30
2010
Yes, It’s Omar
An article by Annie Savoy
Looking back over the months, reading about the Mets organization from the beginning until today, I realized that I had omitted writing about the most charming employee of them all. No one has a biography like he does – he’s been everywhere, done everything and still has that charm to share with everyone.
After returning to Brooklyn, from Venezuela, MLB discovered that Omar was back and loosely connected to the NY Mets, Bud Selig called and asked Omar to go to Montreal where they needed staff after Loria had stripped the franchise and hauled off the parts — humans, computers, scouting reports, radar guns — to Miami.
This was the beginning of Omar’s great adventure into the world of Major League Baseball leaning on his greatest assets – the willingness to do any job and the inability to bypass anyone without a smile and a good word.
In the corporate world that baseball in America has become, Omar’s role on the Mets staff would change a bit. Not one to address crowds of businessmen in a dark suit, Omar would take one or two people aside and speak to them as though they were family.
Make no mistake – although Omar is short on business procedures, he’s long on baseball knowledge. From Venezuela to Montreal there are those who still speak of him with a smile and awe at what he knows – and does.
When Omar travels with the team, everyone wants to visit with him. It seems as though there is no one in baseball who doesn’t know Omar and is in awe of his knowledge on the field, and of his players.
If you want to read more about Omar – and almost everybody does – here’s the link to the famous Sports Illustrated interview – The Story of O.
About the Author: Joan Chapman
29 Comments + Add Comment
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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Uh oh,
First it was “In Praise of Jerry Manuel”, now this…. :-/
Bayonne, what’s youir problem? your beef with Omar?
Castillo? did u ever do the research to see what the other options were at the time? very,very poor unless u liked Matsui
Perez? same question only here I’ll supply some help: the other F/A SP @ that time were:
Starting Pitchers
Kris Benson PHI
A.J. Burnett TOR (may opt out)
Paul Byrd BOS
Ryan Dempster CHC
Jon Garland LAA
Tom Glavine ATL
Mike Hampton * ATL
Rich Harden * CHC
Orlando Hernandez NYM
Jason Jennings TEX
Randy Johnson ARZ
Esteban Loaiza CHW
Braden Looper STL
Derek Lowe LAD
Pedro Martinez NYM
Mike Mussina NYY
Jamie Moyer PHI
Mark Mulder * STL
Carl Pavano NYY
Brad Penny * LAD
Odalis Perez WAS
Oliver Perez NYM
Andy Pettitte NYY
Mark Prior SD
Horacio Ramirez CHW
C.C. Sabathia MIL
Ben Sheets MIL
John Smoltz * ATL
Julian Tavarez ATL
Steve Trachsel BAL
Brett Tomko SD
Claudio Vargas MIL
Randy Wolf HOU
Considering Burnett,Sabathia & Lowe were already off the table since Omar only had 36M in his pocket, which, if u recall, he first offered to Lowe through Perez’ agent Boras,I may be mistaken; but I believe Omar’s initial offer for Perez was 2Y/24M which was flatly rejected by the agent who knew exactly what the ceiling was. Had Perez not been destroyed by Vinnie Castillo in that subsequent WBC tournenment it’s quite possible even the 3/36M may have turned out better than any of those remaining, check out their subsequent histories as many are no longer active. hindsight is only valuable if u bother to go back and CHANGE the age old false question of: IF I ONLY KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW to IF I KNOW NOW ONLY WHAT I KNEW THEN! you may become disappointed in yourself, if u have the guts to truly check it ALL out.
’62, No one thought it was a given that Ollie would all of a sudden become a consistant starting pitcher. The best that could be hoped for would be Ollie continuing to come up big in a handful of big games and maddeningly inconsistent in other one’s. How this translates into offering a 3 year $36,000,000 deal is beyond me. I am so sick of hearing that argument, BUT WHO ELSE WAS AVAILABLE? Who else was available is the GM’s (or presidents) job but that work has to be done ahead of time. If your argument is Omar wasn’t their long enough to develop anyone by the beggining of 2008 I’ll buy that. But the solution has to be either get a hold the fort guy for a year or two or just live with a Livan type. Anything other than a big money mistake. 12,000,000 is along the lines of What Pedro was paid and Pedro was worth it to the franchise in so many other ways. Strictly from a baseball stand point Ollie was worth about $8,000,000. Eight, not twelve. You don’t pay a wildly inconsistent 28 year old pitcher like one of the best pitchers of all time. Set a limit 2/16 take it or leave it like Boston did with Damon and Pedro. if not pick up 2 high draft choices again like Boston did. That’s how they got Clay Buchholz at so far 1/36th of what we have paid Ollie.
T, 2 high draft choices? Don’y u pay attention? to get a sandwich pick as additional compensation the Mets would’ve had to offer arbitration. #1 that wasn’t happening any more than Perez/Boras rejecting it whywould they they’d just the prior season beat the <ets out of 9M for 1 season, u think 8? At least pass that happy juice formula to us friends.
T, like it or not trhe Wilpons don't ever offer arbitration to ANYONE even not to those destined to reject it like Fonzie a few yrs back. Please, if u want to play the scenerio game follow the rules the Wilpons have long ago established. Let's assume, they did it your way by offering a minimum contract on a take it or leave it basis. After Boras stopped laughing what is your solution? now, please remember you're already a GM with one foot on a banana peel & your C-Uh-Oh has been threatening your job & your deal is expiring so u need to try to actually get the best performer u can. BTW also available at that time, but injured, was Ben Sheets(if healthy his record the 2 prior seasons ('07,'08) was 25-14 as compared to Pereez' 25-17 over the same period. considering Sheets got 10M for this past season after missing all of '09 do u really think that represented a cost savings? It's truly rediculous to hammer Omar for the destruction wrought upon Ollie iby Team Mexico in the WBC. T, few rarely realize Perez featured a pretty decent w-l record as a Met of 26-20 with a 1-0 postseason record. There was certainly some cause to believe he may contribute as he's shown some progress with Warthen's new bowing mechanics at the close of '08. Yeah, I know my position is a huge stretch in light of what we've ALL seen happen. T, under the whose fault is it anyway scenerio. which were the bigger financial missed investments? Castillo+Perez or Pavano+Burnett? The difference being the Yankees acknowledged the potential foe blunder & ensured minimal disruption to their goals by inversting in competyant/adequate contingency arraingements. T, here's a thought on your age concerns I missed stating in that retort; considering the most widly accepted definition of a baseball player's prime is ages 28-32, have u ever considered this interesting set of facts for the upcoming season:
REYES AGE 28
WERIGHT AGE 28
UTLEY AGE 32
ROLLINS AGE 32
HOWARD AGE 31
Try tio remember this before annointing Jerry & Omar's successors with accoladfes over the next 4-5 yrs.
True replacements for Perez most certainly should have been nurtured on our farm; but there were zero SP prospects to be found tyhere when Omar was hired. one of his very first signings was Pelfrey, so at least he acknowledged that & obviously the very few we're now seeing were no where near prime time ready in '09. were they? I believe I've already established why cost of living considerations of NYC most certainly inflate the cost of labor considerations when hunting for desperate bargains. more likely to wilt under NY's blazing intensity than the Az desert sun
Oh Annie, I wish you the best of luck with this post. I think you will need it. Seriously though, I loved Omar’s personality and charm from the first moment I ever heard him speak. That said, it really is time for new guidance and new organizational shift in philosophy. I wish him well, and I do hope he remains with the organization in some sort of player development capacity. He’s left us with a legacy of solid prospects and a strong farm sytem that was in shambles when he took over. Ike, Pelf, Niese, Duda, Parnell, Vaughn, Cohoon, Gee, Pagan is a decent pipeline of young talent.
Joe D. Thank you – I am well aware of the feelings of many in the Mets world about both Jerry and Omar. However they are not mine, and I was encouraged when Howie Rose, whom I revere, wrote his piece about Jerry and Omar. I had planned to do this, but didn’t realize I was up against a time factor. In any case, the Mets were lucky to have these fine men working with our team for the past few years and I truly wish them well in the future, no matter what.
Omar tried. Can;t ask for more than that. I think people were put off by his “ever-so-cool” manner in which he expressed and carried himself more than his actual performance.
Who is the new GM now? They must have someone all but signed to a contract if they are leaking Omar’s pending dismissal. Don’t they?
With regards to the managerial job. Why are we over looking Ken Oberkfell and Tim Teufel? Shouldn’t either be considered before Backman?
Oh and who wants to make me a bet that Carlos Beltran does not miss one game of the PR Baseball Winter League this year!
This is a joke, right? The guy who locked up Ollie Perez is now being rehabilitated as a genius-level talent evaluator?
Wow, we were so lucky to have Omar. I don’t know where we would be without his brilliance.
Name me your GM and I’ll give you even worse contracts.
It’s not one contract. Omar had the highest payroll in the NL to work with, and produced a roster that is the laughingstock of all of baseball.
I refuse to even entertain your argument that Omar is a competent GM. If you honestly believe that, more power to you. Omar will never get another GM job. Peroid.
LordCharles- There will be dozens @ Omar’s doors, you moron. It’s idiots like you who give life to the notion that Met fans are the DUMBEST animals on the planet. The gorilla they have @ Yankee Stadium has drafted 0 everyday starting players from the MLB draft since 1998. ZERO! He has signed 1 everyday player from international scouting in the same time.
Cashman has drafted over 600 players in the draft and Brett Gardner is the closest he has come to a starting player. This despite have more money to spend than any other team.
Cashman has gone through a dozen years of international scouting and had only produced Robinson Cano. Again, he has millions to waste on prospects and Cano is all he has to show for it.
Omar Minaya has Hall of Famers under his international scouting resume: Sammy Sosa, Pudge, and Juan Gone. He also has current studs Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, Nelson Cruz and about a dozen other CURRENT big leaguers successfully making careers for themselves. I want to see the draft and international scouting resumes of the NEXT GM. He BETTER have a better one than Omar’s because were SCREWED if we don’t.
Quite frankly, we’re JINXED. Omar Minaya and Wilpons money was a match made in heaven. An orgy of injuries to key players since August of 2006 have sabatoged this franchise. It’s unbelievable. If we couldn’t be successful under Omar Minaya, just WTF is the next GM going to do better?
Enough of the JINXED nonsense. Omar signed aged players and it worked sometimes and failed other times.
About ten days ago, I did an analysis of all the 40 man rosters in the major leagues. Some 135 players were on the DL or otherwise not active. Every team had at least one player. The average was more than four players.
DES- Jose Reyes is aged? Johan Santana is aged? Carlos Beltran is aged? Jason Bay is aged? John Maine is aged? Fernando Martinez is aged? Duaner Sanchez was aged? Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado were also hurt, but I will grant you they were older guys. These are all the key injuries to our star players and top prospect from 2006- until this morning. Lets not forget how Milledge, Endy, and Gomez also missed significant time in 2007 when all our guys in the outfield were banged up.
The team is snake-bit. How else do you explain what’s gone on over the last 3 years? Blaming the “older players” is a pack of BS.
PS Omar was paid millions of dollars, it’s not like he was volunteering his time for non-profit charity to help the disadvantaged.
He pocketed enormous amounts of money, and he was supposed to field a good MLB team in New York City.
Regardless of what a “nice guy” he is, he failed miserably, and was compensated more money for his failure than any of us will see in our lifetime.
I don’t wish Omar ill, but pardon me if I don’t weep for him either.
Good riddance.
Why does he have to get pounded for Castillo and Perez, but gets no credit for Dickey or Pagan or Ike Davis? What about trading for Santana when the Mets were mocked for not having the chips? What about the 2006 NLCS after he promissed a post season in five years. Do we just ignore the good things he did and hang on tightly to his mistakes? Would you like your employer to treat you that way in your job?
You make good points Nester, but bottom line is that whatever happened after September 2007 it has just become a down hill spiral. He made some good moves, granted but why have they become so bad? The Gm has to be the fall guy….. Even though I beleive he has been a puppet the last few years. Never be able to prove it, but I will always believe Jeff Wilpon took over the job and tied Omar up. He was a star bringing in a solid bullpen, Delgado in a deal, LoDuca in a deal, Sanchez in a deal Nady etc…. Then what happended? I don’t think he became stupid in a flash……
Between 2005 and 2010 we have made the playoffs once. Big payroll small results. Omar, a good man, sold himself out for the Wilpon monies. Ya lay down with Wilpon u get a disease.Omar came into this job a man …then the Wilpon mob castrated him. Thank u Freddye Wilpon.Omar sold out his friend Tony B. and now he is sold out.Turn about fair play!
Probally playoff bound!
Annie: Love your posts…. They bring out all the emotions. Unlike some writers here, namely your friend you know who, you charge us up and don’t rehash the old junk that has been said 10,000 times already. Keep up the good work!!
Thanks Harry – I appreciate your kind words. It’s great to do this for Joe D. who is an old friend, too. The other one is MIA. I hope you enjoy this venue as much as I do.
dear annie i read your post and run for my violin.
Annie, nothing personal, but you talk a lot about Omar’s “charm” and “smile” and how people are in “awe” of him. Really, awe?
It’s fine if you personally like Omar, but you’re ignoring the most obvious points, such as:
1) Omar had more financial resources to work with than any other NL GM.
2) Under Omar, the Mets had one “good” year (NL playoffs), two epic historic collapses, and two seasons were we were completely irrelevant, and a laughingstock. Everyone is laughing at the Mets.
3) Omar has been paid MILLIONS of dollars for this. Has this been forgotten? He’s rich beyond his wildest dreams, courtesy of the Mets.
4) Omar has embarrassed the Mets on numerous occasions: “Adam, you lobby for job.”, etc. Was that the “charming” Omar?
5) Omar colluded with shirtless sociopath Tony Bernazard. Again, “charming”?
Omar has had an unsuccessful, bizarre, and sometimes embarrassing tenure as Mets GM. If baseball people are really “in awe” of Omar, they will quickly offer him a GM job once the Mets fire him. That is not going to happen.
Annie–Great writing on a very touchy piece. It took a lot of guts to write this and I totally applaud you for it.
The old addage goes ‘you cant fire the players so…’ we can regrettably bid farewell to Omar. I wont be sorry to see Manuel go, but I guarantee Omar will be picked up by another team quickly–and within 5 years he will be standing on a stage alongside the commissioner, a team owner and a world series MVP.
I totally feel Omar has been unfairly attacked for years now.
Thanks again, Annie, for your gutsy writing
‘tiedyed’ – Thank you for your kind words.
As I told Joe D., this was one piece I knew I had to write, but didn’t realize that there was a deadline until Joe D. wrote about it yesterday.
In any case, Omar is a special person and I’m sure he’ll be OK, no matter what the future holds for him.
The question is – will we? Omar has been the heart and soul of the Mets while he was here and will be missed.
I liked Omar’s work, with the minor leagues that is… i think if he didn’t sign Perez, Bay and Castillo, he’ll still be the GM going into next season, we didn’t have a strong bench this year. There needs to be a new manager tough, thats for sure, a fiery guy who challenges his players, not a Guillen, but someone who teaches this bums how to hate losing… Bobby V? Come baaaack!!!
I think there is truth to what Annie wrote. Overall, when Omar first was hired, most all thought that it was great hiring. He would pull off blockbuster trades, replenish the farm, and have us in the playoffs year after year.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Was it Omars fault. Yes, to a degree. He has to bear the brunt of responsibility as the chess player in this game. I think he was overmatched in areas of big corporate politics, and didn’t know how to navigate diplomatically, ie: Adam Rubin, Beltrans knee, etc.
I think on the coporate stage he played on, he was doing “on the job training.” It was a good experience for him, but it was at our expense. He probably is better at evaluating talent, and working with minor league development, which is why the Mets should keep him as Latin American Player Development President or whatever.
Yes, I will agree with Annie, that he probably was a great guy and charming, etc. But that didn’t help in the wins, loses, and crisis that developed throughout his tenure.
I hope they keep him, (somewhere less magnified), but dump Gansta Jer for sure.
asig – Your post personifies just why I wrote about Omar as I did. If you look carefully at my post, at the end is a link to a Sports Illustrated story about him and his life from childhood to MLB. The link is titled “The Story of O”. I hope you – and others – will read this.
Annie, before I do read it, I do give him credit, but I still would get rid of him. I feel he’s far more talented building younger development up thru an organization. Curious to find out your view. Would you have kept, (keep) him?
asig – Frankly, every day I find out something else about the Mets management that makes me wonder. With Omar’s personality and good standing among many, many baseball people and teams, I’d leave it up to him – a break away from this team and its owners might be just what Omar needs.