I was inspired to write my thoughts on something that has been like an itch I couldn’t reach on my back. You know what I mean? Aren’t those a real pain in the asterisk?

I saw a post by Matt at MetsBlog that says Backman and Geren have not been mentioned in manager searches. (Yes, I know, it’s a slow Mets news week).

Anyway, it reminded me of a debate on one of our threads last week, where several of our readers and one of our writers were arguing about Sandy vs. Omar (So what else is new?).

One thing that popped out at me was when one of them remarked that if Omar Minaya was any good than why was he never hired as a General Manager by any other team?

I thought it was an odd thing to say considering the makeup of our own front office. In Minaya’s defense, he was still under contract to the Mets in an advisory capacity in 2011, and as soon as that ended he joined the San Diego Padres as their Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations.

It wasn’t the first time I saw a comment like that about Minaya, and I’ll never understand why some fans feel a need to keep knocking the guy as if he intentionally tried to derail the team. The other thing is that even if he were still unemployed, which he’s not and never has been, it is not a reflection of what other baseball teams and executives may think of him. Opportunities for general manager positions are much scarcer than managerial openings. It took Sandy Alderson almost 15 years before he became a GM again after leaving the Oakland A’s in 1998.

Paul DePodesta, who was hired as the GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004, was fired in 2005 after the team had their second worst losing record in team history. There were many articles calling him one of the best available GM candidates in circulation, but seven years later and still no suitors.

J.P. Ricciardi may always be remembered as the general manager that signed Vernon Wells to what is arguably considered the worst contract in MLB history. Time will tell if the Albert Pujols deal ends up taking J.P. off the hook, but deals to Billy Koch, Alex Rios and putting Roy Halladay on the trade block left the fans in city of Toronto in an uproar that was much worse than anything we’ve ever seen in Flushing. Since he was fired by the Blue Jays, Ricciardi also has not surfaced as a General Manager for any other franchise either.

It was believed that Terry Collins, would never manage in the major leagues again after back to back fiascoes in Houston and Anaheim that led to some bad press for both teams, bitter allegations from his players, and rumors of an inability to cope with adversity. And yet here he is – manager of the Mets – resurrected from the managerial graveyard.

The point is that nobody knows the reasons behind why teams hire the managers and general managers that they do.

Some teams look at one’s resume and character very closely, while others look at past results, winning records,  etc. Sometimes, someone like a Terry Collins can come in with a bad resume and an ugly stain on his reputation and completely knock the socks off the GM that is interviewing him. Apparently that’s what happened here… He wowed Sandy Alderson and he got the job.

The other thing is that timing is everything. Sometimes you simply get lucky and you’re at the right place at the right time.

I can’t tell you why Omar Minaya has been out in the open for a full year now and why he’s only interviewed for one GM job in that time span.

Just as much as why I can’t tell you why it took Sandy Alderson 15 years until he found a new GM position.

Or why  Paul DePodesta (7 years and counting), and J.P. Ricciardi (3 years and counting) have yet to secure a new GM job either since being ousted under tumultuous conditions by their former teams.

Sometimes it’s just that age-old adage that never goes out of style…