This is a story making the rounds on the web the last 2 days and it has really started to pick up steam. According to ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon is the real general manager for the New York Mets and Omar Minaya is just a puppet, designed to take the heat when seasons like 2009 occur.
Gammon was on Michael Kay’s radio show yesterday and Kay asked Gammon’s about Omar hiring hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, with whom he has a strong friendship with, Gammon responded to Michael Kay by saying:
“But, Omar isn’t the General Manager, Jeff Wilpon is.”
This is an interesting story, there have been some rumblings that Omar would no longer be employed the Mets right now if it wasn’t for his contract, a contract that is valued at 3.3 million dollars, which is more than some utility guys make.
The news broke last night that the Mets were not going to hire Rudy Jaramillo, the Mets will be sticking with Howard Johnson as their hitting coach for the 2010 season. There is no secret that Omar enjoys hiring his friends and Omar and Jaramillo have a long friendship as Jaramillo was Omar’s manager in the minor leagues and there is no secret that Jeff Wilpon and his father are big fans of Howard Johnson.
When Omar took the job of GM is was under the condition of 100% autonomy on baseball activities, including the hiring and firing of coaches. Now there is no word that Omar campaigned for Jaramillo but given his track record of hiring those close to him, one has to believe he would try to hire his long time friend.
If Jeff Wilpon is really pulling the strings and acting as the GM we are in more trouble than I thought. The Wilpons have shown that they are not great baseball people. Nelson Doubleday, former owner of the Mets and former partner with the Wilpons had this to say in 2003 to the Star Ledger:
“Mr. Jeff Wilpon has decided that he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year… Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail… Jeff sits there by himself like he’s King Tut waiting for his camel.”
Drama never seems to be too far behind the Mets, hopefully this is just Gammons trying to make a radio appearance more interesting.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I don’t think that this is hogwash. All along I have suspected that Jeff is tainting the decisions made in this organization. Omar can’t be that bad a judge of talent?
Jeff’s the real GM.
So on the bright side, Omar’s off the hook…or maybe not.
Either way, it sucks.
Sorry, but I cannot believe that Jeff loved Ollie and Omar did not. That the Valdez’s and Hernandezes and Ramon Martinezes and Figueroas and Tatises are personal favorites of Jeff. Omar assembled the crap we have on our 40 man. I know he does not have complete autonomy because there is no such thing, but i’ll be damned if I start believing Omar has NOTHING to do with this debacle, especially from Peter Gammons.,
Jdon, I think your are right about the way it USED to be. Omar put together this beast and brought it to its knees. Because of that, he is a smidgeon away from getting fired. I interpret Gammons’ statement to mean that Jeff Wilpon is just as fed up with Omar as the rest of us and has taken Omar’s discretion away. That puts Jeff more squarely in the driver’s seat NOW. Unfortunately, that is not a good fix, because Jeff is not qualified to take on that responsibility and judgement. The better solution would have been to fire Omar and get a real GM. Jeff just needs to learn this system will not work either and he will have to get down to real business once some more errors take place. Unfortunately, it seems we have to get worse before we can get better.
JDON & MASK, WHERE DID U HEAR OF THIS FIRST? MASK, THERE WAS NEVER A “USED” TO BE. JEFF IN CONTROL OF STRINGS HAS BEEN THE WAY IT WAS SINCE PHILLIPS’ FIRING. JEFF HIRED A SEPARATE “PITCHING GM” TO REPORT DIRECTLY TO HIM, NOT GM. JEFF ORDERED DUQUETTE TO DEAL KAZMIR FOR ZAMBRANO AT PITCHING GM’S SUGGESTION, LOOK IT UP. JEFF ORDERED DUQUETTE TO UNLOAD ALL OF THE UNPRODUCTIVE VETS BROUGHT ON BOARD BY PHILLIPS(ALOMAR,BENITEZ,BURNITZ,VENTURA,ZEILLE) WHEN DUQUETTE INFORMED JEFF THE QUALITY OF RETURNED PROSPECTS WOULD INCREASE IF METS OFERED TO INCLUDE CASH. JEFF REFUSED RESULTING IN ALL THAT WAAS RECEIVED OF VALUE WAS ROYCE RING IN THE ALOMAR DEAL; BUT ONLY IF WE ACCEPTED A SORE ARMED PITCHER AS WELL. IF THAT’S NOT PROOF OF WHO’S CONDUCTING THIS CACOPHONOUS SYMPHONY DO U REMEMBER THE SCANDAL SURROUNDING VET PITCHERS LIEITER,GLAVINE,FRANCO HAVING TOO MUCH INFLUENCE? REMEMBER WHERE THEY WERE MEETING? TRY JEFF’S FOR SUNDAY BBQ. DOES ANYONE BELIEVE IT WAS ACTUALLY OMAR’S IDEA TO FIRE WILLIE? DID HE REALLY PREFER A TURNAROUND BICOASTAL R/T BECAUSE HE LOVES SPENDING 7 HOURS ON AIRPLANES TO DO WHAT HE COULD’VE DONE ON THE TEAM BUS TO THE AIRPORT? DOESN’T ANYONE RECALL HOW JEFF ADMITTED TO AVID WFAN LISTENING AS A BAROMETER FOR HIS CHANGES? NO, THE TRUTH, SADLY IS FRED SAW THE OUTCRY & MESS CREATED WHEN DUQUETTE WAS THE PUPPET & KNEW HE NEEDED A STRONGER WILLED GM THAT WOULD BALANCE THE IMPETUOSITY OF HIS IDIOT SON ENABLING FRED TO BE FINAL ARBITER AS, I BELIEVE, WE SAW RE. WILLIE. OMAR STAVED OFF JEFF’S IRE UNTIL WILLIE SCREWED THE POOCH WITH THAT “RACIALLY MOTIVATED” INFERENCE. SADLY, NEPOTISM HAS BEEN THE DOWNFALL OF MORE POWERFUL ENTITIES THAN NYM & LOOKS TO DO THE SAME IN FLUSHING.
62, Of course it’s the top of the organization that sets policy. That’s the way it is in all organizations. However, Gammons threw new info into the ring for the benefit of the casual fan. The more active fan has a bit more insight into what Gamons is saying. For me, and it’s just my view, it signals and strengthens the case that Omar has weakened in position. Now he is not just getting policy from above and having to implement it, but the very direct daily activity of a GM has been taken away and he is now a true figurehead. That’s not to say that Jeff hasn’t been the Puppetmaster and Omar the Puppet all along. It’s just that the strings have been set a bit closer on minute control over the Puppet’s activity. All it tells me is that the reins are tighter on Omar and although he is being continued, that can be qualified as FOR NOW. That can change at a moment’s notice and I still have high hopes that Omar will get cannned before we get very far into offseason deals.
That’s just my opinion. I don’t want to get into a pee’ing fight over it. So let it lie. You can defend Omar and say it is isn’t so, but don’t tell me I cant have my own opinion.
JDON, CAN U FINALLY ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE BEST PLAYERS FOR SOME TIME HAVE HAD HISPANIC LAST NAMES SUCH AS RODRIQUEZ,PUJOLS,RAMIREZ,ORTIZ,
HERNANDEZ,MARTINEZ,SANTANA,ETC. BTW, WHAT’S THE NAME OF THE BOSTON,YANKEES,ANGELS,PHILLIES FOURTH SS? NAME ANY ONE OF THEM. HOW ABOUT THEIR THIRD CFers NAME OR 6,7,8,9,10,11,12th STARTING PITCHER? DON’T KNOW ANY? WE ALL NOW KNOW THOSE NAMES ON THE METS & BTW NONE WERE NAMED LIMA & NONE CAME FROM THE MLB RETIREMENT HOME. CERTAINLY WE WERE OUT-TALENTED THIS PAST SEASON; BUT SUPRISINGLY RARELY OUT-HEARTED. NOT ONCE DID THE METS HAVE TO TOUCH THEIR TOES TO GET A REPLACEMENT OFF OF ANOTHER FRANCHISE THIS YR. CERTAINLY WE HAD TO ACQUIRE 2 SS OPTIONS IN A-HERN & ALVAREZ; BUT AT REASONABLE COST ON BOTH. EVERYONE REMEMBERS THE SO-CALLED SCREWUPS LIKE SIGNING PEREZ; BUT WERE WOLF & GARLAND GUARANTEED BETTER OPTIONS? WAS LOWE REALLY WORTH M O R E THAN 4/60? NO. BTW RUMORS ARE ATL IS SHOPPING LOWE AS I TYPE THIS. WONDER WHY? NO THE METS AREN’T PERFECT, FAR FROM IT, NEITHER IS OMAR; BUT I’M GLAD THEY AT LEAST TRY TO GIVE US A WINNER. REMEMBER THIS: SINCE BUYING THE TEAM OUTRIGHT THE WILPONS RECORD IS A PALTRY 639-655. WITHIN THAT OMAR’S RECORD IS 427-383. Ws & Ls COUNT I DON’T CARE HOW MANY SENTENCES HE CAN STRING TOGETHER AS LONG AS HE CAN EFFECTIVLY SPEAK THE “LANGUAGE OF THE DEAL” LOL.
62–I have no problem with Hispanic players. I do have a problem with bad Hispanic players. I also have a problem with bad players. Omar seems to have created a rest home for washed up Hispanic players. He can bring in any player he wants. I am fine with it-if the player makes sense for the team, and still can play.
JDON, U MAKE A LOT OF SENSE, I WISHED U’D BEEN MORE SPECIFIC WITH YOUR REFERENCE SINCE OTHER THAN ALOU I DON’T RECALL MANY THAT MEET YOUR COMPLAINT LEVEL. BACKUP/BENCH TYPES ON ACTIVE ROSTER ARE AS OLD AS THE HILLS, I WOULDN’T BE SUPRISED IF IT WAS FIRST SCRIBBLED BY ABNER. OVER-THE-HILL TYPES ARE TYPICALLY WAREHOUSED IN AAA ON MANY FRANCHISES, A PRACTICE EMPLOYED SINCE ACTIVES REDUCED TO 25 & PITCHING STAFFS INCR TO 12+ DUE TO THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTING FOR THE CG STAT THE ACCOMPANYING INCREASE IN LEVELS TO SINGLE-A DESIGNATION(NYM HAVE 5-6 SINGLE A LEVELS)HAVE CHANGED THE MINOR LEWAGUE DEVELOPMENT USAGE TO SINGLE & SOME DOUBLE A AS DEVELOPMENTAL, SOME DOUBLE A & TRIPLE A TO REFINEMENT,POLISHING & WAREHOUSING. IF NOT FOR THAT WHERE WOULD WE HAVE BEEN LAST YR WITHOUT SULLIVAN,R.MARTINEZ,DESSENS,FIGUEROA? IT’S PART OF THE NEW MLB LANDSCAPE. THANKFULLY WE WERE SOMEWHAT OVERSTOCKED WITH OPTIONS IN AAA, WE CERTAINLY USED MORE THAN ANYONE; BUT OMAR ANTICIPATED.
No–actually you just assumed something –I listed a bunch of washed-up bums and because they were latin players you projected your suspicions. can we stop worrying about whether we as fans are biased about omar? It is amazing the way these things get thrown back at the fans. In the interest of political correctness, no one can say anything about omar, but can anyone realistically conclude that omar does not have a bias after watching his performance of the past few years? I do not care who is brought in here as long as they can play. But it is clear to me that omar has a preference
So much of this article is based on speculation that I attach little credibility to it.
Omar did a decent job bringing dishonor and disappointment to the organization, which required John Ricco and Jeff Wilpon to move reluctantly to the forefront. In that way, Met fans could listen to someone who could, at the very least, complete a sentence.
I consider the Wilpons to be very decent baseball people that are little caught up in the sentimentality of the game. Omar is a very good baseball person, but his lack of organizational skills make him ill-suited to be a GM. He has the unique cability of sifting through rosters to find guys like Easley, Tatis and Nieve. On the other hand, through oversight of his own 4-man roster he loses guys like Jesus Flores.
I give the Wilpons and Omar credit for trying. They just need to think differently about how to build talent throughout the organization, which requires patience – a patience Met fans possess for which we are not given credit. I recall when Mookie and Hubie were rookies, and Straw was on the way. Even though we were losing in the early ’80’s, I had a sense of optimism that was duly rewarded by the best decade in our club’s history.
That would be 40-man roster.
TOMMY, YOU MAKE POINTS; BUT I BELIEVE U ATTRIBUTE TOO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY TO THE GM POSITION, WHILE BY NATURE OF ANY MNGT JOB DESCRIPTION A MGR IS ULITMATLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS UNDER HIS/HER PERVUE. TO SINGLE OUT OMAR AS THE FOIL IN THE FLORES SITUATION, IS ANY GM SUPPOSED TO HAVE TOTAL KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY SINGLE PLAYER W/I THE FRANCHISE? I DOUBT ANY DO; HOWEVER THAT’S WHERE THE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT DEPT COMES IN, THEY FEED INFO TO GM & GM EVALUATES IT & MAKES A DECISION. PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE “TH FIX” WAS IN ON FLORES, A SINGLE-A CATCHING PROSPECT OF NO PARTICULAR RENOWN, ISN’T IT VERY COINCIDENTAL THAT , WHEN POPULAR EXPERT OPINION CITES THE RISKINESS OF ANY TEAM ACTUALLY COMMITTING TO KEEP ON 25 ACTIVE ROSTER A SINGLE A PLAYER FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON. RECALL ACTA WAS A BERNAZARD FAVORITE & TONY WAS PISSED ACTA WAS NEVER MGR INSTEAD OF WILLIE. AFTER AVTA WAS ALLOWED TO DEPART FPOR DC JOB, WOULD IT BE SUPRISING IF TONY GAVE HIM A HEADS UP? CERTAINLY WITYHOUT KNOWING WHAT PLAYER’S SPOT WOULD’VE BEEN LOST IF FLORES WAS KEPT ON 40, IT’S HARD TO REALLY EVALUATE THIS TOUGH DECISION. MOST LIKELY THE PLAYER WITH THE LEAST CRED IS EXPOSED IN THESE CASES & AS A SINGLE-A GUY, POSSIBLY WOULD’VE BEEN GREAT GAMBLE HAD “THE FIX” NOT BEEN IN. TONYB BY THAT TIME WAS ESTABLISHED AS JEFF’S BOY HUNTING FOR OMAR’S JOB. LOSING FLORES ANYWAY U SLICE IT WAS NOT A GREVIOUS MISTAKE THAT’S ALTERING ANY OF OUR PAST. HELL, THIS FRANCHISE MADE A SIMILAR, MORE GREVIOUS ERROR IN LOSING AS F/A COMPENSATION SEAVER A SECOND TIME THROUGH A MISCALCULATION IN MID 80s. WHEN THEY CALCULATED NO ONE WOULD TAKE AN AGING SP SO CLOSE TO RETIREMENT & SO IMPORTANT TO HIS TEAM, ESP WHEN WE DIDN’T EVEN SIFN THE INVILVED F/A! DAMN THOSE CHISOX!