Communication is important and it’s something that the Mets need to work on improving and fast if they want any success in the near future. The last couple of seasons have shown how the lack of communication has hurt this franchise on and off the field. The Mets promised things would be different this year, but it’s clear that not much has changed from a season ago.
Carlos Beltran’s surgery is a key example of the miscommunication that is running rampant in the organization. We all know the situation, Beltran went to his own private surgeon, all the insurance paperwork was filed and the Mets signed off on it. Beltran even spoke to GM Omar Minaya who wished him luck the day before the procedure. The next day, the organization and Minaya’s own assistant, claimed that they had no knowledge regarding the procedure. The Mets were embarrassed in the media yet again. Perhaps if someone had just picked up a phone or sent a fax or email they could have avoided the mess that resulted from the lack of communication. Instead they succeeded in showing that incompetence was still running rampant in the organization and more importantly they alienated one of their star players.
As Spring Training gets started the miscommunication continues. Jenrry Mejia has impressed many this year. Jerry Manuel has said that if Mejia’s success continues he would seriously have to consider giving Mejia a roster spot. This goes against everything we’ve heard from the organization including Omar Minaya. Yesterday Omar said again that regardless of what Mejia does this Spring he will be playing the minors at least at the start of the season. Put yourself in Mejia’s position for a second. The manager of the team is telling you to work hard and have good outings in Spring Training and you could very well be on the team when the season starts. On the flip-side, the General Manager of the team says no matter what you do, you are going to the minor leagues. I don’t understand why Omar couldn’t just communicate the organizational plan regarding Mejia to Jerry Manuel directly. It only takes a couple of minutes for them to talk to each and it would have avoided the mixed messages and appearance of more dysfunction.
Jose Reyes’ situation is another example of miscommunication in the organization. Reyes was given extra lab work and everyone thought that was it. He was scheduled to play the next day but at the very last moment was scratched from the lineup and sent to New York because the doctors in New York were concerned about his results. Reyes was working out and getting ready to play that morning, but nobody said anything to Jose or Jerry Manuel until the last minutes before game time.
Does any other team have this lack of communication? How can you run a successful team like this? If this team wants to win they could start by talking to each other and getting on the same page, otherwise it’s always going to be more of the same.
