“Valdespin knew that was coming. I don’t think it’s fair to say that since we didn’t hit one of the Pittsburgh hitters that he doesn’t have a friend. The notion that he was hung out to dry I think is a mistake. I’m not telling you he’s the most popular guy in the clubhouse, but I don’t think he was hung out to dry.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

There is a problem with the current Mets. It is a problem of morale and a malaise of camaraderie that is potentially far worse than I think management and maybe even the players realize (if they did they would do something about it). It is a problem that transcends talent and infringes on motivation, resolve, and cohesion.

When I was a kid in Queens, 98th street Corona to be exact, there were kids on the block that no one liked. We’d scrap and scuffle with them on a weekly basis it seemed like … but if anyone from outside the neighborhood came around to pick on them we’d chase them off every time … even though we didn’t like them much. Why? Because we didn’t want those outside kids thinking they could come around and bully us.

This is all about mindset, attitude, reputation.

Do the Mets wish to be the sort of team that may show up the opposition and when they get beaned they thank their adversaries for teaching them a lesson?

Or

Do the Mets want to be the sort of team that may occasionally showboat, but if you bean them there will be hell to pay?
With a plunking, you miss by a few inches and it’s a broken wrist. You miss by a foot and it’s a life threatening concussion. Is that really worth whatever slight a bat flip may have incurred? No. That’s why you have to go beaning for beaning, every time, benches warned, end of story. Your guy learns his lesson and you maintain your honor — win/win. Who is to say they won’t go after David Wright next time? It deflates the esteem and morale of the players who turn away. It makes your team look like a bunch of hateful cowardly pansies and it invites even more beanings.

Think of it this way, if you’re enemy is so divided they’re sacrificing members of their own, serving them up on a platter, do you take their platter and ask for seconds? Of course, attrition in your opposition is always a gateway to success.

Valdespin rubs some people the wrong way, he can come off as unusually arrogant, but he’s a kid who is still learning and I was struck by the look of surprise when he got hit. He really didn’t seem to understand why he got beaned. Afterwards, surprisingly, I disliked Valdespin a little less (I’ve actually always rooted for him — he was even on my fantasy team for a while), and disliked the rest of the team (starting with the Manager) a lot more.

There was a certain code growing up in Queens. You didn’t snitch, you didn’t turn your back on your friends (even if they weren’t really your friends – even if they just happened to be with you), you never sided with outsiders, and if someone from the outside did get to you, you got them back hard and fast. That was NY in the early 70′s, and it’s probably still the case in places like Corona, and Flushing, and Jackson Heights, and Bedford Stuyvesant and Bushwick and Flatbush and any number of other places that make up the Mets fan base.

What this team needs, more than anything, is Management that understands its fan base. What we need is more resolve, and less passive aggressive maneuvering. Fred and Jeff Wilpon appear to have taken a critical formative lesson from their initial success in 86 and they’ve run with it to a fault. They’ve insisted on drafting and signing high character players in an effort to head-off  the drug infused nightmare that resulted in the collapse of a would be dynasty.

Unfortunately it’s rare to find the sort of “high moral fiber” kid who is also tough enough to navigate the pits and hurdles and barbed wire and needles and pills and seedy motels of a minors to major league career. You need guys who have been through some adversity, who can handle it, who won’t run away and shrink, in spite of all their talent, at the first hint of trouble. In fact, the key to success in any number of endeavors may very well be adversity and how the participants deal with it.

Adversity breeds cohesion.

For any of you who may have had the opportunity to be part of a cadre of individuals who went through some sort of struggle together, whether it was bad boss, a playground altercation, or combat action, you know how it can unify you. There will always be “that time” you remember when you stood up for each other. You come out of it forever knowing you could count on those individuals, you may even call them from time to time even if they live in far away places now, there is always that bond.

On the other hand, if you’ve ever had the misfortune of being part of a group that turned tail and fled, leaving you high and dry … you knew never to trust them again. Groups like that never stay together, they never last, they never succeed.

I once read a quote from a scout that essentially said (paraphrasing), “in any given organization you probably have the pieces to put a championship team together, the trick is knowing how to put the right pieces in the right places.” I believe that. Yes you need a certain amount of talent but every organization has talent, what every organization doesn’t have is the means or wherewithal to maximize it by putting players in situations where they succeed, at the right times, with the right coaches and the right teammates.

In the end, that winning recipe is reflected in that unit that can overcome adversity and stay together without fracturing under pressure, that team that will stick up for one another and support each other and make each other better. They know that they may bicker and squabble and maybe even fight among themselves, but on the field they know they’ll have each others’ backs because they’ve been there before..

That’s what was lost this past Saturday afternoon at Citi field when the Mets watched one of their own get plunked without so much as a glare at the opposing pitcher from the Met dugout.

Collins spoke of lessons learned afterward.

That’s an awfully pricey lesson if that’s the case.

For the last few week’s i’ve been mentally preparing myself for the inevitable fate that Jose Reyes would sign with the Miami Marlins. As much as I tried to stay as optimistic as I could, realistically I knew the team was moving in a different direction. This regime will not give 6 year contracts to players with an injury riddled past as grey as Reyes.

Some Mets fan’s will kick and scream and demand the Wilpon’s heads. How could they not be willing to give Jose Reyes 106 million? Are you really that broke? That cheap? Is this not New York? However these fan’s are misunderstanding the situation. The Mets did not let Reyes walk because of the money. Believe me they have the money to lock Reyes up for as long as they want. And TRUST ME they know how valuable he was toward the on-field product. His value will reflect worse in the attendance figures for the the 2012 season then in the actual standings. The Mets will survive without Reyes, and they won’t have his looming leg injuries to worry about. Especially with a contract as hefty as 106 million over 6 years to boot.

As far as why I won’t boo Jose Reyes upon his return to New York?

How could I boo someone who made a sound life decision for himself and his family? He got the contract he was hoping for (100+ mil), He will be playing in Miami, which is a growing Sports city (see Miami Heat), Brand New Stadium, Brand New (Latin) Manager, Friends (or acquaintances?) on the team (Hanley Ramirez). All this add’s up to a very successful new life for Jose Reyes in South Beach.

I would never boo Jose Reyes for making the decision he made. Will it hurt to watch him play 20+ games a year vs. the Mets? Absolutely. He was my favorite player. He was also the lifeblood of the very energy that flowed through the team in past years (when he was healthy). However that was then and this is now. New Mets team’s will create new chemistry. New energy. Will it be sad not to see Number 7 running and jumping around being himself next season? Yes. But with new team’s come new favorite players and new excitement.

Here’s toward the future! Let’s Go Mets!

This past Monday, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon updated the media and fans about the status of the minority ownership stakes, saying it was “going very well.” That was the first significant update since the David Einhorn deal fell apart.

Fans and the media alike were interested in who these minority owners were, and Mr. Wilpon stated:

Some of the people don’t want to be public. Some of the people might never be public. I don’t think anybody knows all the minority shareholders in each of the other teams. Do you know all the minority shareholders in Atlanta or Kansas City or St. Louis, Cincinnati, the Yankees? It’s just not widely known.

The bottom line is that Jeff Wilpon is right. The minority owners who have invested in the Mets are none of the fans’ business. I know in today’s information age we want to know everything, but this is a non-issue and I’ll tell you why.

• This has nothing to do with what happens on the field. These minority owners are being brought in to infuse more cash into the team overall and not just the roster which is our business. The renovations that are being made to Citi Field are a prime example of where some of this money is going to.
•  The Mets and Sterling Equities are a privately owned company. They are not required by law to divulge information like this to us and the media.
• It does sound like there have been some sales of the minority shares which means that the sales and new minority owners have been approved of by Major League Baseball.

That last point is what matters most. I believe last week when Bud Selig said:

I do have a lot of worries today, but frankly I’m happy to say the Mets are not one of them.

He knew of the sales and there’s nothing to worry about which is refreshing.

We need to worry about what is on the field, and the players the front office is putting on that field – not who is infusing new cash into the team. I know that is not popular in today’s climate.  We have a GM giving bloggers access to help share team news with the fans, and yet one of them attacks the owners of the Mets in order to help drive up his book sales. As long as MLB is happy and approves what the owners are doing, that is good enough for me and should be good enough for the fan base as well.

A little more than two weeks ago it was announced by Fred and Jeff Wilpon that they were exploring the option of adding a partner(s) to own the New York Mets.

Naturally the news hit the blogs and Twitter in no time and there was talk among Mets fans on who they would want to own the team. There were two names that came up many times as possible new owners for the Mets:

James Dolan: Not surprising at all, he already owns two of the major sports teams in New York, the Knicks and the Rangers who both make Madison Square Garden their home. Dolan in the past has even expressed his interest in owning the Mets. He certainly has the money to run another team and would certainly compete with the Yankees in spending.

Mark Cuban: Mark Cuban as we all know is a self made billionaire. He currently owns the Dallas Mavericks.  Cuban has also been very vocal about wanting to own a Major League Baseball team. He has tried unsuccessfully to purchase both the Chicago Cubs and recently The Texas Rangers but was blocked by MLB for not being a good ole boy.

Both Dolan and Cuban have the money to run a major league team in a big market that’s for sure. Dolan has showed in the past he is willing to spend money. Cuban always wants to win. If I had to pick 1 to be the owner it would have to be Mark Cuban. Dolan has done a horrible job with both the Knicks and Rangers over the years. Dolan stays loyal to the people he hires to run his teams to a fault. Glen Sather has been the President and GM for The Rangers for too long. Many including myself believe that if Isiah Thomas did not a bring a lawsuit on MSG he would still be running the Knicks.

Then you look at how Mark Cuban has turned the Dallas Mavericks around since purchasing the team. Before purchasing the team the Mavericks had a winning percentage of 20%. Cuban has owned the team for 10 years now and their winning percentage now stands at 69%. The Mavericks have also made the playoffs every year under Cuban’s ownership including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2006.

The chances that both Cuban and Dolan would buy a 25% stake in the team are pretty low. I can’t imagine either owner wanting to fork over 250-300 million dollars to have no say in operations or the direction of the team. I also doubt MLB is going to allow Cuban to own a team, considering they have already turned him down twice.

Cuban has already gone on record as saying that he would be very interested in buying part or all of the Mets, but was also adamant that the Wilpons would have to make the first move and call him. I don’t blame him.

Who do you want to own the team? It doesn’t have to be realistic, it’s just to have a discussion.

I’ve tried my very best to call upon the better angels to guide my thoughts on the recent firings of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.  What seems to be becoming the yearly sideshow where the Wilpons are apologizing in some fashion for the Mets abject failures, I can finally say it’s taken its toll. Normally I’m a fairly positive person; a glass is half full type of guy, but after taking some time to dissect and digest what the Wilpons had to say, I’ve become more jaded than ever.

So, in honor of Omar Minaya, let me say, with that said, my apologies to those who feel we should take everything the Wilpons have said at face value. I unfortunately no longer have that benefit to offer them.

In one of his recent articles on MMO, Joe D made a great point when he illustrated the contentious fact that for some still unexplained reason, Oliver Perez was allowed to remain on the 25 man roster.  It also made me start to think.

Contrary to what so many of us thought, when the subject of Oliver Perez was raised by one of the beat writers, Jeff Wilpon said that Omar Minaya never once asked for permission to cut Perez or Castillo. “Not once.” – Joe D

Jeff Wilpon went on to say at the presser,

“There was never a time where there was a suggestion where they said, ‘Get rid of so-and-so and eat the contract.’ If that had been brought up, we would have taken it under advisement and spoken about it with. But that was never brought to us.” – Jeff Wilpon

I’m finding this difficult to believe, in spite of the general consensus regarding Omar Minaya’s tenure. Let’s just assume for a moment that this was a true statement and Minaya never did present the Wilpons with the option of eating Oliver Perez’ contract.

Why would Minaya compound on his foolish decision to sign Oliver Perez to a bloated contract, by continuing to keep him on the roster knowing fully well that he’s clearly no longer a major league capable pitcher?  Even the much maligned Jerry Manuel knew that, hence the rare times he actually used Perez.

Yes it was Perez’s right to refuse an assignment; that much we all know by now. It was also Minaya’s right, actually more like his duty, to field 25 contributing baseball players. We are told to believe that for some unknown reason, Minaya preferred to shortchange his team. Why? Was it the hope that Perez would wake up one morning and magically regain his 93 MPH fastball? Was it the money left on his contract? If so isn’t the primary role of a GM – my apologies for being redundant – to field 25 contributing ballplayers? Can someone answer that logically?

Minaya I’m sure at some point in the near future, would still like a job somewhere in Major League Baseball. Why would any team want to hire a former General Manager willing to handicap his team in such a manner?  It would be akin to a Scarlet Letter on his resume from here on out. All of this we are told to assume as fact – or at least that is what Jeff Wilpon stated in the Wilpon press conference.

I hate sounding conspiratorial and the last thing that interests me is controversy for the sake of controversy, but I like to think I still have some deductive reasoning brain cells left. I have yet to find an interview of Minaya where he explains his side of the story regarding keeping Perez on the roster.  It was never asked of him at his impromptu press conference the day of his firing, which interestingly enough took place BEFORE Jeff Wilpon said Minaya never offered the option to ownership to eat Perez’ contract. 

It would be interesting how he answers that question even more than the answer itself. Some will say who cares, Minaya is gone. True to an extent, but a few others in this drama remain and are doubtful to ever leave with one in particular who will have his finger on the next GM’s pulse. So the question remains and if there’s a legitimate answer, albeit perhaps a damning answer if that for Minaya, then so be it. Case closed.

Just keep this in mind, even though he’s been relieved of his duties, Omar Minaya is still under contract with the Mets for the next two years and like many contracts, many have morals clauses and moral clauses often have stipulations where one cannot publicly admonish their employers or face some sort of penalty (financial?).

Talk about being thrown under the bus. I hope I’m wrong, I really am but how many times have we been told to take people at face value over the last few years? It didn’t work out too well for those Weapons of Mass Destruction did it Mr. Bush? How’s that American Recovery and Reinvestment plan working out for you President Obama? I know totally different and truely weighty subjects but, I have a feeling you know what I’m trying to say.

I know this comes off like another trash the Wilpons piece. I have given them credit when it’s due especially when Fred Wilpon stoically and unceremoniously founded the Welcome Back Veterans program. A program that’s helped millions of Veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve also called them out when appropriate as well, especially Jeff Wilpon.

However, try to see this through Omar Minaya’s eyes.

Would YOU say something to contradict what your boss says about you if he’s essentially going to pay you a few million dollars over the next 2 years to do nothing? Especially if your contradiction nullifies the contract?  I guess that answer speaks wonders about all of us and not just Omar Minaya.

Reports have surfaced Omar Minaya’s better angels are booking a flight to Aruba as we speak.

I watched the press conference and it all sounded nice but we’ve heard this all before. This organization talks a great game but when it’s time to deliver they’ve failed over and over again.  I know a lot of fans are happy that Omar and Jerry are done and they liked this press conference and are encouraged by it but I just don’t share their optimism. I wish I could but this team and the way it has been run in the past doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

One of the things I hated was when the Wilpons said that they wanted to improve the team and win baseball games. Of course we all want them to win baseball games but we also want them to win a championship. To me that quote is very similar to meaningful baseball game sin September.

I didn’t like that Omar Minaya is still working with this organization and that the Wilpons said it’s up to the new General Manager whether Omar has a job or not.  I get it Omar has a contract and the Mets have to honor that contract.  Having said that Omar didn’t do his job.  I actually I should say he didn’t do a good job.  He has embarrassed this organization in the past, he should no longer in any fashion have a job with the New York Mets.  Much like Bobby Bonilla starting next year let Omar sit home and collect his paycheck.

I felt that the Wilpons insulted our intelligence once again by saying that they never once told Omar “NO.”  Maybe before 2008 that is true but for the last 2 seasons you cannot tell me that Omar was allowed to make moves and spend money.  I know they downplayed the Madoff scandal again but it had something to do with spending.

I did like that the Wilpons said that the General Manager will hire the manager. That is a step in the right direction.  I don’t know what that exactly does for Wally Backman, I guess we’ll have to wait until a new GM is hired.  I do hope that the new GM allows the next manager to pick his own staff. I also appreciated the way Fred Wilpon spoke about his love of this franchise.  I honestly believe he was being sincere in his statement.  I was a little confused though by him saying that he was still in charge.  The media and Fred himself have made it clear over the last couple of years that Jeff is in charge of the team.  Perhaps he worded his statement wrong but it comes off as unorganized in my opinion.

I hope the Wilpons prove me wrong, I really do. I hope that this press conference wasn’t all talk and that their actions will speak louder. We’ll see in 2011.

Bob Klapish of the Bergen Record revealed some of the internal turmoil going on in the Mets front office where it seems Jeff and Fred Wilpon are conflicted as to how the Mets should move forward. In this quote via MetsBlog, it’s quite clear that nothing has been set in stone yet as many have indicated in the last few days.

“According to those familiar with ownership’s thinking… Jeff Wilpon is said to want to move aggressively in the search for a new executive.  Sources say he has “several” candidates in mind who are powerful and experienced enough to re-write the Mets’ business plan.  Fred Wilpon, however, has stronger ties to Minaya, and has yet to sign off on a radical change of direction.”

It will be interesting to see which Wilpon wields the most power between father and son and I guess we’ll all find out soon enough.

I have a feeling that Omar Minaya’s ultimate fate could be a big factor with Fred wanting to retain Minaya in some capacity, while Jeff seems to want Minaya fired outright.

Thankfully there are only 6 more games left of this horrible season.  That also means only 6 more games left of some jerryball.  Last year after the season ended the Mets did a bit of a media blitz that concluded with Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya and Dave Howard going on WFAN with Mike Francesa.  They made a bunch of promises and some excuses that for some reason had Mets fans hopeful for 2010.  I posted a blog here on this site the day after, which you can read here.  I didn’t like what I heard on Francesa’s show and I got blasted in the comments section. Unfortunately I was right to be skeptical as they lied to us.

Jeff Wilpon said the Mets were committed to building a championship caliber team and that spending would not be limited.  Well, after signing the bust that is Jason Bay the Mets didn’t spend much.  Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto were in the starting lineup on opening day.  For some reason Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora were still on this team.  I’m sorry but those guys don’t belong on a championship caliber team.

Omar and little Jeff said that there would be no more mishandling of injuries. Unfortunately that was a big old lie as well.  Look at how Jose Reyes’ oblique injury was handled.  Reyes was put into the lineup while suffering with oblique injury, and only allowed to bat from one side of the plate.  I don’t see how that is improving on handling injuries.  Jason Bay after hitting his head off the outfield wall in Dodger Stadium not only stayed in that game, he played the next one and then flew on a plane to New York and hasn’t played since.  Johan Santana’s injury was misdiagnosed as a pectoral problem.  Now I’m no doctor but I think the training staff might have missed human anatomy 101.  Plus Santana before being diagnosed correctly was allowed to throw and not even given an MRI.  They also promised to communicate better with the fans and media about the injuries.  Once Santana was diagnosed correctly, the Mets had a press conference where they tried to play down the severity of this shoulder injury by citing position players who came back from the same surgery.  They of course didn’t mention that pitchers who have had the same surgery as Johan has have yet to come back and throw a pitch in the majors.

I’m sure once this season is over the Mets will do another media blitz.  They will say things that sound good but in reality it will only be more cheap talk and hollow promises.

“They have a problem they don’t understand: This is not a desirable location. New York is desirable, but this is the wrong borough. I don’t think it has sunk in with Jeff yet that he is running a team that the best people might not want to work for.”  ~  An NL Executive

I think Joel Sherman’s article in Sunday’s New York Post pretty much sums up why the next few months for the Mets will make the past few months seem like a walk in the park. It’s no shocker that both Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya will be gone very soon.

Whether Omar is reassigned or not is pointless since he’s essentially already been emasculated since the end of last season’s debacle. At this point, you might as well say that Jeff Wilpon is running the day to day operations, including GM duties.

It has to be annoying as all hell for Omar Minaya to have junior Wilpon shadowing his every move. Imagine going to work everyday and having your boss pretty much over your shoulder, second and third guessing your every decision. It’s enough to make anyone want to pull an emergency chute grab two beers and call it a day.

Perhaps it would be slightly more palatable if Jeff Wilpon actually had a background in professional baseball other than the blind luck of having his dad own the team. Think of it this way; it’s not as if Minaya has the gaul to advise the Wilpons on what prime real estate ventures they should be embarking on. However it is what it is and like Sherman said in his post, there are 30 GM jobs out there and they all come with their own baggage.

Jeff Wilpon seems to be the baggage that just won’t find it’s way lost on an international flight to Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, he very well may be the stumbling block in the way of hiring any General Manager this offseason.

Can you really see John Hart or Josh Byrnes having the patience to listen to Jeff Wilpon wax poetic on his views of why he signed Kaz Matsui after seeing him play a few times in Japan, dubbing him the future shortstop of the Mets just a few years ago?

Yes, junior Wilpon has had his finger on the pulse of many a decision going back now. You would think that the elder Wilpon would at some point put an end to his son’s embarrassing meddling.

Most of us remember how disjointed the Yankee’s were for many years under Steinbrenner. Now whether he really abdicated authority to the likes of Gene Michaels and later to Brian Cashman – or just toned down his rhetoric- either way, when George Steinbrenner was less vocal – his team finally was able to win and later dominate.

It’s a lesson that Fred Wilpon should really take to heart – that is unless he’s more interested in pleasing his son’s vanity versus putting a winning team on the field.

It’s actually not rocket science for us to assume what people like Fred Wilpon must be thinking. Just because he happens to be a billionaire doesn’t preclude him from being a father who wants to see his son excel. I totally can understand that. However I think it’s safe to say enough is enough.

With all the talk about reassigning Omar Minaya perhaps it’s due time for the elder Wilpon to reassign junior to a lesser role. Give him his fancy title with all the trappings but reign him in for the love of God.

Whoever the Mets hire to run this team, both on the field and in the front office, should be given a fair chance to win (or lose) on their own merits. Any assistance from Jeff Wilpon should be left at Mr. Mets dressing room door.

First, Jeff Wilpon and John Ricco make an unexpected stop in Atlanta on Monday to watch the Mets lose to the Bravos. It prompts Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, to suggest a potential shakeup was in the works.

“With just over a month remaining in the season, the Mets remain far from playoff contention, spawning the notion that a personnel shakeup is on the horizon.”

While in Atlanta, Wilpon seemed edgy and didn’t want to discuss anything with reporters, but did manage to take a swipe at his star player when he was asked if he would trade David Wright and break up the team’s core. “Is he part of the core?” Wilpon said. Ouch.

Then on Thursday, Jeff Wilpon shoots back to Brooklyn to meet up with Wally Backman to take in a Cyclones game.

I’m guessing that after watching his Mets stink it up for a few days at Turner Field, he just wanted to remember what it was like to play meaningful games in September. Right? Fugheddaboudit!

Hey, do you think the subject of Mets manager came up while Wally and Jeff were chumming it up in the garden spot of New York?

That’s exactly what the Brooklyn Paper was wondering, so they caught up with Wally and flat out asked him. His reply?

“No. No. He came in for some, uh (pause), um, they had to look at some structural stuff, I guess, for the stadium.”

Oh my… Hey Wally… If you’re gonna crumble under pressure like that from talking to some local yokel from Park Slope, how in the world are you gonna handle the pressure cooker that is the Mets media room after each game?

So how many of you believe that Jeff Wilpon really met with Backman to discuss stadium renovations?

Finally, there goes Omar Minaya yesterday, boarding a super cheap Jet Blue flight to Chicago and mixing it up with the muckety-mucks in coach. Omar has enough problems these days, but getting roasted on a plane loaded with disgruntled Mets fans had to be one helluva harrowing experience for him. It feels like the Wilpons might be showing him the door if you ask me… Coach? Really? 

All of this could mean nothing, but I don’t think so. Something tells me that we might be close to a massive shakeup that will include Jerry Manuel and most of his coaches, and even the big guy Omar Minaya will be ousted as well.

It’s been reported by many that no changes will happen before the end of the season, but I don’t think so… I’m feeling a sense of urgency in the air.

Or Knicks owner James Dolan for his quizzical attempt to re-hire former head coach Isaiah Thomas as a consultant to the team, considering his first run with the Knicks went so swimmingly.

Photo courtesy of Metstradamus

Arrogance and stupidity be damned, this tag team of New York business power brokers seem to have cornered the industry market on head scratching moves.

If the Latin term, “Fortes fortuna adiuvat – Fortune favors the bold – describes New York life, then these men are living the dream; too bad it’s giving it’s resident’s and fans all the subsequent nightmares.

The soap opera that is the New York Mets- seem to be making the days of our lives- ahem- drag on like a never ending bad cliffhanger. With each loss the Mets are falling further and further out of competing. I don’t even dare to say contention at this point since contention implies the potential to overcome and succeed.

No, these gears my friends, are grinding ever so slowly to a disheartening halt, that no injection of a fresh face from a trade or even the cut of player such as Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo could possibly remedy. In fact, the team overall is finally healthy, notwithstanding the usual aches and pains here and there. Yet still they’re sinking and in serious danger of becoming the most expensive irrelevant professional sports franchise outside of Madison Square Garden.

I’ve said all year long that the Mets are the most consistently inconsistent team in Baseball. Take David Wright who I applauded for having a potential MVP quality season no less than a few weeks ago. Since the All Star break Wright has returned to his early season inconsistent self, striking out at alarming rate. His second half .198 batting average is coupled with another power outage- only 3 round trippers and a pathetic 12 RBI and 28 strikeouts in just 96 at bats.

The Mets technically went into this spiral just before the All Star game losing 6 of 10 leading up to the midway classic. Skeptics figured for some time that the team was in need of more than a trade here or there but hindsight is always 20-20. We’ll never know what effect a trade would have had on this team at least psychologically. Having support from management on up does play a role in how a team performs no matter how players want to stoically play it off.

Unfortunately when you couple the inability or desire to make a trade for ANY help along with the gradual decline the team has undergone- and sprinkle in some of the most idiotic managerial moves from Jerry Manuel- it shouldn’t be a huge surprise where the Metropolitans are right now.

To add insult to injury, Francisco Rodriguez decided to go all Fight Club on his father-in-law, getting himself arrested at CitiField for punching him with an order of protection placed on him as a chaser. I guess Darryl Strawberry should finally be happy now that someone on the team is showing a nasty streak, aren’t you? Disgraceful.

All the while we have Mets ownership tight lipped as ever except for the praise Fred Wilpon expressed for both his son and COO Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya for the job’s they’ve done. I’m not sure a pat on the back is what this dynamic duo needs or better yet deserves. Perhaps what irks me most is the flippant way Fred Wilpon responded to a question from a reporter of the New York Post when asked if Omar Minaya will continue in his position. His response-

“Will the sun come out tomorrow?”

Later as Wilpon tried to make his escape from the Post, he was asked about how his son Jeff is doing- leading to this gem of a response.

(As to how Jeff Wilpon is doing) “Excellent…everybody knows that.”

Why do I feel like Danny De Vito in the movie Twins when he meets Schwarzenegger for the first time and is told that he’s his twin brother- and De Vito says wryly,

“Well obviously. The moment I saw you I thought I was looking in the mirror.”

This is the type of self delusional mentality the Mets have come to, a similar fate that has been prescribed to the New York Knicks and it’s Chairman, James Dolan who recently saw fit to make an attempt to re-hire former head coach Isaiah Thomas as an adviser.

Yes the same Isaiah Thomas who was embroiled and found liable along with MSG of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a former New York Knicks executive- costing the team $11.6 million in damages. The same Isaiah Thomas who’s vast knowledge of basketball- did little to pull his team out of the depths of irrelevance and failure.

If one can make a true comparison to both the Knicks and the Mets it’s that both teams have made questionable long term commitments to players- turning contracts into franchise paralyzing albatrosses.

Luckily for the Knicks they’ve finally come out of the dark with those contracts. As for the Mets, the gifts will keep on giving for a few more years to come.

It goes to show you that money doesn’t buy you common sense. I’m a believer in loyalty and there’s no question that both the Fred Wilpon and James Dolan have that in spades, but there comes a time that all soap operas get canceled.

Here’s to hoping for cloudy Seattle days in Salem…I mean Queens.

Likewise, some fans are lamenting trades that never happened or were close to happening at the deadline.  We talk mostly about the “core” and the parts of the team who are “untouchable.”  It was rumored that in the Houston Astros’ quest to find a suitor for pitcher Roy Oswalt, the Mets would have had to relinquish Jon Niese, one lovely surprise this season.  In other rumored trades, Josh Thole or Ike Davis were the “major league ready” talent at the very least.  According to the writers and sources “close to the Mets,” the major league ready talent were classified as “untouchable.”

Let’s think about that word for a minute.  Untouchable. One Webster Dictionary definition of “untouchable” means “not to be handled.”  In the baseball world, and in Mets terms, there are players who will not be moved around despite anything that happens to that player or the team while the player is there.

To a spectator, the core has been construed as Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana, with supportive “home grown” players Davis, Thole and Niese (Mike Pelfrey to a lesser extent, since who knows what happened to him recently).  Let’s take a look at two members of this core: Jose Reyes and David Wright.  These two young guys are under contract for a few more years, and are incredibly cheap by most standards (especially by Mets standards, who have demonstrated the ability to overpay for unsubstantiated talent).  Wright made his debut in 2004, Reyes in 2003.  By most accounts, these two were the cornerstones, the future franchises, the Mets’ position player versions of our own franchise pitcher, Tom Seaver.

In the years they’ve been here, the team has been plagued with management-turnover and instability issues (Art Howe, Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel have all been skippers of the team in those years), leadership issues (Carlos Delgado was considered the leader with his bat, yet would disappear after abysmal performances, setting up comments by teammates who noticed as well) and veteran presence (Cliff Floyd and Moises Alou, who were both prone to injury, and “Captain Red Ass” Paul LoDuca).

However, in the years since the Boy Wonders signed their extensions, the Mets went on an improbable run in 2006, making it to Game 7 in the NLCS, monumentally collapsing in 2007, falling apart at the end of 2008, no comment on 2009, to now: playing .500 ball 2/3 of the way into the season, which does not leave a huge margin of error down the stretch.  If you noticed, heartbreak is a more common theme than actual triumph in those years.

The only true “constant” they’ve had is that Omar Minaya has been the General Manager most of their years with the Mets and Jeff Wilpon has been around all those years.  It was Minaya himself who signed the “Dynamic Duo,” as they were heralded, to extensions in 2006, guaranteeing they would be Mets for several more years.

The Mets are projected to be a .500 team going down the stretch, and were so predicted by computers in the preseason.  The Mets also boast the fifth highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $132.7 million, and the third highest in the National League behind the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Clearly, payroll isn’t everything, since the Cubs are having their own nightmare of a season, and the Phillies are being bit by the same injury bug that plagued the Mets in 2009 (but they are still executing).

The Mets have been underachieving and accepting of it since, oh I would say June 2007.   It’s one thing to make moves and act like a big market team, which is clear they try to project on the ownership and management side.  However, getting the least out of the players and parts you have is another story.

I believe it’s a bit shortsighted of management to at least not consider offers for under contract players who are the supposed cornerstones of the franchise.  If ownership is truly committed to win and not by pure profit, then studying moves would be necessary to initiate a WINNING CULTURE.  Fans are getting restless, and I have to believe the players are as well.  They come to New York for fame, money and championships.  The current Mets may not exactly be the “Worst Team Money Can Buy,” but it’s certainly the most mediocre and blase team one can buy.

For $130-plus million, it can achieve a lot more.  Come October 3, 2010, this team may need to be reevaluated for those purposes.  If the players are the problem, and they are not executing, it’s time to get rid of them.  I want to state for the record: I am not advocating trades of Reyes or Wright.  Beltran has a no-trade clause; I’d also like to point out that Roy Oswalt did as well and waived it.  Moving right along, Johan Santana is a great “problem” to have.  For the record that I was not exactly “supportive” of trading away Niese or Thole or Davis for half-year rentals or even under-contract injuries-waiting-to-happen at the deadline.  However, if the Mets truly end up as a .500 team this season, why would there be so many untouchable pieces?  I am not saying a vanity move of trading Jeff Francoeur, who would not net a lot in return.  Cutting Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo outright would speak volumes; again, don’t see it happening.

I have to wonder what ownership is thinking these days.  Reporters need their “headlines,” and who better to talk to than Mr. Money Bags himself, Fred Wilpon.  Wilpon suggested that Minaya was safe for 2011 and that he believed Jeff Wilpon to be doing an “excellent” job.  Seriously, was Fred going to say something scandalous by suggesting Minaya could be on his way out or that he thought his son was doing a terrible job of managing the baseball operations?  However, it does bring me pause in the elder Wilpon’s thinking that if he believes things are going swimmingly, we can all expect more of the same in 2011.

MMO’s own Tie Dyed wrote a passionate piece on David Wright recently, projecting that if he walked, it could be devastating to the franchise like Tom Seaver’s trade was.  I see the comparison, but it would be a different environment since it would be contractual and not via trade.  Minaya is terrible at evaluating, dollars-wise, major league talent, what’s to say he would get anything of value for these guys anyway?  Perhaps it was luck that the Mets parted with such little in the Johan Santana trade (however, that was more Minaya overvaluing his own prospects…I digress).

All of this is hypothetical.  The Mets could possibly turn it on and go 44-14 in this next stretch and surprise us all.  Jeff Wilpon could say that Omar Minaya is being reassigned within the organization at the end of 2010, and that Howard Megdal is taking over the General Manager operations.  Come Opening Day 2011, we could all be high-fiving each other during the ring ceremony (yes, I still have a bit of Kool-Aid left).

If the path of .500 is enough to warrant that any player, no matter how good, is “untouchable,” then this team is in more trouble than the standings can ever point out.

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets’ reign of error is set to continue into 2011. Fred Wilpon will retain Omar Minaya for the 2011 season. 

The team’s principal owner, Fred Wilpon, on Thursday said he is planning to stick with general manager Omar Minaya beyond this year, despite the threat of a second straight losing season.

Wilpon, in East Hartford, Conn., to help announce a new partnership between SNY and UConn athletics, brushed aside reporters’ inquiries about his floundering Mets. But as Wilpon walked away, a Post reporter asked if Minaya would remain the team’s GM beyond this year.

“Is the sun going to come up tomorrow?” Wilpon answered.

Minaya is signed through the 2012 season and still owed more than $2 million.

Last August, in the midst of a nightmarish 70-win season, Wilpon offered a similar endorsement for Minaya, answering “Absolutely. That’s a fact,” when asked by The Post if Minaya would remain as GM in 2010.

To further infuriate his fan base, Wilpon also gave a thumbs up on the job performance by his son, team COO Jeff Wilpon. As Fred Wilpon ducked into a chauffeured automobile he was asked about the job Jeff is doing,

“Excellent,” Fred Wilpon said. “Everybody knows that.”

Wow…

Fred Wilpon may be more out of touch with his fanbase, than any other owner in sports.

It’s a shame that any hope for change after this season, has now been squashed by an owner who is oblivious to all the ineptitude and turmoil that has plagued this team in the last half decade.

To say that his son Jeff has done an “excellent job” is mind-blowing to me… Excellent how? 

It might be time to start hitting them where it hurts, and that is in their pockets.

Profits are the only thing that seems to get their attention these days.

I had a conversation on Twitter a few nights ago about Minaya, actually, about this very topic.  Our consensus was while we thought him to be a great talent evaluator, as far as the “executionary” part of his title as General Manager, he falls short quite a bit.

In the offseason leading up to 2006, it seemed like everything Minaya touched turned to gold.  While he executed a deal for Xavier Nady to get rid of surplus outfielder Mike Cameron, some questioned the move, but the deal paid off in dividends right away on Opening Day that season as Nady quickly endeared himself to Mets fans.  Trading Kris Benson for a “bag of balls” that included Jorge Julio, who was turned around for Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, and for “throw-in” John Maine, who quickly became a mainstay in the pitching rotation.

He fleeced the Florida Marlins in their fire sale, getting super slugger Carlos Delgado and fireball Paul LoDuca while giving up what amounted to be spare parts, vaulting the Mets from perennial Wild Card contender to immediate National League East Champions.  I was probably first in line, willing to drink whatever Kool-Aid the Mets and Omar were serving.  Looking back, though, since the Marlins made those chips available (along with Josh Beckett, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox that same offseason), I think that any sane person could have made those deals.  You and me included.

Then there was the “panic deal” in response to losing Duaner Sanchez to a season-ending freak car accident injury, he turned Xavier Nady around to get Roberto Hernandez and reclamation project Oliver Perez. We all know how well THAT deal has worked for them.

Minaya has been heralded by fans and beat writers (not to mention bloggers) for his propensity of the “deal not made,” which includes the non-deals and non-overpayment of the likes of Barry Zito, not to mention passing on Alfonso Soriano who is locked up with the Chicago Cubs for several seasons (truth be told, I am pretty sure he was never even close to being a Met, like, ever).

For example, when Zito signed a gargantuan contract with his native San Francisco Giants, everyone applauded Minaya for not overpaying simply to make a DEAL after falling short that season.  I have to say that if your only “panic move” is to orchestrate a trade for Oliver Perez, well, barring the residual (having him take up an unnecessary roster space because the management is too stubborn to admit they made a mistake), that’s not a terrible thing.

Sometimes the deal not made is the best thing.  Panic moves are never a good thing since it seems like the seller always seems to win somehow.  However, I wonder just how the sense of urgency is with Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon, who signs the checks and presumably is approval-stamping any and all potential deals that will be made.  If any.

I am not encouraged, due to the non-moves in the past at the trading deadline, particularly under Minaya’s reign.

In 2005, the big story was that the Mets were going to get Manny Ramirez.  That didn’t happen (of course the rumors of Manny-to-Mets never quite ended, even though he is gainfully employed by Mannywood themselves, the Los Angeles Dodgers).

In 2006, several “stories” surfaced, mostly by bored beat writers, about then-Mets prospect Lastings Milledge potentially involved in a big deal netting Barry Zito (see: aforementioned payroll-and-year usurping contract in San Francisco).  Personally I never believed any of those stories.  For one, Billy Beane stated ON RECORD that he never spoke to Omar Minaya.  If anyone read Moneyball, you’d know that to be true.

MIlledge was again the centerpiece in a potential three-way deal that would have brought Roy Oswalt to the Mets in 2007.  Of course, being that they brought in a third team with a crazy owner (Peter Angelos), the deal did not get done.  One good thing came out of it though: Oswalt signed yet a long payroll-and-year usurping contract with the Houston Astros that same year.  Well, good for Oswalt, bad for the Astros: he now is heavily involved in trade rumors once again.

The interesting thing in two of those scenarios is that a third team was needed to suit the needs of the team the Mets really wanted to conduct a deal with (the Rays were brought in to appease the Red Sox in 2005, Baltimore Orioles in 2007 for the Astros).  This leads me to believe that Omar Minaya is either a.) not confident in his own scouting abilities to send his own prospects/players to another team for a big chip or b.) overvalues his own prospects/players in a deal that other teams do not wish to deal with him as a businessman.

Judging from their style of play since the All-Star Break, and the dozen or so games leading up to it is that the Mets have been playing lackluster.  They are playing to the level (or beneath) their competition, they are not playing with any sense of urgency…heck, they even LOOK lethargic on the west coast.  They can’t use jet lag as an excuse…they’ve been out there for over a week.  I can tell you from experience, it’s much easier to adjust to their time than coming back here.

I’m not buying the whole “chemistry” thing either.  I do believe in a period of adjustment with Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo returning to the team.  Ultimately, they will get into a groove.  Who else do they have to look forward to returning now though?  Oliver Perez?  If that’s true, just shoot me.  Okay, don’t.  But you get the point.

My feeling is this, and I think we all need to be prepared for this.  Omar Minaya will not make any moves to help the team…nothing major anyway that we’d like to see and immediately help the team.  Today’s big news is that a deal is in place with pitcher Chad Cordero, whom as reports have shown Minaya has coveted since his Washington Nationals days.  Oooh, happy happy.  Not.  Too little, too late, as far as I’m concerned.  However, Cliff Lee is off the block, being he was traded just a few weeks ago.  Oswalt is as good as a Phillie.  Dan Haren’s not leaving the Diamondbacks (which is unfortunate, since I believe he’s the best fit for the Mets right now).

Yes, as history has dictated, Omar Minaya is not a move-to-make-a-move type of guy at the trading deadline.  Sometimes, that’s all well and good.  However, it’s unfortunate this season, because for the Mets to be fully competitive in the second half and the rest of 2010, a deal MUST be made.  A pitcher, a bat, who knows.  They need some kind of shake up and a thought outside-of-the-box, as fellow MMOer Stephen Hanks wrote yesterday, like trading Carlos Beltran (so long as he waived his NTC of course). Personally, I am a fan of packaging Angel Pagan.  I know, he’s been an MVP for the team so far.  Outside of Beltran, he is an incredibly valuable chip.  We can’t have it both ways, keeping valuable chips and getting talent in return.

I’m afraid the fans are going to be the only people who see that though.  I’m not sure if I should be scared, sad or just think it’s plain stupid.

It’s probably a combination of all three.  I’m hoping, of course, that Omar Minaya proves us all wrong and does not render this team dead on arrival on July 31.

Heard this: Bengie Molina has turned down the Mets’ most recent offer, and the Mets are beginning to focus on Joel Pineiro.

Just last week, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported that the Mets were “close” to signing Molina it was expected that something was getting done in 3-4 days. The Mets and Molina have been at odds over the length of any deal with the Mets standing firm on one year plus an option, and recently Molina softened his stance from three years guaranteed to two.

I wonder if this will finally allow the Mets to look at other catching options such as Rod Barajas who might be a better fit anyway?

* * * * * * * * * *

Buster Olney also revealed on his Insider Blog that Omar Minaya was never given a budget to work with and that everything is being done on a case by case business.

This will explain why the Mets have not been able to conduct more than one or two negotiations at the same time. It’s a terrible way to operate a big market team and only strengthens the notion that the Mets front office has become very dysfunctional.

We have already seen some of the dysfunction at work in 2010, and with a an organization that now seems rudderless and without any concrete plan in place, things can only get worse from here.

Most of this comes from the Wilpon’s decision to keep Omar Minaya as the GM even though they apparently have no confidence in his ability to lead the team.

The Mets bought on some good baseball people in the off season to help out, but with Omar still the team’s GM, you can imagine how unorganized things currently are at the top of the Mets hierarchy.

Until the team has a clear leader, how can they be led?

And what is the vision for the future, and who is communicating that vision?

When Wilpon was pressed by Francesa to spell out specifically what he would do differently in 2010, Wilpon responded as follows:

“Obviously, mistakes were made with respect to how player injuries were handled. There was a lot of miscommunication, especially with injuries that occurred on the road. We need to do a better job with how the recommendations were handled from our doctors at the Hospital for Special Surgery.”

Wilpon said that the team will do a better job of getting everyone in the front office on the same page with regard to how injured players were being handled. He also emphasized that he “will change their medical protocols” to help limit injuries in the future, and that he will “personally see to it” that the team does a better job of communicating injuries to the media.

In his very first test of 2010, Jeff Wilpon has failed to deliver on any of the promises he made to Mets fans a little over three months ago. 

His inability to do the right thing and fire Omar Minaya, may have been the catalyst for the recent public relations nightmare surrounding the team’s best player, Carlos Beltran. His decision to micro-manage Minaya and control every facet of his responsibilities has just blown up in his face.

Furthermore, the apparent lack of communication and coordination between the medical staff, the head trainer, the general manager, the assistant general manager and the COO of the Mets was appalling and disgraceful at best. In fact, it was an epic fail.

Here are the facts…

It was quite obvious that Omar Minaya was not in the loop while Wilpon, Howard and Ricco were scurrying around trying to delay the surgery. While they frantically attempted to find a doctor to get a third opinion, their GM (in name only) Omar Minaya was on the phone wishing Carlos Beltran good luck with his knee surgery in the morning. Can you believe that? How in God’s name was Minaya left out of the loop? He was absolutely oblivious to the fact the rest of the front office was trying to put the brakes on the procedure.

On the morning of the surgery, Mets Trainer, Ray Ramirez signed and faxed all the necessary forms to Colorado for the surgery to go forward that morning at 7:00 AM. Without these signed insurance forms the surgery could not take place that morning. Not only was the surgery done with the signature and approval of a Mets employee, but the entire procedure was approved and paid for by the Mets insurance company.

According to Dr. Steadman who performed the surgery, he was in constant communication with the Mets medical director David Altchek, who agreed with Steadman’s recommendation that he have surgery. Altchek left off with Dr. Steadman that he would relay the information to the Mets that Beltran would be having surgery in the morning. The Mets say they never knew, but that doesn’t ring true. They had to know. Why would they later mention that they wanted to get a third opinion, unless they already had the opinions of both their Medical Director and Dr. Steadman?

During the conference call, Assistant GM John Ricco, refused to elaborate on the discussions both Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya had with Scott Boras in the 24 hours preceding the surgery. He would only acknowledge that there were phone calls made, but that he wasn’t on those calls. So why not wait until Omar Minaya was available to have the conference call? And even though both Minaya and Wilpon were In Arizona, why couldn’t they participate from there? It was reported that they were on a plane during the 2:00 PM conference call, but it was later revealed that they did not board their plane until four hours later at 6:00 PM.

If they were going to levy these unsubstantiated charges against their star centerfielder, and if they are as committed to better communication as they said they would be, why weren’t the principal parties in those phone calls on that conference call to answer the important questions?

Why did the Mets go out of their way to make such a public spectacle of this even going so far as to simulcast the conference call live on SNY to gain the widest possible reach they could?

The conference call answered no questions and raised hundreds more. Not only were we not able to get the details of the phone calls between Minaya, Wilpon, Boras and Beltran, but John Ricco refused to elaborate on the legal aspects that the entire call was centered around. They wanted the world to know that they were invoking their legal rights under the terms of the contract, but they refused to tell us the whos, whats, wheres and whens. Is this the better communication they spoke of?

Finally, why the big delay? Last night, Mets third baseman David Wright wondered why Beltran would have the surgery now?

It’s a good question, but Wright pointed it at the wrong person (most likely under the Mets tutelage).

On December 3rd, Carlos Beltran was in New York to get an MRI on his ailing knee again. It was immediately discovered that there was loose cartilage and bone fragments caused by a degenerative disease known as osteo-arthritis. On December 13th the pain worsened and another MRI showed even more deterioration in the knee. He was told to “ramp down” his workouts. Beltran instead wanted a second opinion and he got permission to see Dr. Steadman who had treated him last season. It was determined that he would most likely need surgery to clean it up. Almost a month laster, a subsequent trip to Colorado this past Tuesday, only confirmed that original diagnosis which was also echoed by the Mets Medical Director.

To answer David Wright’s question “why now?”, the Mets already knew of this serious condition on December 3rd and yet their plan was to wait. It was a plan that was doomed to failure. Bone fragments, bone spurs and torn cartilage does not go away with “ramping down your workouts” as the Mets advised him. If his knee got this bad due to some light pre spring training workout regimen, what did they expect would happen with the full throttle rigors of spring training? Is this the better way of handling medical information that they promised back in October?

Could it be that the Mets suppressed that information for over a month so that they could sign Jason Bay without giving the player any further leverage in the negotiations? In the meantime they withheld the staggering news that their centerfielder’s knee was deteriorating rapidly. Is this their improved way of communicating player injury updates to the media as they promised in October?

The Mets have become their own worst enemies. Problems like this happen to all teams, but none of them compound their problems in the unbelievable way that the Mets do. The more they try to fix the problems, the greater the problems become. I’ve never witnessed a more colossal scale of ineptness and incompetence, as I’ve witnessed with the Mets in the last three years.

The Mets are an absolute disaster right now.

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.

“most of the injuries happened while the team was on the road and that the team relied too heavily on other team doctors”

Jeff Wilpon also mentioned that the Dodgers team doctors had made the original diagnosis that Jose Reyes had a calf injury.  The Dodgers were not happy about this and felt that Wilpon was wrong when he made that statement, they released a statement of their own saying that:

“the Mets have official documentation showing that the correct diagnosis of Mr. Reyes was made here in Los Angeles in May.”

According to the Dodgers, Dr. Neal ElAttrache examined Reyes and concluded that Jose Reyes did have a partly torn accessory hamstring tendon.  The Mets decided to have Jose play in one game during that series in which he lasted only a couple of innings, he ran to first, came up lame and did not play another game for the Mets for 2009.

The Times asked the Mets to respond to Dr. ElAttrache’s diagnosis Mets public relations guru Jay Horrowitz said:

“The Mets and Dodgers doctors have spoken.”

This is so typical of this team.  The Mets have shown this whole season that they refuse to take responsibility for anything that they do wrong, always trying to blame it on someone else.  We saw that earlier this season when Omar Minaya had to fire his friend Tony Bernazard he tried to discredit Adam Rubin, saying Rubin wanted a job with the Mets and once again Jeff Wilpon is now blaming the Dodgers and their medical team in the mishandling of Jose Reyes’ injury.

Word going around is that the Dodgers are not happy about the Mets making these false statements and now there is a rift between the Dodgers and Mets.  I’m not surprised in the least, I wonder how the Mets will try to spin this latest mistake, they will probably embarrass themselves and most Met fans I’m sure.

Fred Wilpon reiterated in the press conference as well as on the radio with Mike Francesa that the Mets are dedicated to delivering a championship-caliber team next year.  He also said that what happened this past season was disappointing and unacceptable.  Jeff made statements that make for nice sound bites and encourages fans to buy season tickets for 2010.

However, there are some things that Jeff Wilpon said that shows what is wrong with this organization.  Instead of admitting their mistakes and fessing up to what went wrong this season Jeff continued to make excuses.

On The Handling Of Injuries: Jeff said that the reason for the mishandling of the injuries was that most of the injuries happened while the team was on the road and that the team relied too heavily on other team doctors.  This is without a doubt a big cop out.  They could have easily put the injured player on a plane back to New York and got them looked at by their own doctors.  He even said on WFan that Jose’s calf injury was misdiagnosed while on the road and they didn’t learn of this injury until he got back from the West Coast.  One of your star players, you don’t send to a team doctor to get checked out?  You wait until something else develops?

Free Agents/Trades/Budget/Jerry Manuel:  Jeff put all this responsibility solely on Omar Minaya.  When asked about how much the budget will be and how agressive the Mets would be with free agents and the trade market he said over and over it depends on who Omar wants to make this team a championship calibur team.  He never gave an exact number or for that matter an estimate on what ownership has in mind for a budget, just “as much as Omar needs.”  What a way to throw your General Manager under the bus one day after the 2009 season and well before the 2010 season starts.  Him putting this all on Omar pretty much will make them avoid responsibility if 2010 goes the way 2009 went.

This is exactly what is wrong with the Mets.  Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything that happens, they blame it on the most convenient person(s).  Look at how Omar handled Tony B’s firing this summer, he blamed Adam Rubin on wanting a job with player development in exposing Tony B’s bad behavior.

Until this organization steps up and takes responsibility for their actions we will never be in the position to win championships.  You know they have at the very least a ballpark figure they would like the budget to be at yet Fred Wilpon doesn’t say that.  So if they don’t sign or trade anybody Omar is the one who takes the beating in the press.  You see what Jeff Wilpon has done now?  He actually has me feeling a little bad for Omar.  Shame on you Jeff, shame on you!

I know Francesa isn’t the most liked personality within Mets circles, but you have to admit that he pulls no punches and never holds back when he does an interview. There was no shortage of “wow” moments during his one hour long interrogation of the Mets braintrust. He did a fine job of holding their feet to the fire, but easing up and giving them ample time to respond to the criticism. In my opinion, it was a heck of an interview.

I’ve already posted on the Mets potential spending and the Madoff implications, a few times in the last 48 hours so I’ll stay away from that. Suffice it to say that the Wilpons remain committed to spending with no restrictions and their goal is to win a championship in 2010. There were no new revelations during the WFAN interview.

I’m just going to stick to some of the “on the field” issues that I found most interesting. 

Daniel Murphy – I could not believe how much time was spent discussing the virtues of the Murph. The most shocking moment of the entire interview came from Omar Minaya who dared to compare Murphy to Kevin Youkilis. It immediately drew the shock and awe of Francesa who proclaimed, “Are you kidding me?!?!” Youkilis is a remarkable fielder, a .400 OBP guy, and proven run producer, how can you even make such a comparison?!?!” A befuddled Minaya than mumbled something before back-pedaling and admitting it was a bad analogy. What Minaya really wanted to say was that plenty of teams have won the World Series without a power guy at first.

I believe the Mets need a bona fide slugger at first base, and that Murphy would be better fit off the bench. Ideally, the Mets should trade him because it won’t be long until until Ike Davis takes over permanently and Murphy will then become a Met without a position which will wipe out any leverage the Mets may have in trading him later as opposed to now. Then of course there’s that old sophomore jinx theory.

First Base – Much of the discussion centered around first base in general where Francesa hammered Minaya on this one very valid point… If you’re not going to get a huge power bat at first base, where else can you possibly do it? Unless of course you have plans on trading one of your core players? Shockingly, Minaya admitted that trading a core player could be one possibility. To which Francesa replied, that would be crazy because all your core players have big question marks and you would only get fifty cents on a dollar. Minaya quickly retreated again. Francesa then blurted, “If you really want to make Mets fans happy, do whatever it takes to get Prince Fielder or that kid in San Diego, Gonzalez.”

Thanks for putting the bug in his ear Mike… Either of those guys would make such a wonderful stocking stuffer…

Power Bat – “You’re a couple of smart guys, right? You do know that this team is not going anywhere without a huge big time slugger in the lineup. Look at the Phillies… They have 45 homers at first base and another 30-something at second base, how can you possibly compete with that?” That line of questioning by Francesa got both Omar and Jeff to admit that finding a power hitter (or two) will be a top priority. Wilpon said that money will not be an issue and that he is leaving it up to Omar to fill that power void the best way that he can.

The only problem I have is my concern that Omar is being given the keys to the kingdom again… I have no doubt that Omar Minaya can spend the Wilpon’s millions, but my big concern is whether Omar can spend those millions wisely. He has yet to prove that he is capable of doing that.

Citi Field – “Why did you build a park that you knew would hurt your core players David Wright and Carlos Beltran. Didn’t you consider the fact you were going to hurt them offensively? Why did you do it?” Seeing Wilpon mumble his way through his answer was amusing, especially when he said that he only did what Omar and Manuel wanted. Omar’s eyes widened and Francesa turned to him. “Umm, umm, ummm, well, uhh, we wanted to build the team around pitching, speed and defense. We were one of the top running teams in the league.” That particular exchange led to this painful moment for Jeff Wilpon,

” I get calls all the time about Citi Field from Mets fans who felt like you slapped them in the face with all the Brooklyn Dodger stuff and lack of Mets stuff.”

(OUCH!) I actually felt sorry for Jeff who said he did not intend to make Mets fans feel like they were slapped. He also said it was a “proper criticism” and there would be some great new additions including a Mets museum that will be prominently located within the park. I’m looking forward to seeing that, but damn it, I still want statues of Tom Seaver and Gil Hodges erected!

Starting Pitching -  Shocking as it may seem, Omar Minaya defended his signing of Oliver Perez even when Francesa asked, ”If you had a mulligan would you take back the Oliver Perez deal?” Omar believes Ollie can still pitch like he did in 2007. (That’s scary!) Wilpon mentioned a starting pitcher when he was asked what was one of the Mets top needs, and Minaya agreed that they need to backup Santana, who by the way is doing great and feels fantastic. When Wilpon was asked what he felt the team needed most, without hesitation he said starting pitching. Omar quickly agreed.

Those are just a few of the many things that were discussed. I would urge you to go to WFAN and listen to the entire interview if you have an hour to kill. Eric Simon posted an excellent recap of the entire interview on Amazin Avenue, and Matt Cerrone did a fine job of live blogging the interview on MetsBlog.

I had a problem with something that Mike said. For some reason he seemed to whisk away K-Rod’s terrible second half performance at one point in the interview when discussing returning 2010 players.

“I’m not worried about how K-Rod finished because he wasn’t closing in meaningful games and he’s a competitive guy. He’ll be fine next year”

What the heck does that mean???

Come on Mike, the guy is one of the highest paid closers in baseball, is it too much to expect a big effort every time he gets the call?