting paid anyway and it would be fair and fitting to see him around as some of these guys continue to pan out. Try to fade him into the background and be like a Gene Michaels role in the system and let his rep rebuild as his draftees mature and produce.
oleosmirf
12/18/2010-6:04pm at 6:04 pm (UTC -4)
i was not implying the Omar only likes Latin players theory, i was simply referring to international free agents (you can include Takahashi and Igarashi in there as well if you must). The Mets under Omar did a better job than most teams in regards to international signings.
It is NOT a myth that Omar did a pretty bad job at drafting. Yes a few players we drafted have done well but the Mets drafting has been horrible in comparison to the other teams in baseball.
metsfan4decades
12/18/2010-5:19pm at 5:19 pm (UTC -4)
My question is, why would Omar want to come back right now? Wouldn’t that kind of be considered a demotion for him? ‘Relieved’ as GM but we’ll let you be head of international scouting/signings or some such role.
That being said, I don’t have that much of a heartache with Omar in that type of role – as long as it’s one suited to his strengths – which that area is.
oleosmirf
12/18/2010-5:21pm at 5:21 pm (UTC -4)
well he has a wife and kids and a house in the area. not having to relocate right now might be an added bonus…
hazmet
12/18/2010-5:29pm at 5:29 pm (UTC -4)
Would you rather be an underling in AZ or NYC? At least NYC you have roots and cache of the big city. AZ’s nice but it is not NYC.
rustyjr
12/18/2010-5:30pm at 5:30 pm (UTC -4)
yeah but you know the fan base will say the wilpon’s made sandy hire him
hazmet
12/18/2010-5:35pm at 5:35 pm (UTC -4)
I think Sandy doesn’t care about the chatter of the fan base as he’s got the bigger picture in mind so I don’t believe that would be a factor. If he was thinking that way we’d be talking about him annointing Backman as the Manager and not Collins. If he doesn’t keep Omar around I think it would be more because DePodesta and Ricciardi don’t want him in the mix as a collective decision with Sandy instead of concerns about what the fanbase would think.
oleosmirf
12/18/2010-5:54pm at 5:54 pm (UTC -4)
I dont think that is an issue at all. the knowledgable Met fan knows that Omar wasn’t all bad and that with Sandy at the helm, the bad contracts wont happen.
Omar is good at finding players in latin america and off the scrap heap, the latter of which we could definitely use this season.
rustyjr
12/18/2010-6:03pm at 6:03 pm (UTC -4)
Oh I agree – I just feel it’s time for both to part ways for now