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2010
How Do You Change The Organizational Philosophy?
An article by 
It’s no secret that the Mets are currently suffering from a severe image crisis. While some may think that crisis began during the Tony Bernazard/Adam Rubin fracas, it really goes back to the mid nineties and is now so deeply rooted that it will take more than just shifting bodies and roles to change it.
This morning, Joel Sherman of the NY Post elaborates a little bit about one who he thinks “the Mets had and let get away”, Jack Zduriencik, the current GM of the Seattle Mariners. Sherman writes,
Zduriencik, who aside from a three-year detour, worked for the Mets from 1982-98, was a draft magician after becoming the Brewers’ scouting director from 1999-2006 (think Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun). The Mets under LaRocque did not find much talent.
Had he been named the Mets’ amateur scouting director, Zduriencik might have found that talent and might have been on the GM trajectory. Instead, bypassed for the role, he left for the Dodgers in 1998. Today Phillips lives in disgrace, Duquette does radio and Minaya is barely holding on as GM after overseeing another discouraging Mets offseason.
It’s true that Zduriencik has enjoyed some success in finding and harnessing talent, and he has had a very successful offseason adding Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley, Casey Kotchman and Eric Byrnes.
While it may be tough to say how much better (or worse) the Mets might have been with Zduriencik as their GM, we do have a substantial track record. All of the GM’s the Mets have had from Steve Phillips to Jim Duquette to Omar Minaya may have all been tainted by the Wilpons who expect their front-men to stay inside the boundaries they have developed and have not evolved in over a decade.
The Mets are a business first to the Wilpons, and all organizational decisions are guided by their impact on the profitability each move. The minor league organization may have been just as lackluster under the tutelage of any Mets Minor League Director, especially with the Wilpon’s reluctance to pay above slot for the best talent available.
The Mets offeasons have all been similar in that regardless of the teams needs, the usual plan was to grab one marquis player that they can feature on the cover of their new yearbook and media guides, followed by a slew of reclamation projects.
I don’t think having another former Mets employee as a GM would do anything to change the Mets organizational dynamic. What the Mets need is an outsider… a sharp baseball man who can operate with full autonomy. Until that happens, expect the miscommunication and the dysfunction to continue. Luckily, the Mets have proven that they can still win with all that ineptness, so lets hope for the best in 2010.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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Given Full Autonomy I think Omar could even be that guy, but who knows? That image crisis would be ‘gone’ if the Mets make the World Series this year, btw.
What Sherman glosses over is that sure he got Fielder and Braun, but the Mets drafted Reyes and Wright during that time. And being that who you can draft is determined by your draft slot and record, and that Zduriencik’s praises are much the same as Omar’s in ’06 (positive turn around in ’05 and some good moves in the offseason)
Omar had full autonomy and has been losing it slowly since he got the job
Omar had full autonomy but he blew it by hiring his bigoted lackies and inept cronies to help him out instead of true baseball men.
Why else would the Wilpons clean house on him? Because EVEN the Wilpons saw ineptitude amoungst Omars “staff”.
I was always told that when someone starts cleaning the house while you are still there, they want you to leave.
Bye Bye Omar and PLEASE let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.
Omar and Jim Duquette are Steve (WOW!! look at that booty) Phillips guys….that says it all right there. Mis-guided loyality have dearly cost the Wilpons.
Joe, you hit the bullseye. We need an outside baseball guru with full autonomy. i have said that as well. Whats are the odds, Jeff can be reassigned to tickets and hot dogs? What would it take from the Fans to prod Fred to make that painful (to him) change?
Being a business person is OK to go. They usuall are the ones to make a winning team.
The team did all that they could with what was available at reasonable costs or players that wanted to be on their club.
They got the long ball hitter, and hope that Wright becomes Wright, with Murphy keeping on upgrading it, and the rest of the clubs hitters will do as good as they did before they got injured. And it does make sense that all of their pitchers will come out of their own eight starters now.
Plus both of their pen,bench players look good enough to go.
Why should they throw away money on players that would not make the team much better or even the same/less, because the media, or the fans demand that they must do it? No, that is wrong. But after they play out some of the season and see if they need some help, then they should go after it. But not to do it wrongly, when it is not available out there to get.
AND they should invest money to improve the team OR halve the prices of tickets, hot dogs and beer!
This from Fred the Pater? Sounds like it! If not, fredsaid, you have drunk some pretty powerful rose water. There’s no bases for your optimism; in fact, your view defies the odds that ALL our core rebound and/or do not have lingering health issues: great news on Reyes today, but bad news on Beltran. Or that our ENTIRE rotation are a combo of healthy AND effective in 2010.
The Mets should have gotten former Pads GM Kevin Towers but he instead went to the Bronx to help Cashman. If you want to have some function in the Mets Management side. Time to clean house and start fresh because this current Mets Management is a family dysfunction and big egos.
One more thing: I have taken into account that the tabloid New york Post whose “journalists” write like 3rd graders (it’s been proven) are owned by racist…opps my bad…I mean conservative…Rupert Murdock, and they have been biased against the Mets and pro Yankee for years.
There is a solution but it would probably involve some killings. So that’s out. We are doomed. Whenever nepotism rears its ugly head, solid decision-making is impossible.
A fish rots from the head.
Nothing will change until the Wilpons give up the team. Sad, but true.
Personally, I was so impassioned by Sherman’s lack of delving for his article I wrote him directly heer’s what
I sent:
Would Zduriencik have acted as a human shield for the ineptitude of COO Jeff Wilpon? I doubt it. Would he have had Fred’s confidence re. budget constraint vis a vis Luxury Taxes? Again, my doubts are overflowing.
I’m not here to defend the deliberately obfiscated org chart that represents the NYM frontoffice, that’s the deliberate design manufactured to provide Jeff Wilpon any number of protected spots from incoming fire from fans & media alike.
As to Zduriencik not striking gold with the Mets? What of Reyes,Wright,Kazmir,Bell, Lindstrum?
for all this bluster from u & yours regarding the poor development system in Flushing, did u ever stop to examine the proposed 2010 openning day lineup that will feature five of the 8 starting position players as products from within the Mets’ farm system? 1B Murphy,SS Reyes, 3B Wright, C Santos, CF Pagan.
While I understand I’m stretching on Santos & Pagan, whereby Santos was a socalled failed product of NYY/Balt systems the meer fact he was identified & further polished by NYM is, to me, what development is truly all about. Pagan was fully developed through all levels of milb play by NYM & subsequently reacquired by Omar.
Further constrictions:
STEVE PHILLIPS publicly made no bones about his frustrations in attempting to predict positional needs when drafting amateur talent, choosing to supplement his inadequacy by drafting most every possible pitching prospect using a thought process that ‘pitching can always be dealt for positional needs’. That methodology by definition negates the strongest quality of identifying positional talent exhibited by your man Jack Z.
While subjugated to Phillips’ authority Omar was carved out a specific Latin Geography. he was instrumental in the establishment of the Mets’; first Dominican Academy, producing Reyes.
There is certainly an undertone of ineffectivness dominating the Wilpon Ownership Group(Sterling Equities)
the RULES OF ENGAGEMENT insisted upon by Fred Wilpon as I see it are:
#1) NO LUXURY TAX INCURMENT
#2) COMMISIONER’S DRAFT SLOTTING GUIDELINES WILL BE ADHERED TO RELIGOUSLY
#3) NO PLAYER, REGARDLESS OF TALENT, WHO IS PREDISPOSED TO NEGATIVE PRESS CAN BE SIGNED AS A MET
#4) MINIMIZE CONTRACT BUYOUTS TO MNGT ONLY!
#5) NO NEGATIVE PRESS INVOLVING THE ‘WILPON’ NAME. EMPLOYEES TO BE USED AS SHIELDS WHENEVER POSSIBLE
Joel, I believe it’s certainly about time for a strong, honest reporter to expose the true villain of the NY Mets operation even if it means ‘burning’ your most vociferous, insider and stop being a TOOL of the WILPONS!
IF I MAY, SOME OF THE BIGGEST FUNDIMENTAL DISASTERS FROM WITHIN THE FLUSHING BASEBALL OPERATION AUTHORED SPECIFICALLY BY JEFF
:
*ESTABLISHMENT OF A PLAYER INSIDER GROUP AS ADVISORY PANEL TO OWNERSHIP(LEITER,GLAVINE,FRANCO, et al.)
* CREATION OF ALL POWERFUL PITCHING CONTROL POSITION”GURU” TO CONTROL ALL LEVELS OF PROFESSIONAL PITCHING ASSETS WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION. A PITCHING “INTERNAL GM” IF U WILL LEADING TO THE TRADING AWAY OF KAZMIR,BELL, LINDSTRUM DUE TO REFUSAL TO CONVERT TO PETERSONIZATION.
* USE OF WFAN CALLERS AS MAJOR FAN CONTACT FOR INPUT
Joel as u are one of the few recognized scribes not effected by SNY appearance checks signed & authorized by Jeff Wilpon. I believe it is your duty to about 40% of the NYC baseball fans that comprise your readership to investigate this frontoffice morass and report your findings honestly. One of the most pertinent items I believe you will find is Jeff’s fingerprints all over the Willie Randolph fiasco & Peterson’s inclusion as Omar’s pound of flesh from Fred further infuriated Jeff’s desire for Omar’s head, a firing only within the control of principle owner, Fred Wilpon! And this offseason’s stagnation is further evidence that Jeff is targeted at driving fan outcries for Omar’s head to rival the throng for Barabas on a day whence the rabble fulfilled a terrible destiny. With Fred’s hands desirous of the same cleansing towel shared by Pilate, another innocent will befall the mobs inglorious lust for blood.
Joel, I truly appreciate your investment your valuable of high quality time in reading this ruminations from a longstanding NY Mets’ fan since DAY 1. I remain, YOUR FAITHFUL READER FROM BEYOND THE METRO “ARENA”. Sincerely,
PT Hyland, aka METS62FAN
MATTHEWS, NC