Here's Hoping Omar Has Deep Pockets This Offseason

Now that the 2009 baseball season is officially over, Mets fans everywhere have their fingers crossed that Omar Minaya is able to fill the many holes present on the team's roster. So with the GM meetings now underway in Chicago, I leave you with the official list of free agents available. So unless (or should I say, until?) there is some big news for the Mets on the free agent or trade front, I'm signing off for now. Here's to Omar and the Wilpons having deep pockets! Read more!

Even Costumes Can't Hide the Ugliness of a 90 Loss Season

Last night, the Mets lost their 90th game of the season to the Nationals’ Ross Detwiller, who earned his first Major League victory. Despite a good performance from journeyman pitcher Nelson Figueroa, the Mets anemic offense could not break through against the Nats. Playing another round of listless baseball, this team is clearly done for the year and is now just mailing it in until the season comes to a merciful close.

In April, no one would have expected the Mets to have the sixth worst record in baseball. After missing the playoffs by a hair in 2007 and 2008, Sports Illustrated even predicted this team to go to the World Series. Unfortunately, a ridiculous rash of injuries threw a wrench in that plan, but even so, there really is no excuse for the mediocrity this team has displayed on the field over the past three months. Lack of hustle and a complete ineptness when it comes to baseball fundamentals is what has put this team at 90 losses and counting. You can expect some degree of mental and physical mistakes when most of your regular 25 man roster is replaced by subs and young minor leaguers, but we have also seen a ton of mistakes this year from the veterans and it is inexcusable.

While I don’t necessarily advocate Jerry Manuel and the coaches being fired, some blame has to be shifted on to this staff because clearly, the team is not responding. The same thing happened under Bobby Valentine and Willie Randolph towards the end of their respective runs as manager as well. I can’t say that about Art Howe because the leadership wasn’t there with him from the very beginning, but that’s another story. But once the season ends, Omar and Jeff Wilpon really need to evaluate everything. This includes the major and minor league players and the coaching, medical and scouting staff throughout the organization. They need to find out what isn’t working and make changes. They also need to set a direction for the club so they have a specific plan in place to fill the areas of deficiencies both on and off the field. There is no cohesion within the Mets and that needs to change because next year could be another bust if they head into spring training and everyone isn’t on the same page.

You may ask yourself, how bad is the lack of direction the Mets have displayed this year? Well, it is so bad that the players can’t even get their rookie hazing ritual right. This rag tag collection of randomness just perfectly illustrates the lack of direction, cohesion and teamwork. Check out: Mets 2009 Rookie Hazing.

And on the flip side, you have the Yankees 2009 rookie hazing, which was well planned with a consistent theme – much like their team. And, their costumes don’t look like the $19.99 specials from the nearest Halloween Adventure stores.
Yankees 2009 Rookie Hazing.

Pretty obvious just in comparing these two photos which of the New York Teams are playoff bound and the other is preparing for a long offseason.


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The NY Mets' 2010 Agenda - To Patch or Tear Down? That is the Question!

For the Mets, the sole goal for the rest of 2009 should be focusing on what they need to do to turn this mess around next year. The team needs to evaluate every player on the roster as well as those in their minor league system. They also need to evaluate the personnel in the front office, the coaching, medical and managerial staff and figure out once and for all what changes need to made. Clearly, the winds need to shift in Flushing to remove the awful stench emanating from Citi Field.

First and foremost a decision needs to be made as to the fate of both Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel. While I don’t always agree with Manuel’s tactics, the truth is, he has done a pretty good job of steering this sinking ship of injuries through the muck. Unfortunately for Jerry, if Omar is fired or moved to a different position within the Mets organization, he is probably a goner. And if Manuel is ultimately let go then the only person I would want to see the Mets hire as manager is Bobby Valentine. If Valentine could lead the 1999 and 2000 teams to the post-season with an outfield of Benny Agbayani, Jay Payton, Timo Perez and Derek Bell then clearly he can make this motley crew into winners. And you can bet that any “bad seed” players that have trouble following orders won’t be long for the team if Valentine is manning the helm.

If the Wilpons decide Omar needs to go or be moved elsewhere within the organization, whomever they hire for the GM position needs autonomy to build the team as he sees fit. The Wilpon meddling needs to stop. Sign the checks and shut the F$% up. Whether they promote John Ricco to GM and hire a strategist like Gerry Hunsicker or Buck Showalter to work alongside him remains to be seen, but personally, I don’t know enough about Ricco to have confidence solely in him. If he had some reputable advisors working with him, that’s another story. Another name that has surfaced recently as far as GM goes would be Oakland’s Billy Beane. Could Billy be lured away from the left coast by the Mets giving him double the player payroll to work with? It remains to be seen.

With regard to the medical staff, this is a short one. Fire everyone. Whomever you replace them with, make sure they have medical licenses to practice on humans in the United States of America. Some references would be good as well. Stay away from candidates names Kevorkian and Spacemen.

As far as the players go, now is the time to see what we’ve got from these replacements and some of the minor leaguers once the rosters expand. Clearly, the core of the team is Wright, Reyes, Santana, Beltran and K-Rod. Everyone else is pretty much expendable at this point and Reyes could be included in this group if there was a mind-blowing offer made. I’m liking what I have seen from Francouer thus far in right field so barring any tailspin you have only left field open next year. Can Fernando Martinez handle it? Unfortunately, his earliest try-out will probably be spring training. I hate to give up on a prospect so young but I have to say, from what I have seen of him, F-mart is not that impressive…maybe he just isn’t ready for the majors. It also doesn’t help that he is always hurt. The other in-house option for left field is Angel Pagan. Pagan looks good but is he an everyday player and will he hustle like one? Now is the time to find out…Otherwise, the Mets need to find someone to play left field who can hit for power. Not having a bat who can tie a game with one swing is a huge detriment that needs to be fixed.

For the infield, third and short are fine with Wright and Reyes, providing Reyes is healthy for 2010. Castillo must be commended this year for bouncing back to form so if he is at second and can be productive that is fine. First base, though, is a giant question mark. Delgado is not coming back, and as mentioned, we seriously need someone in the line-up besides Beltran with some sort of power. Can we afford to go with Daniel Murphy at first? He’s shown promise and you have to give the kid credit for sticking it out through the horrendous batting slump and learning a new position. With that being said, though, we need a bat…we really need a bat. And unfortunately, Murphy has proven his outfield skills are non-existent. He’s too young to be a bench player so I’m not really sure what to do here…I had high hopes for him but the truth is, if they can get some power at first base and can trade Murphy to an AL team where he can play first and DH then maybe that’s the best scenario for everyone involved.

As far as pitching goes, aside from Santana, the starting rotation is a mess. Pelfrey has clearly demonstrated he is not a #2 starter. He needs to use the rest of this season to prove to management and fans once and for all what he is capable of. Stop with the hand-licking, the balking and the yips and just get it done. Either that, or the Mets need to Isringhausen him so he can become a star for another team. Hey, we all know that’s what usually happens when the Mets trade home grown talent (Melvin Mora, Marco Scutaro…dare I continue?).

Oliver Perez is another giant question mark. His last outing was very good but you never know what you are going to get from him. If the Mets can possibly move him with that outrageous contract, they probably should. Doubtful but…

As far as the rest of the rotation goes, Jon Niese may or may not be a factor depending on how he heals from the hamstring injury. I would like to see him back to take Livan Hernandez’s spot in the rotation but that remains to be seen. If not Niese, perhaps Parnell will be in the rotation but I tend to think Parnell is of more value in the bullpen.

There is also some question for John Maine as well. Maine is always hurt but worth taking a chance on for a one year incentive-laden deal. Worst case scenario> With a cheap deal, if he can’t hack it you release him or try to trade him. Honestly, I trust Maine more than Pelfrey and Perez at this point. Despite the injuries you get the feeling that he gets it as far as pitching goes and he seems to not be afflicted by attention deficit order like Perez or anxiety like Pelfrey.

As far as the bullpen goes, obviously, K-Rod is the closer, though with 2 blown saves in his last 3 opportunities that can be debated. Feliciano has proven to be reliable as has Stokes. Sean Green, not so much. He is somewhat expendable though I don’t know what kind of trade value he has.

Putz’ fate somewhat depends on whether he returns this season. If he does and proves he can get people out, I would pick up his option. If the Mets don’t opt to keep him they can always trade him. Plenty of teams need closers so they might actually get something worthwhile back. The same can be said for Wagner. If he can come back before the waiver deadline and prove he can pitch someone might claim him for the stretch run.

As mentioned earlier, though, once the 2009 season is over the first thing that needs to be done is for the Mets to figure out their front office and managerial situation. This needs to be done relatively quickly. The indecisiveness and dragging stuff out can’t happen. If you are firing people, do it and move on. Hire their replacements, set a goal for 2010 as far as the direction this team is going, make a plan and stick to it. Either patch the glaring holes and try to win in 2010 or cut your losses, clean house and rebuild. There is no real middle ground. The Art Howe years proved that you can’t fence sit in New York or you will quickly continue on the path to irrelevance that 2009 kicked off.
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Send In The Clowns - The Circus Has Arrived At Citi Field

To compare the New York Mets to Ringling Brothers would be an insult to P.T. Barnum, who was not only a brilliant showman but a savvy businessman as well. While the first half of the Mets season was a comedy of errors and injuries, lately, much of the hurt inflicted on fans has come from the bungling ways of the front office and ownership.

We’ve seen a lot of this in the past under the Wilpon ownership regime. From essentially letting the players run the team in the final days of Bobby Valentine and the trading of Scott Kazmir, to the midnight axing of Willie Randolph, the Mets have been a public relations nightmare for so long it’s amazing their respected PR guru Jay Horowitz doesn’t keel over from the stress on a daily basis.

The latest debacle yesterday was actually an attempt to smother the previous week’s debacle of the bombshell allegations against VP of Player Development, Tony Bernazard. In case everyone out there in happy Phillies-land missed this, good old Tony was apparently a great baseball mind who had zero social skills when dealing with players and other personnel. He also apparently liked to whip off his shirt and threaten players but we can’t go there because as you all know, the first rule about fight club is don’t talk about fight club.

Anyway, after NY Daily News Reporter Adam Rubin broke the story of Bernazard’s misconduct last week, the Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the media, saying the team was investigating Bernazard’s actions to the 11th degree. It was a cringe-worthy spiel in which Omar spoke in circles, using the word “investigate” far too many times. But hey, at least the front office was taking these allegations seriously. So despite Omar’s lack of command of the English language, at least the fans knew the team was looking into matters.

A week went by and even though the Bernazard story died down a bit, it was still making some headlines in the New York papers. The Mets, seeking closure, concluded their investigation and decided to remove Tony from his post. Yesterday, the team called another press conference where Minaya informed the public of the teams’ decision.

Sadly, what should have been closure turned into even more of a fiasco as soon as Omar hit the podium. The press conference was torturous to listen to. It was so bad that I actually wanted to crawl under my desk and hide.

Pretty much the only concrete statement made was that the Mets concluded their investigation and decided that it would be better if the organization parted ways with Bernazard. Omar could not or would not divulge the details of what lead to the decision. He did not specify whether the allegations made by the Rubin and others were true. All he said was that the Mets had been investigating Bernazard since before the claims were printed and that what they found out did not jibe with the organizations philosophy.

As Omar talked in circles, the press conference became increasingly difficult to listen to as every question he was asked he either could not answer because he was kept in the dark about the details of the investigation, or because of some human resources clause. But things turned really ugly when he called out Daily News writer Adam Rubin for going public with his Bernazard story because he was angling for a front office job. Wait a second, Omar, what did you say? Please tell me you didn’t go there…Oh, but he did…

At this point, what could have been a positive press conference and an example of the Mets putting something damaging behind them, instead opened up a whole new can of worms. I don’t know what he was thinking in saying this, but Omar, bad move…very, very bad move that is likely the beginning of the end for you.

As talk radio and the SNY Network went wild with this, the Mets front office attempted damage control a few hours later with their second press conference of the day in which Omar and Jeff Wilpon addressed the earlier slip of the tongue. In a pseudo apology, Omar essentially said he was sorry. But the mea culpa was not for accusing Rubin of undermining Bernazard in an attempt to get a job in the Mets front office, but for doing it at the earlier press conference. Now what kind of back-handed apology is that? That just added more fuel to the fire…You would have been better off saying nothing and waiting for the storm to pass.

Sadly, for everyone involved in this organization, this whole incident is embarrassing. For Mets fans it is truly disheartening. How can we have faith in our team if the front office acts like a bunch of bumbling idiots? How can we expect our team to take the field and play good solid baseball if there seems to be some sort of trickle-down effect where the ineptness of the front-office infects the team?

Surprisingly, maybe all of this hullabaloo is good for the players on the field. This is one of the few times in a disappointing season that the focus is not on their losing ways. The one hope in all of this is that perhaps with the spotlight shining elsewhere in the organization, the team can concentrate on just going out and playing good fundamental baseball. But as for the front office, these kinds of shenanigans have to stop.

Unfortunately, unless Omar pulls off some majorly brilliant trade or the Mets manage to make the post-season, this is probably his final curtain call. I don’t really see how he can recover from this, which is kind of sad because I get the feeling the truly inept person in all of this who should bear the brunt of the blame is really Jeff Wilpon and the way the Wilpon family runs this team.

Regardless of who the GM or even the manager is next year, if the Mets ever expect to be competitive the Wilpons need to become truly silent owners and hire great baseball people to run the everyday. The Yankees built their dynasty teams of the late 90’s while George Steinbrenner was banned from baseball. The Wilpons need to essentially ban themselves from doing anything other than signing checks. Either that or sell the team, make back your Madoff money and call it a day. As fans, all we really want is to win and be proud of our team. Sadly, I can’t say I have felt that way since 2006. And the circus has lost its mystique as well…Why spend money on Ringling Brothers when I can watch the Mets do a better job of clowning it up six months out of every year?

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