Say what you will about Mets ownership, but one thing they have shown is that they are 100% loyal to G.M. Omar Minaya. Since Carlos Beltran (remember him), was caught looking to end the 2006 playoff run for the Mets, the team has been in a state of steady decline.
The Collapse of 2007 is still an open wound to me. The fact that the Mets rolled over and played dead during September was and is inexcusable. During the final weeks of the season, it seemed like the Mets were playing the Nationals almost everyday, and losing to the Nationals almost everyday. It was the Nats for God’s sake not the 1927 New York Yankees. When the season ended I expected changes. At minimum I expect manager Willie Randolph to be fired. Instead of a new manager, and an overhauled bullpen, we got a full page apology in the newspaper! The age of Zero Accountability had begun.
In fairness to Omar, he did make a big change by bringing Johan Santana here. But that changed didn’t happen until February 2008.
When last season begun it was apparent the Mets were still hung-over from the 2207 collapse. The same cancerous stale air that was in the clubhouse in 2007 was there in 2008. It was also obvious that this team for whatever reasons was not playing for Willie Randolph. Omar waited, and waited to fire Randolph, but finally it happened. Omar would have you believe he was loyal to Randolph and that’s why he waited so long to fire him.
When Wagner and Maine both went down last season, Omar did nothing to help the club. No deals were made, the framework for Collapse 2008, the sequel were in place.
As a reward for seeing the Mets collapse in both 2007 and 2008, the Wilpons granted Omar a three extension! The Wilpons have bought into this notion of zero accountabily. For whatever the reason the Wilpons are blindly loyal to Omar, the snake oil salesman, the teflon G.M.
This week we have two very disturbing stories about Omar’s main guy Tony Bernazard. Its safe to say this guy at the very least has some anger management issues. Its also safe to say this guy has to be one of the most stupid guys in organized baseball. An unwritten rule here Tony, don’t do anything to embarrass ownership. As if cursing and screaming about the Diamondbacks scouts being in his seats wasn’t bad enough, we now here the kook challenged a bunch od AA ballplayers to a fight! Lets see middle aged guy against 18-19 year old guys. If the B-Mets did fight Tony, they’d would have killed the guy. At least the kids showed some common sense.
So this story breaks, and what do we get from Omar: “We take these charges very seriously, and we are investigating them.” I heard Omar’s meeting with the press on WFAN yesterday, and was embarrassed by his response. You would think Omar would have someone on his staff to write something for him. This is the NY Mets, playing in the largest media market in the world. The G.M. comes off sounding like a clueless thug. But lets face it, Tony is Omar’s guy. Omar is loyal to Tony, so Tony will be here a while.
The silence coming from ownership is deafening. The Wilpons are letting Omar run the baseball operation. Why not, Omar has made lots of money for the Wilpons. Even though 2007 & 2008 were disasters, the Mets drew good crowds. As long as the Wilpons are making money why should they change anything? I don’t want to hear about how Bernie Madoff ripped off the Wilpons. I’ll just say this, I wish I had $50 million to lose.
Fred Wilpon is a smart guy. Fred never said he wants the Mets to win championships. Fred said he wants the Mets to play “meaningful September baseball.” Which for the past three years they’ve done. But what happens this year, when the Mets are 15 games back come Labor Day? When we see the has beens and future stars on the field. Will the fans go out to Dodgertown, oops I mean CitiField to watch this team. There will be no meaningful September baseball this year. At that point will the Wilpons isssue another full page apology, or will they wake up and fire the G.M.?
Simply no excuses from Mets Management. Mets fans has turn on them since the start of the season.
I find it so difficult listening to Omar speak because he can’t. He hardly ever completes a thought, let alone a sentence, before jumping to a new topic. His grammar and diction suffer.
And all of the above would be music to my ears if the organization was tight and our team achieved anything near its capability. But the past two and-a-half years we have been made to suffer an organization that is deficiant at every level and an embarrassment in the major leagues.
The Wilpons extending a contract extention to Omar is about as sound as Omar extending a four-year contract to Luis Castillo when Orlando Hudson and Freddy Sanchez were emerging as free agent candidates. Had Omar been a little more patient and used a little more forethought in constructing his roster, we wouldn’t endure a roster that has produced a total of four (4) homeruns in the entire month of July 2009.
I feel helpless because I know I could do a much better job in much better style.
There, I SAID IT!!!
the problem I have with Omar is this, OK after the 07 open wound we definiately needed a starting pitcher, he did a good thing, he went out and got the best in Johan, but that was it, he banks the entire 08 season on a guy who can help you win a game every 5 days. Would it have been a smarter move to maybe not go after the best available and maybe get the second, third and possible fouth best available? My point it Omar makes a great sign and then trys to ride that one or sometimes two great moves through the season. Also he expects guys who put up great comeback seasons to repeat it the next year or two, aka Tatis. Omar seems content with beating the yankees to the back page of the sports section once or twice in the off season, but when the regular season rolls around all hes doing is watching the Yankees on the back page. Though sometimes they do use those same back pages to take jabs at the Mets.
I was a supporter of Omar, but I think his time has come. We need someone with a new freah look on the game, someone like Theo Epstein. Until we do some major reorganizing this team is desting for nothing but pissing us all off. I am a loyal Mets fan dating back to the early 70′s, this maybe the most dissappointing era ever. So much talent yet no heart what so ever. As far as Im concerned this off season no one is untouchable, and in the coming weeks the Mets should become serious sellers. This is truely a team that needs to rebuild, after the 06 season I thought we were right there, right about to start a Braves like charge to control the east. I was wrong.
While the Mets are cleaning house how about they hire some better scouts, the ones they have seem to suck.
I hate to dump on the team while there down, but I am frustrated watching this team “play” baseball.
Fire Omar chants should begin when the Mets come home next week at Citi Field. Spread the word to say Fire Omar to your fellow Mets fans.
So is it my imagination or does our illustrious GM have something against Players born and raised on North America? Roy Halladay is sort of available but the Phillies will get him. Matt Holliday was available but the Cards got him and then there is La Roche to the BO SOX. It seems like Omar is either the most pridefull and yet poor judge of talent in the history of the Mets or he is only will to look at players who have Spanish as a first language. Thank god we were lucky enough to get David Wright by some miracle. HELLOOOOOO WE NEED PITCHERS AND BATS!!! Does it take a genius to get that????? Trade our non-producing underclassment give us a chance to move forward. Maybe the Mets ownership is telling Omar to write off this season. If that is the case could they PLEASE share their wisdom with their, once again, ashamed fans. Someone explain how the heck we lose 2 of 3 to the NATS!!!!! Maybe their GM is better than ours cause we know our manager is better than our record show.
This is a poorly written article.