It seems to me that the Mets are in a lot of trouble. I’m not talking about the fact that the Mets are now in 3rd place and are now under .500. I’m talking about the 9 baseball players that are currently on the disabled list or that their salaries equal almost 70 million dollars. The organization itself seems to be in disarray.
The organization from top to bottom seem to be throwing each other under the bus to preserve themselves. Last winter we all know that Manny Ramirez was a free agent. Before it was revealed that Manny used performance enhancing drugs there was a lot of people who wanted Manny to be part of the Mets. Omar Minaya we all know had been trying to get Manny to become a member of this team since he became the general manager. Last year we all found out that the Wilpons were one of the many clients Bernie Madoff cheated out of millions of dollars, but they insisted that Madoff’s lack of a soul had nothing to do with the New York Mets. In January of this year Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said the following regarding Manny Ramirez to Bloomberg.com.
“Mets GM Omar Minaya has not brought the idea to ownership because the baseball staff is not interested in Manny.”
Wilpon not citing a cash flow problem all but threw Omar Minaya and the baseball staff under the bus because as per usual the Wilpon’s refused to admit that there was a problem.
Fast forward to Spring Training and Johan Santana developed some sort of injury in his pitching arm. There was miscommunication from the start on the exact injury and the severity of the injury. Dan Warthen was concerned, the trainers were but Santana went out of his way to tell the press that nothing was wrong when other were saying that there was a problem. Once again there is a lack of communication in this organization.
Santana’s injury was just the start of the Mets feeding misinformation within the organization. The medical staff and Omar told Delgado that his injury was day to day and that he would be in pain throughout the season, but that he would be able to perform. Two weeks later and Delgado is having perhaps season ending surgery on his hip. Jose Reyes goes down next and Jerry Manuel tells us that the training staff has assured him that Reyes is day to day, but Reyes has not played in over month. Last week Carlos Beltran went down and was placed on the disabled list in what is being called a bone bruise on his knee. Omar, Jerry and the training staff insist it is only an injury that would heal in 2 weeks. Beltran has said otherwise, in fact he has gone to Colorado on his own to see one of the best knee surgeons in the country because he believes the injury is worse than what the Mets have told him.
With 3/4 of the core down the Mets are struggling to stay alive in the National League East. Omar refuses to make a deal, he would rather sit and wait for the guys to heal and then try and catch up to the Phillies. Reports came yesterday that veteran Mets players are begging Omar to add some depth to this lineup. The manager also seems to recognize that a bat needs to be added to this team and quick. Jerry in his post game show has all but begged for Omar to add a bat on Sunday night after the Yanks swept the Mets in their home ballpark. Last night in his post game show he said about the under .500 team:
“We’re a below-average team — period”
The manager is lashing out at the GM for not doing enough with the team struggling, the team is under-performing and the Mets seem to be coming apart before our eyes. Departments are not talking to each other and misinformation is being put out into the public and this is causing more harm than good. The organzation as whole is guilty of this from the owners all the way down to the minor leagues. This didn’t get a lot of press but the Mets had 3 minor league players suspended last week for the use of PED’s.
I don’t know when it began or even how it started. Perhaps the collapse, perhaps building Citi Field took too much attention and now the Mets are paying the price, perhaps the Madoff scandal has had more of a negative impact than the Wilpons would like to admit. But something has happened to this organization since the end of 2006, and needs to be fixed and now. Otherwise there will be more times like this coming.
Sad, but true. The Mets need an overhaul from top to bottom.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
ABSOLUTLY RIGHT! THERE IS A “DIRTY LITTLE SECRET” THAT ISN’T MUCH OF A SECRET TO THOSE OF US THAT REMEMBER BACK TO THE INCEPTION OF THE LUXURY TAX PROGRAM BY MLB. BOTH GEORGE STEINBRENNER & FRED WILPON WERE ALLIES, PERHAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TRYING TO DEFEAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS SOCIALIST CONCEPT BY A COMMISSIONER BARELY REMOVED FROM OWNERSHIP OF A POTENTIAL LARGE BENEFICIARY OF THE LUXURY TAX PENALTY SCHEME. AFTER PASSAGE THE ANGRY, DISHEARTENED OPPONENTS VOWED TO MAKE THE TAX IMPOTENT IN 2 DIFFERENT WAYS. GEORGE VOWED TO IGNORE IT & CONTINUE BUSINESS AS USUAL. FRED VOWED TO NEVER PAY A DIME OF IT BY STEADFASTLY RESTRICTING PAYROLL TO BELOW PENALTY LEVEL. THIS IS THE REAL CAUSE FOR NO MANNY, NO HELP. NOT BERNIE MADOFF.
HERE’S THE DEAL: REYES,BELTRAN,DELGADO ARE MIA.
OMAR’S CURRENT PAYROLL OF $149M IS 12M UNDER THE LUXURY LINE. THIS BUFFER WAS LEFT, MOST LIKELY TO SUPPLEMENYT THE ROTATION WITH A STRONG #2 SP. STAYING WITHIN 12M WILL SUPPLY 1 BAT AND WILL COST THE MAJORITY OF HIGHER DEVELOPED PROSPECTS IN OUR BELEAGUERED FRANCHISE (F-MART,PARNELL,NEISE,HOLT,GEE,MURPHY,EVANS) AND 1 BAT IS UNLIKELY TO “FIX” ANYTHING. WITH ONE SHOT AT ADDING TO THE ROSTER. WHO DO YOU ADD? NOT HOLIDAY(’09 SALARY = 13.5M) DUNN & HUFF ARE BOTH @ 8M. LACK OF PROSPECTS GOES WAY BACK TO PHILLIPS’ REGIME. UNWILLINGNESS TO ASSUME ANY $ALARY NEGATED DUQUETTE’S ABILITY TO RESTOCK WITH TOP PROSPECTS WHEN CLEANING HOUSE OF AGED VETS,(VENTURA,ZEILLE,BURNITZ,BENITEZ,ALOU).SIGNING FREE AGENTS, PEDRO,BELTRAN,WAGNER,K-ROD COSTS FIRST OR SECOND ROUND PICKS,NYY & BOSOX ARE IGNORING COMMISSIONER’S RECOMMENDATION NOT TO PAY FIRST ROUND LEVEL BONUSES TO DRAFT PICKS CHOSEN LATER, FRED INSISTS ON FOLLOWING SLOTTING GUIDELINES, NO THE PROBLEM IS NOT NEW & NOT OMAR; BUT WHY IS THERE NO DISCLOSURE OR EXPOSE’ FROM JOURNALISTIC DETRACTORS? JUST YESTERDAY I CASTIHGATED JOHN HARPER(NY DAILY SNOOZE) & KEVIN KEARNAN (NY JOKE)FOR JUST THIS OMISSION OF FACT.
NO PROBLEM IF YOU’RE DISGUSTED WITH THE PROBLEMS; BUT AT LEAST FIND THE RIGHT TARGETS BEFORE YOU ‘FIRE!”. DON’T FORGET JEFF’S PERSONAL HIRING OF PETERSON AS THE FRANCHISE’S “PITCHING CZAR” RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL DECISIONS RE. PITCHING INCL ALL MILB COACHES & ENTIRE PITCHING ROSTER OF MINORS & MAJORS. MOST OF U CASTIGATE OMAr for PERCEIVED ‘BAD’ DEALS. VERY FEW OF YOU SITE DEALS OF POSITION PLAYERS, MOST INVOLVE PITCHING RELATED DEPARTURES OF KAZMIR,LINDSTRUM,BELL,OWENS,RING,BANNISTER, ETC. WHAT DO ALL THESE NAMES HAVE IN COMMON OTHER THAN PITCHING?? THEY WERE ALL RELUCTANT TO BE MOLDED INTO THE PETERSON MODEL PITCHING STYLE. VOILA! PERHAPS THE TRUE ANSWER WHY HE ACCOMPANIED WILLIE OUT THE DOOR.
It’s amazing that the Cardinals can get a guy like DeRosa, and we sit by and watch it happen. This team is a joke right now…with the medical staff leading the way. Time and again they tell us day to day and invariabley the result is 2-4 weeks on the DL. Omar, are these your guys as well?
Completely right. I don’t have a lot of confidence that many of the injured will actually make it back this year. Looks like Ollie is the closest if he can keep his mind together when he finally tackles a start in Citifield.
Omar and Jerry made a “deal with the devil” in the off-season to feature Dan Murphy as the solution for LF. Rather than bid for Dunn, Abreu, or Ibanez, Omar convinced Jerry to put his chips on Murphy. Jerry bought off on that and together they hyped Murphy to the moon. That strategy has been proved to be riduculous as transition to the OF is no simple thing in the Majors (just ask Todd Hundley for example). That is also true of 1B (just ask Mike Piazza for example). Murphy needed to learn those positions in the Minors. Instead the weight of LF was placed on his shoulders and he failed after being set up by his mgmt. Now the bloom is off the Omar/Jerry partnership and Jerry is beginning to throw Omar under the bus. The problem for Jerry is that Omar is his boss. Omar’s 1st move may just be to put a new Mgr in place. He may opt to play the injury ticket for his own survival, but toss Jerry onto the scrap heap to save himself. It will be interesting to see how this plays out while the team continues to flounder.
Everything is a mess.now is the time to slow down.Minaya has got to go.The guy signed all these AAA players(pena,brown and so on)for what,then he releases them.What is he and Manuel doing with the young guys ??With all these injuries why are Evans,Murphy,and Martinez not starting everygame.We win or lose atleast they get valuable playing time.Im sick and tired of watching Tatis playing over the kids.Look at all the players the Mets could have gotten in the off season.They have no game plan and the team is horrible at situations.Please dont trade any of our young guys for a stop gap.Let the kids play and see what we have till the vets come back.Then in the off-season go and sign our needs.Power power and some reliable starting pitching.Also let the kids in the minors take there time dont push so fast.Holt Mejjia,Owen,Davis.
Steve, how the hell are you gunna mail the season in already when we haven’t even gotten to the halfway mark. Those 3 prospects need to be sent down asap and replaced in a trade. Omar is stupid because if he acquires a matt holiday for example, he will protect wright just like texeira and a-roid feed off eachother. Dont forget how much better we would be afterward when the injured return. Also this would give us a great defensive outfield with holliday church and beltran
Couldn’t agree more Billy
steve – I agree with you – however – Minaya isn’t going anywhere. He’s safe through 2012 thanks to a four year extension he signed. In a way – it’s a good thing – because a GM on a shorter leash would be hard pressed not to make a panic trade or empty our farm system for a quick fix.
Manuel on the other hand has a shorter leash – it’s conceivable he won’t be back next season – they could eat his 1.5 Mil salary in 2010 and go another direction. So Jerry’s motivation is to try to win as many games as he can – with what he has. I don’t agree with playing Tatis as much as he has because frankly he’s been awful – but at least Manuel has done a good job of running F-Mart out there – even though he’s been struggling mightily.
Bottom line is no one could have predicted this many injuries to so many key players to what was a borderline playoff team to begin with. The organization is NOT falling apart – however the team is certainly losing morale – and any change to the mix that’s possible needs to be looked into seriously – as long as it doesn’t involve key prospects.
Who out there is the one or two players that would put this team “over the top”? At what cost would they be available. Sorry but if the Mets had gotten DeRosa, I would not be running around saying WHOOO HOO, NL Pennant here we come!!
As a manager, Jerry’s comments are waaaaay out of line. Jerry needs to motivate this team to win every game, not to cry “we need help”, or “we need to play .500 baseball.” Jerry is a huge part of the problem here.
Manuel is being honest…look at the current roster, if they are able to play .500 baseball he could be up for manager of the year. Church and Tatis have been batting cleanup lately!!!
Best article written on this site in a long time. Thank you.
LGJM!
LGOM!
LGM!
-Bully
Come on lets be honest everyone….how far do they think a C+ team can take us with 85% of the starting line up on the DL????
Great Article cause it is so true, I think this organization is definetly falling apart. Especially Staff and players
Billy all i meant is that id rather lose watching Murphy,Evans,martinez play then watching Tatis play.I agree maybe they should be in the minors.But if they are here they should play everyday.Atleast till some of the regulars come back.Answer me this Billy Dicknose would you rather see Reed playing center over Martinez,and Tatis playing 1st over Murphy or Evans.If thats what you think is best for the future then i cant wait till your a GM.
Yes there are serious injury problems. But it always comes down to pitching. To save this year, we need Perez to come back and pitch well; same with Maine; Pelfrey has to turn it around; Nieve has to prove he’s good. Put Livan in the pen, and get rid of Redding.
I think four of these things have to happen or we’re going nowhere, even if we get bats back.
Paul,
My view is that it’s the bats and the defense that’s the problem. With better defense, the pitching is automatically better. The holes in the field need to be filled one at a time, some by injured players returning, but some also by trade or better prospects playing. No one says Omar’s job is easy, but he has to make headway. If he brings in some bats and the offense is bulked up, the pressure will be off the pitching and they will have a better shot at getting the job done. As far as pitching, Perez will be a big plus if he’s sound, but he’s shown that mental games contribute to his failures; what will turn that around? According to recent reports, Maine may not return this year. Pelfrey absolutely needs to turn it around. Livan, Nieve, and Redding are all key until we come out of this. They have done good jobs or even better than expected given the circumstances. Meanwhile Omar continues to fiddle around while Rome burns to the ground.
Livan in the pen?!?! He has been, without a doubt, the Mets most consistent starter! That includes Santana! These days, you have no idea what Santana is going to give you (either 7 great innings or 7 innings that make the media ask “whats wrong with Johan”), Pelfrey has never been consistent, Nieve had 3 great starts – the only 3 great starts of his 3 year career. As for Livan, you know every game he is going to give the Mets 7 innings and give up 2 or 3 runs per game – look up his last 12 starts. Put Livan in the ‘pen?!?! You are clearly a baseball novice.
Yes, Livan has been one of the few known quantities on the team. This is actually a positive that we can chalk up to Omar.
Livan is a known MEDIOCRE quantity – that’s something to keep in mind. What we’re seeing here is the best that he has left. It’s to be appreciated – but also to be kept in perspective. Don’t make any long term plans that include Livan Hernandez as part of the Mets rotation.
Right now I would be thrilled if the Mets were MEDIOCRE! Because, currently they are AWFUL!
We’re talking about THIS year. Livan has been one of the relatively solid pieces in a dismal year. You can’t get rid of him NOW. Certainly you don’t look for Livan to be solid much beyond this year, so he is not part of the LONG-TERM picture. But he is very much part of this year because given the sad state of the ship, we actually need him NOW.
[...] Merized ed Online – Is the Mets Organization Falling Apart? It seems to me that the Mets are in a lot of trouble. I’m not talking about the fact that the [...]
The Mets just let this thing happen and now look at a bunch of beer leaguers. These players are not major leaguers.
Mets have been slow to react to anything, whether it is miscommunication between the players, the manager, front office, medical staff, or ownership. I have seen some bunk Met teams in my day. I remeber the “worst team money could buy” (which had plenty of stars). I was there in the pre-Cashen days when guys like Pete Falcone & Randy Jones didn’t win and guys like Billy Almon & Mike Cubbage didn’t hit. This particular team was built to succeed now, and has not lived up to the expectations since 2006. Now I understand the injuries, the rookies, and such. What is tripping me out is the inconsistancies. They play awful in the field, they don’t hit well, they don’t do fundamentals well, they seem to get punked by contending teams or rivals, they find ways to lose to terrible teams, and lastly won’t re-load the roster. AAA is a joke, any talent is at the lower levels, and they don’t need to push them along. I don’t understand the plan, the design, the direction that this team is going in at all. If your going to try to hang on until the troops come back…make a move. If you think the seasons a wash say so and play the youngsters. I agree from top to bottom this is a mess. Go Mets 2009!
The Mets are not “falling apart”! Ya, they have some major players with some injuries but they will be fine. They are like any family that has some turmoil, its rough for a while but you get stronger because of it and move on! This is a time when someone other then the STAR players needs to step up and speak out, get the team fired up. The players that are getting to play now should be busting their ass to show they are professional baseball players too. Don’t let the critics bring you down, show them why your a part of the NEW YORK METS! Once the original starters are back in the line-up this is going to be a deep team!! Keep a positive attitude and hope these guys play hard without giving up! Have a heart guys and do the little things to win! Omar, go get a decent starting pitcher and someone that can grind out hits!!! GO METS!!!!
I’ve been saying the team is dysfunctional, and I still don’t think they’ve gotten over not scoring after the Endy Chavez catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, and then the collapse of 2007. but that doesn’t explain the dysfunction off the field (things that you cite in this post).
I agree. Since that moment, they have pulled a 180 in terms of their play. Instead of coming up big in big situations (which they did almost all the time in 2007), they shrink. Over the last two years, I can’t think of how many times I’ve watched them waste opportunities to score runs in late innings, or give up insurance runs late in games. Basically, they can’t/don’t win a game unless they have a 3 run lead after the 7th. They become the antihesis of clutch.
I’m all for allowing the young guys to continue playing, and getting rid of the overpaid “talent”. Its not like the guys on the DL were playing at a much higher level than the AAA team we’re trotting out now. I see no reason to believe that will change once they are all healthy again. Rebuild the farm system and let’s see what we have in 4 or 5 years.
exactly. and every year, it’s been something different about the club. i agree with the rebuilding in 4-5 years, but it’s hard to justify that in a new stadium in NY.
I agree that the medical opinions offered by the mgmt of this team are a joke esp since they have no med exp and can not be guessing that a player will be back whenever. I see the call for a trade but at what cost? A 3 month rental, Holiday, DeRosa, both of whom maybe together could not get us out of the power shortage we are in. Holiday would be lost at Citi and would not return next yr plus if his stats go down cause of Citi then our compensation for him leaving will be nothing. All I am asking from this team is that they play good def, work the counts, run the bases smartly, hit and run, etc. The problem we have is that you have so many vets that are not regulars playing causing defensive problems on ground balls and fly balls. These guys need to be on bench but then who would play. You cannot trade what good gems, Holt, Mejia, Flores, Gee, for a temp solution cause everyone is upset that our team is ravajed by injuries and only think about this season w/o seeing what our future is going to be. We can, next year start bringing up some of those prospect to AAA, get them seasoned and have a good foundation to partner with Reyes, Wright, Beltran, K-Rod, Santana, Pelfrey,etc. This season sucks so far but only 1/2 of the schedule is over and as we have seen in the past, Rockies, Phillies, Dodgers, Cards in 06, you can make a run come August and Sep. Remember the 69 and 73 Mets and how they finished up to take the division and go on to WS! This division, NL East, is bad this year and Phillies, unless they get a top of rotation starter will not break away from pack and Mets. Let’s be upset at the play and miscues but remember how many of you fans out there were ready to deal Beltran 2 years ago and now you see how many hits he prevented while patrolling CF. Minaya could be blamed to a fault but my biggest beef with him and Bernazard is the AAA Bisons. What kind of junk is being sold to those fans in Buffalo, how can you build a winning, sacrifice for the best of the team mentality when you are fielding a team of past their prime players. Imagine coming to wk in Buffalo, Mets youngsters, and you look at the standings, last place. How do you build a winning Minor League organization if you don’t win in Minors? This is why Twins always bring up players with the right attitude and winning attitude that you can just plug into major league team and not miss a beat or have mgr having to continually instruct on basics. Who is doing this for Mets? When was the last time a minor league team for Mets won it all or played in a championship game? This is what prepares you for the big show. If all you did in minors was lose then that is what you expect in majors, IMO. This was a tough game when even the calm Johan was yelling at someone and not too happy with F-Marts fall. Come on he is 20 yrs old and you can play in organized ball for 5 yrs but when you come to majors it is a diff environment and New York is not Buffalo. Wow sorry for going on like this but I think other than the development of prospects in the Mets org, who is setting the winning attitude and the fundamentals that carry over because of repetition to big leagues? Mets are really sorry lacking in this dept. I think a shake up of minor league instructors and bring someone like a Tom Kelley, former Twins mgr, that will instill the right attitude in the up and coming prospects.