I’ve supported Omar Minaya ever since he first took the reins of the New York Mets after the 2004 season. He took an organization that was in complete disarray and put the Mets back on the map. He said that the Mets would be rebuilt and taken seriously, and he gave us his five year plan that would make the Mets significant again, competitive, a contender and so much more. Wow, what a vision…
I became more hopeful and more sure of Omar when the Mets over-achieved and won 83 games in his first year thanks to the additions of Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. In 2006, we won 97 games and more importantly we finally broke the hold on first place that the Braves had for over a decade. We came within one out of the World Series. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and what I was feeling. Two years in and Omar did what few expected. Sure he couldn’t have done it without taking the $80 million dollar payroll he inherited and enhancing it to the tune of $125 million dollars, but who cared man, we just won a division title!
That was the high point in Omar’s tenure. We didn’t know it back then, but Minaya had just peaked and it would all be downhill after that.
I’m not going to take you through the painful journey of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. You were there just like me. Suffice it to say that we were all feeling a little shocked, dejected and even outraged. Two straight seasons that began with such high expectations had spiraled into despair and shockingly so.
As far as I was concerned, they could have fired Omar after last season, and I wouldn’t have been surprised or disappointed. In this town, you win and you’re in, and there’s no guarantees you keep your job when you lose, especially when you choke the way the Mets did.
As it happened, Omar kept his job, and even got a 3-year extension which had the baseball world wondering if the Wilpons were tuned into SNY for the last two season. C`est la vie…
Fast forward to this past off season…
The Mets needed a complete overhaul of the bullpen, and that’s exactly what Omar did.
But what about the gaping holes in the rotation and the great big black hole in left field?
Were we really going to plug three spots in the rotation with waiver wire fodder and an erratic lefthander who didn’t get one phone call from another team as a free agent?
Mike Pelfrey was being tabbed and counted on as the number two pitcher? Really? When did Pelf suddenly become Lincecum-esque? Pelfrey is just another basket case cut out of the same mold as Oliver Perez. As I said last week, he is now good Pelfrey- bad Pelfrey. (mostly bad, last night not withstanding)
What good is a great bullpen if you’re not going to have that many games to save?
We had other questions going into the season too…
Do we roll the dice on Carlos Delgado knowing fully well that he had a hip that could go bad at any second? Why didn’t we have a capable backup plan? Remember, Daniel Murphy was anointed the everyday leftfielder, so obviously if there was a backup plan, he wasn’t a part of it going into the season.
Was Luis Castillo and his gimpy knees really coming back for an encore? Luckily he rebounded nicely, but lets not forget Mets fans wanted him out of town, and watching the boos and jeers last season each time he took the field, had become painful to watch.
The word was already out as far as the new park went. Everyone knew it would be place where homeruns go to die unless they were really crushed, and yet not one attempt is made to pack some extra punch?
The list of questions going into this season was long, even with the revamped bullpen that featured a setup man who Omar traded a few key players and prospects for despite Putz’s decline in velocity, strike out rate, ERA, WHIP, and of course his bone spur which Omar was aware of. (Why did we pay full price for damaged goods?)
You know what? I’m still willing to wipe the slate clean. (Again!)
It’s a new season, spring is in the air, expectations are high, it’s going to be our season this year. Yeah right!
This post is giving me a splitting headache, so I will quickly get to my point.
Omar, despite your few successes, the failures have become too much to overlook. By your own words, when you first took the job, you are a failure. You said that in five years we would be in the post season. It doesn’t look that way. You are on the cusp of losing as many games as the 2004 team you were supposed to fix. But even if we were to put all of that aside, you completely let all of us down yesterday when you stared into the cameras and refused to come clean.
Do you really expects us to believe that while other teams pointed fingers at us, and laughed, and whispered behind our back, that you had no idea of the things your second in command, Tony B had done?
Do you really expect us to believe that yesterday morning was the first that you ever heard of these shocking allegations and discouraging reports regarding Tony Bernazard?
– A verbal altercation with Johan Santana.
– A shouting match on the team bus with Frankie Rodriguez?
– Boasting that Delgado would start hitting once Willie was fired because he wouldn’t play for him.
– Undermining Rick Peterson and pushing for him to be fired.
– We all know now how the Willie Randolph firing unfolded.
– Going into a profanity-filled rage at Citi Field in front of dozens of witnesses, scouts, fans, children, etc.
– Challenging a clubhouse full of prospects to a fight and calling one of them a part of the female anatomy.
Omar, you expect us to believe that you were oblivious to all of these egregious offenses?
The way you stood up there repeating “I will investigate” over and over again, was no different than Vinny “The Chin” Gigante pleading the fifth.
You expect us to believe you are going to conduct a full and impartial investigation of one of your best friends?
That’s like asking Dick Cheney to investigate George Bush.
Please don’t take us for fools…
Forget the three disappointing seasons in a row, forget all the bad trades, forget all the bad contracts, forget that our minor leagues teams combined are over 50 games below .500, forget how you sat on your hands when the Mets needed help at the trade deadlines, forget how you overlooked some weaknesses this offseason, forget how your faulty player evaluation skills led you to believe that Dan Murphy was a great leftfielder and that Mike Pelfrey was a number two starter, FORGET ALL THOSE THINGS.
I think you should be fired because I don’t believe you were being truthful and honest with us yesterday.
I don’t trust you anymore.
