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.

Their season hasn’t just been a disappointment. It’s been a Freddy Krueger movie. But at least there’s one good thing those fast-sinking New York Mets can say about their 2009 horror show: It’s almost over.

The trouble with that, though, is this: As soon as this lost season is over, it will be time to contemplate a question almost equally scary: Then what?

Today, Peter Gammons throws his weight into the ring with a piece that offers a not so dire outlook and in fact a more realistic approach to fixing the Mets than the Stark article did, in my opinion.

Gammons begins by offering a little advice which suggests the Mets should start using their SNY financial clout to select the best players rather than the most signable players in the June Draft. And then he suggests that the Mets stop worrying so much about what the Yankees are doing.

As for his fixes…

1. One quality starting pitcher. Santana should be back. As we saw with Mike Pelfrey on Sunday, it is there. Jonathon Niese looks to be a quality back-end guy, as does Bobby Parnell. So go try to sign a front-end pitcher. John Lackey wants close to CC Sabathia cash, which may be tough to do with the Santana contract. They can do what Colorado did, find a Jason Marquis; in this case, it could be to accept Bronson Arroyo’s contract … there are ways, and the bullpen should be fine. Maybe Brad Holt and/or Jenrry Mejia can help by June. A big key is sitting down with Scott Boras and forcing Oliver Perez to get serious about his future.

2. Catcher. They may be tempted to take a short-term solution like Jason Varitek, but more likely they will make a deal for a younger catcher like Arizona’s Chris Snyder, the Angels’ Jeff Mathis, Colorado’s Chris Iannetta or Cleveland’s Kelly Shoppach.

3. One corner bat. Even with Carlos Delgado’s contract off the books, going above $15 million for Jason Bay or Matt Holliday and taking on a free-agent pitching contract may be tough for the Wilpons right now. So they will have to be creative, using Daniel Murphy at first or in left. Jeff Francoeur may continue to make strides and deserves every opportunity.

He also adds that with Holt, Mejia, first baseman Ike Davis (.905 OPS between Single-A and Double-A), Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Ruben Tejada (who led the Eastern League in chances and double plays) knocking at the door, the farm system is nowhere near as bad as has been colored.

First, let me commend ESPN for adding some balance to what could only be described as a less than positive piece last week that was tough to read at times. Even though many of the points made were good ones, lets face it, it was a hatchet job. This Gammons article kind of levels the playing field and offers some hope for the 2010 season, where last week there was none.

Thanks Peter!