30
2010
Thoughts On Minaya, Manuel and Manic Monday
An article by 
The earth shook this afternoon in New York when a source told 7 Train To Shea that Omar Minaya will be fired as the Mets GM on Monday and will not be reassigned. And if that revelation wasn’t shocking enough, that same source also reported that Jerry Manuel will not be asked to stay on as the manager of the New York Mets.
The news sent shock-waves throughout the blogosphere as everyone scrambled to try and confirm the shocking development. I did my level best to try and get someone to comment on the situation or confirm the news, but as luck would have it nobody was willing to say anything on the record. Those inglorious basterds!
As surprising as it may seem, there may have been at least a sign or two that the Mets may have been leaning in this direction. Sure… there were some subtle murmurings at best, but who could blame the Wilpons for wanting to restore some dignity to the franchise, and set their organization’s path in a new and promising direction.
Okay, so much for the breaking news, now let me tell you how I see things unfolding in the next few days.
Now this is not based on any first-hand knowledge I may have gleaned from a team source or someone I’ll refer to as Deep Throat, instead it’s just my personal opinion… just an ordinary blogger who loves the Mets and has no aspirations of becoming anything more than that. I’m just carefully going out on a limb, and it’s not even a far reaching limb at that.
Let me begin by pondering the obvious… Why are Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya still here?
Well, as one of my astute readers pointed out to me in another blog post, Jerry Manuel is still here because:
1. He is still under a contract that expires after this season anyway.
2. Let the new General Manager, whoever that person will be, make that judgment and let him or her choose Manuel’s successor.
Sometimes, there’s just no getting around pure logic.
Well what about Omar Minaya, why not fire him?
I think I’ll just step in and answer that question for myself.
There is no reason for the Mets to wait until the end of the season unless their plan is to reassign him, that’s why.
There is no reason to reassign Omar Minaya now, then name an Interim GM for a month or a week or a day to replace him, then relieve the Interim GM of his duties, and then announce the new GM whoever that will be the following day. Whew…
Well couldn’t they have just reassigned Omar Minaya and then just name the permanent new GM now?
Well, yeah they could have done that, unless the GM they really want is still under contract…
Or maybe they don’t want to screw this thing up…
Maybe, just maybe, they want to take their time and choose the best candidate available…
Maybe they want to see how many GM candidates officially throw their hats into the ring at the end of the season and then choose a predecessor from a bigger pool of qualified candidates…
Makes sense, right?
So what is the final outcome?
The best answer is that nobody really knows, and I bet the Wilpons themselves don’t even know yet either. How can they make a decision when they haven’t even interviewed one candidate for the GM position yet according to Andy Martino today of the Daily News.
Would you place a billion dollar franchise in the hands of a new general manager sight unseen without so much as one formal interview? Lets not kid ourselves here.
The process is still unfolding, and something will could happen on Monday, but that’s not to say that it can’t happen on Tuesday or perhaps even Wednesday as well. Either way, it’s only a matter of days now.
Lets just hope that what ever change does happen, that it has a bigger and better impact than the change from Willie Randolph to Jerry Manuel. I think we can all agree on that.
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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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 26 | 17 | .605 | - |
| Nationals | 25 | 17 | .595 | 0.5 |
| Marlins | 23 | 19 | .548 | 2.5 |
| Mets | 22 | 20 | .524 | 3.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 22 | .488 | 5.0 |
Last updated: 05/22/2012
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There’s no way that the Wilpons let Minaya walk free with 2 years still remaining on contract. That means he could GM somewhere else and still get paid by the Mets, no way the Wilpons will let that happen.
Mets would probably retain his services somewhere in scouting
Most likely possibility.
I actually mentioned your comment to someone today. I totally agree with you and wish I ould have included it in my post.
I just hope that Backman gets a fair shot at being the manager. I just know that he could really be the kick in the ass this team needs.
I don’t. Wally is a real wild card. He could cause or allow a lot of drama that would detract from where the focus needs to be. With younger players he might not be a bad choice but with older players he could easily lose the team, plus he’s indebted to the Wilpons for bringing him back in and that tie has to be severed.
this is too important a choice in terms of met history to hand their fate over to a human time bomb.
Fred Wilpon is waiting for his friends on Facebook to RSVP his invitation to interview for the GM job. But first, is to get his old high school buddy Sandy Koufax to come on board as team president. I’ll bet the next GM is an old college frat brother of Fred or even Jeff. Since Fred was such a Brooklyn Dodger fan, maybe our next manager will be Duke Snider. Oh Boy! The anticipation is just Killing Me! Can’t wait for Monday to get here!
I was just thinking 86 Judge Judy went to Freddyes highschool…hey maybe she manages and Bert can be our first base coach!
Yeah, Judy would be great! I’d love to see her first Balls and Strikes argument! Poor, poor umpire!
I dont know about Snider or Koufax, but I’d take LaSorda in a heartbeat.
Lasorda would be good if he were about 30 years younger!We need somebody who will be strong enough to be his own man. What we will we get …whoever comes the cheapest!
Or will keep Jeff “in the pipeline”
Take LaSorda in a heartbeat? I think Tommy needs all the heartbeats he can get. He really doesn’t look too well these days. I wish him the best but he needs a tough diet and some cardio work. It would be wonderful for him.
Does anything that site says ever come true? MetsBlog likes to use him as a media source but if you do a search on every rumor he’s reposted not one came to pass.
Mets getting Granderson. Mets trading Omir to Rangers, Mets trading Barajas to Rangers, Mets getting Nelson Cruz, Mets trading Castillo, etc.
And then this laugher:
http://www.metsblog.com/2010/07/19/buzz-trade-market-for-ted-lilly-roy-oswalt-and-others/
How many times you get to be wrong before people stop taking you seriously?
Monday afternoon big announcement John Hart new Mets GM. Minaya head of Dominican/puerto rico scouting. Chip Hale the new manager with Ken oberkfell bench coach.Tim Tuefal head coach of Buffalo,Wally B head coach of Bingo. Orel Hershiser new pitching coach,mr Met new hitting coach. Lets see how good my predictions are on tuesday??????out of 8
You know what, if that really happened I actually would be thrilled. Hart is an elite organizational leader with a sharp eye for executive talent as well as players. Hale and Oberkfel together would give us two experienced baseball minds and they could feed off each other and be good for this team. Promoting Teufel and Wally would be logical next steps for both of them.
Thanks joe5 I’m an optimist, and that’s what I’m hoping for?? I think chip would make a great manager he spent time in minnesota under gardinhire and played for tom kelly!!
Not sure about Hershiser but the rest of it sounds good to me to.
I’m just looking forward to a fresh start. These last few years have been so frustrating and it goes beyond just the play on the field. Just get a broom and whisk them all away please.
Whatever the Wilpons do, we know it will be a bad decision. Everything they touch turns to crap, why would we expect that they will have the intelligence to hire a GM that is better than other teams’ GMs?
I mean really, is there any hope that the new Met GM will be more skilled than than the Phillies, Marlins, Braves GMs? Think about it.
Charles u are once again correct. The Wilpons…they are a disease.
PREDICTION:
Minaya re-assigned and replaced by Ricco as GM. Manuel fired and replaced by Backman.
Now if only Jeff Wilpon gets fired, then I’ll be excited about what happens next for the Mets. I know, I’m asking for too much.
John Hart would be great too. I would also love to see HOJO and Warthen let go and replaced by Dave Magadan( if they could snag him from Boston) and either Orel Hershiser or John Franco or Al Leiter as pitching coach. Chip Hale or Razor Shines would be great as bench coach and have Tim Teufel the first base coach.
Dave Magadan would be great addition as a hitting coach, if only he weren’t so happy in Boston. I dont think he’d leave a first class operation like that just to get caught up in the non-stop drama of working for the Mets.
Hart & Magadan would be nice additions but keep Franco & Leiter far, FAR away.
I guess there must be some deep feeling of gratification akin to eating large amounts of chocolate or having sex for all these know-nothings to give the perception they have deep ties to the Mets or any other organization. However you can’t do nothing about all the hacks wanting to give the impression that they are more than what they are. I dont have a problem with all these kids and bloggers saying they have sources. I have a bigger problem when those rumors are posted on sites with big followings like MetsBlog who should no better but doesnt really give a rats ass about how legitimate the stuff he posts is. That’s what I have a problem with. Of course if Minaya does get fired on Monday, something that was 99% certain to happen anyway, the hack gets to boast about what an insider he is. Tell seven train to shea that shea is now gone and to rename his blog seven train to nowhere.
My source in the Mets organization told me this just now.
Omar will get another year .
BV will be the manager and he will choose the coaching staff.
Mets will have $ to get a front line SP .
My source at Citi tells me that Cyclone tickets will be going for more on stub hub than Met tickets next year.