When the Mets were in free fall earlier this month, I grew sick of Terry Collins' postgame news conferences, when he kept insisting that the Mets would turn it around and go on a long winning streak. At one point, I think he mentioned winning nine of eleven, another time, something like winning six straight. I just wanted the Mets to win one straight.
Turns out Terry was right - the Mets have now won five straight. 5-0 since Jason Bay returned. And 5-0 since R.A. Dickey, after the team's last loss, said:
We can't just keep telling ourselves, 'Oh, we’re a better team than this.' We may not be. And we've got to be honest about that, and identify what we're doing wrong, and do it better. That's the only way you have any real growth…
Dickey is one of the few Mets to show leadership qualities. Now let's hope he can snap his own losing streak Wednesday and help the Mets continue to win.
Before the game, I went to see a panel discussion at Fordham moderated by Lenny Cassuto, co-editor of "The Cambridge Companion to Baseball." The panel included former Met GM Omar Minaya, baseball historian John Thorn, baseball writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Alan Schwarz and Matthew Jacobson, a Yale professor and contributor to the Cambridge book.
It was a lively discussion on topics ranging from the declining number of African-Americans in baseball to instant replay. Some of the sharpest exchanges revolved around steroids. Thorn saw no need to make any changes to the record book, even going so far as to suggest that if Babe Ruth played today, he would be Matt Stairs. Schwarz said that he did not look forward to telling his young son that the home run record was held by Barry Bonds. Thorn replied that Bonds was the best hitter he's ever seen, and Thorn had seen Ted Williams play.
The panel was also not always in agreement on baseball's popularity in the U.S. When Minaya said that he saw plenty of baseball fields whenever he was on a plane coming in for a landing, Schwarz asked if anyone was on those fields and Cassuto said that he had just read that more and more baseball fields are being paved over.
When Minaya said that his purest experience of seeing a baseball game might have been in Cuba, Schwarz noted that "they have a hell of a salary cap."
Minaya said he would not want to see a robot determining balls and strikes because you need to be able to "go out there and argue."
Minaya mentioned that he had played ball in Tuscany, which made me think of Rick Peterson's statement when the Mets got rid of him that they were replacing a hardwood floor with Tuscany tile.
I'm still not sure that the Mets are better off with Dan Warthen, but the way the pitching has been the last few days, the Tuscany tile is looking pretty good.
Showing posts with label Omar Minaya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Omar Minaya. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, October 4, 2010
Omar Minaya and the search for the next Jose Valentin
Omar Minaya started the season with a roster that included Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalanotto, Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora. No wonder he ended the season out of a job.
Much has been written about Minaya's big-ticket acquisitions, but the small ones are just as important. You can't win a pennant with a few stars and a bunch of scrubs. Yet that's what Minaya increasingly seemed to try to be doing.
It's one thing to have one or two such players. Tatis was a valuable complementary piece in '08 and Cora held down shortstop for a good part of '09. But when you are hoping to squeeze one more year out of a full one-fifth of your 25-man roster, you are asking for trouble.
Minaya learned the wrong lessons from one of his best moves, signing 36-year-old Jose Valentin for the '06 season. In 2005, Valentin hit .170 for the Dodgers with two homers in 147 at bats. But in 2006, Valentin took over the Mets' second base job, hitting .271 with 18 homers and 62 RBI.
It was a great move by Minaya that helped build the powerhouse 2006 team. And it made sense to bring Valentin back in 2007 at age 37, so long as you didn't expect the good times to last forever. But Valentin couldn't make it out of April without getting hurt, and 2007 turned out to be his last season.
Minaya's first replacement for Valentin was another 37-year-old, Damion Easley. Once again, Minaya's move worked in the short run, with Easley rebounding from batting .233 in '06 with Arizona to hit .280 with the Mets in'07 with 10 homers in 193 at bats before declining in 2008.
Later in 2007, Minaya acquired another second baseman from the Twins, and this move also worked out at first. Luis Castillo hit .296 with 10 steals in 199 at bats.
At the time, Minaya's moves seemed to be working, so it was mainly seen as quirky when he gave 47-year-old Julio Franco a two-year contract in '06. Franco was able to contribute primarily off the bench in '06, but ending up getting released in July of '07.
But Minaya was raising the stakes in his pursuit of players near the end of their careers.
Before the 2007 season, Minaya signed 40-year-old Moises Alou to play left field. This move cost the Mets a first-round draft pick for someone who would probably play just one year.
In fact, Alou only played half a year, missing the other half with a torn quad. But that didn't stop Minaya from picking up the '08 option for Alou, now 41 and coming off a serious injury.
In 2008, Alou only played in 15 games due to a hernia and torn hamstring.
Also in the 2007 offseason, Minaya signed Luis Castillo to a four-year deal. Minaya had put so much faith in much older players that perhaps Castillo, 31 at the time, seemed like a youngster. A two-year deal might have been reasonable. Giving Castillo a four-year deal helped get Minaya fired.
By 2010, Minaya was filling out his roster with players who made Alou and Castillo look like the All-Stars they used to be. Jacobs had been cut by the Royals. The Angels were so eager to get rid of Matthews that they were willing to eat $20 million.
Tatis spent most of the year on the DL. Cora was picked up by Texas in August and released three weeks later. Matthews was briefly in the Reds' organization and is now a free agent. Catalanotto is also a free agent. Only Jacobs is currently active - in the Blue Jays' farm system.
So at the end of the season, one-fifth of Minaya's Opening Day roster was not on any MLB roster as an active player, and it was likely that some or even all of them might never play in the big leagues again.
Jerry Manuel deserved to be let go, but he did start with a disadvantage having to work with such a roster, which was only made worse by the Mets' refusal to eat the contracts of Castillo and Oliver Perez.
Minaya's strategy of desperately seeking the next Jose Valentin could work as long as the roster was already filled with quality ballplayers and there were only one or two open spots. But in his sixth year of being the general manager, Minaya didn't have enough quality players in his system and had to roll the dice with one-fifth of his roster.
Even Minaya admitted today that the Mets needed to make a change at GM.
***
Squawker Lisa, my condolences on the loss of C.C. the Squawker Cat.
Much has been written about Minaya's big-ticket acquisitions, but the small ones are just as important. You can't win a pennant with a few stars and a bunch of scrubs. Yet that's what Minaya increasingly seemed to try to be doing.
It's one thing to have one or two such players. Tatis was a valuable complementary piece in '08 and Cora held down shortstop for a good part of '09. But when you are hoping to squeeze one more year out of a full one-fifth of your 25-man roster, you are asking for trouble.
Minaya learned the wrong lessons from one of his best moves, signing 36-year-old Jose Valentin for the '06 season. In 2005, Valentin hit .170 for the Dodgers with two homers in 147 at bats. But in 2006, Valentin took over the Mets' second base job, hitting .271 with 18 homers and 62 RBI.
It was a great move by Minaya that helped build the powerhouse 2006 team. And it made sense to bring Valentin back in 2007 at age 37, so long as you didn't expect the good times to last forever. But Valentin couldn't make it out of April without getting hurt, and 2007 turned out to be his last season.
Minaya's first replacement for Valentin was another 37-year-old, Damion Easley. Once again, Minaya's move worked in the short run, with Easley rebounding from batting .233 in '06 with Arizona to hit .280 with the Mets in'07 with 10 homers in 193 at bats before declining in 2008.
Later in 2007, Minaya acquired another second baseman from the Twins, and this move also worked out at first. Luis Castillo hit .296 with 10 steals in 199 at bats.
At the time, Minaya's moves seemed to be working, so it was mainly seen as quirky when he gave 47-year-old Julio Franco a two-year contract in '06. Franco was able to contribute primarily off the bench in '06, but ending up getting released in July of '07.
But Minaya was raising the stakes in his pursuit of players near the end of their careers.
Before the 2007 season, Minaya signed 40-year-old Moises Alou to play left field. This move cost the Mets a first-round draft pick for someone who would probably play just one year.
In fact, Alou only played half a year, missing the other half with a torn quad. But that didn't stop Minaya from picking up the '08 option for Alou, now 41 and coming off a serious injury.
In 2008, Alou only played in 15 games due to a hernia and torn hamstring.
Also in the 2007 offseason, Minaya signed Luis Castillo to a four-year deal. Minaya had put so much faith in much older players that perhaps Castillo, 31 at the time, seemed like a youngster. A two-year deal might have been reasonable. Giving Castillo a four-year deal helped get Minaya fired.
By 2010, Minaya was filling out his roster with players who made Alou and Castillo look like the All-Stars they used to be. Jacobs had been cut by the Royals. The Angels were so eager to get rid of Matthews that they were willing to eat $20 million.
Tatis spent most of the year on the DL. Cora was picked up by Texas in August and released three weeks later. Matthews was briefly in the Reds' organization and is now a free agent. Catalanotto is also a free agent. Only Jacobs is currently active - in the Blue Jays' farm system.
So at the end of the season, one-fifth of Minaya's Opening Day roster was not on any MLB roster as an active player, and it was likely that some or even all of them might never play in the big leagues again.
Jerry Manuel deserved to be let go, but he did start with a disadvantage having to work with such a roster, which was only made worse by the Mets' refusal to eat the contracts of Castillo and Oliver Perez.
Minaya's strategy of desperately seeking the next Jose Valentin could work as long as the roster was already filled with quality ballplayers and there were only one or two open spots. But in his sixth year of being the general manager, Minaya didn't have enough quality players in his system and had to roll the dice with one-fifth of his roster.
Even Minaya admitted today that the Mets needed to make a change at GM.
***
Squawker Lisa, my condolences on the loss of C.C. the Squawker Cat.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Rays give away 20,000 tickets while Mets offer empty 'Thank you'
When I first saw the ad on SNY in which the Mets collectively say, "Thank you, fans," I thought it was a promo for Fan Appreciation Day. When I saw the logo from the TV ad on mets.com, I clicked on it, wondering what gifts were in store for the few hardy souls still heading out to Citi Field as another disappointing season comes to a close. But the link only led to an opportunity to buy full-price tickets for the remaining games. Not much of a thank-you considering that tickets are available on StubHub for as little as two dollars and field level seats in a section behind the dugout can be had for $40.Just as Rays management felt the need to do something above and beyond, Mets management should have explored ways to actually get some fannies in the seats for the final game. How about a pregame ceremony featuring some parting gifts for those we hope will soon be departing:
- For Jerry Manuel: A personalized MRI machine in honor of his eagerness to keep players in the lineup regardless of their physical condition. Jon Niese should have been shut down before the exhausted rookie could collapse down the stretch. Carlos Beltran has played just about every game since his return and now he needs to be shut down with inflammation in the knee, just to name the two most recent victims.
- For Omar Minaya: Season tickets for the Newark Bears and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, so Omar can scout for the next Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto.
- For Luis Castillo: A deluxe DVD edition of "Inception," since Castillo must be living in a dream world if he thinks he is going to get a starting job anywhere else in MLB.
Finally, a meaningful game in October, as Perez pitches for his Met career. If he pitches a shutout, he can stick around. Maybe his problems really are all in his head, and he can still pitch like the guy who got that huge contract. Imagine the suspense if Ollie shuts down the Nationals into the late innings. Can he pull it off? Will the MLB network air the ninth inning live?
Oh, who are we kidding - Ollie won't make it through the first inning without giving up a run. Maybe the first batter. And then he'll be gone for good.
Now that's the way to say, "Thank you, fans."
Friday, August 13, 2010
Mets' ownership, front office are MIA over K-Rod
To Squawker Jon's dismay, I've been paying a lot of attention to the train wreck that is the Mets of late, with the Francisco Rodriguez arrest situation. So I watched Wednesday's SNY postgame, and also watched the pregame for Thursday's game.
And I was appalled by Jerry Manuel excusing his closer's arrest as being "not baseball related," and for him saying that he would actually use K-Rod in a game that day. How outraged was I? I actually uttered the words "Joe Torre would have handled this better" to Squawker Jon. And you know how often it happens that I ever say anything positive about Torre!
According to media reports, the K-Rod fight with Carlos Pena, his common-law father-in-law, supposedly took place after Pena told Rodriguez to "man up." I don't know if that's what happened. But that advice is something the Mets front office ought to do.
So far, their behavior has been abysmal. Aside from Manuel acting like a befuddled Mr. Magoo, insinuating this is a private matter (a private matter doesn't involve an arrest report, dude), the rest of the Mets' management haven't exactly been profiles in courage here.
What did general manager Omar Minaya have to say about the closer he signed turning the family lounge into the stage of "Jerry Springer"? A whole heap of nothing. Here's the story, from Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Well, the Mets did suspend Francisco for a whole two games. Whoopee.
And why the heck didn't Wilpon speak to the media personally? It was one thing when an aging, addled George Steinbrenner would have his press agent issue statements for him. But why is the COO of this team pulling the Greta Garbo act all the time?
As for the storm of stories about what really happened to spur on K-Rod pummeling his in-law, it doesn't really matter to me what was said, and what caused it. What matters is that Rodriguez, who will get paid over $11 million this year to pitch, used the hands that the Mets pay him so much money for to pummel somebody so badly that he was sent to the hospital. And that he did it on Mets property, in front of Mets family members.
What if Rodriguez had hurt his pitching hand in the fight? I wonder if the Mets would have punished him more for potentially missing games.
Anyhow, the Mets fans who pay their money for tickets and support their team deserve more accountability than they've been getting from their team. When will this nightmare end?
What do you think? Tell us about it!
And I was appalled by Jerry Manuel excusing his closer's arrest as being "not baseball related," and for him saying that he would actually use K-Rod in a game that day. How outraged was I? I actually uttered the words "Joe Torre would have handled this better" to Squawker Jon. And you know how often it happens that I ever say anything positive about Torre!
According to media reports, the K-Rod fight with Carlos Pena, his common-law father-in-law, supposedly took place after Pena told Rodriguez to "man up." I don't know if that's what happened. But that advice is something the Mets front office ought to do.
So far, their behavior has been abysmal. Aside from Manuel acting like a befuddled Mr. Magoo, insinuating this is a private matter (a private matter doesn't involve an arrest report, dude), the rest of the Mets' management haven't exactly been profiles in courage here.
What did general manager Omar Minaya have to say about the closer he signed turning the family lounge into the stage of "Jerry Springer"? A whole heap of nothing. Here's the story, from Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Minaya declined comment on the charges against Rodriguez, saying he didn't have enough information. Yet the Mets suspended Rodriguez for two days and placed him on their restricted list, costing him about $125,000 in salary.
You're the GM of the team and you refuse comment? Unacceptable.
Jeff Wilpon, the guy his father Fred Wilpon insisted was doing such a great job, had a little more to say than Minaya, but not much: He issued this statement:
"Ownership and the organization are very disappointed in Francisco's inappropriate behavior and we take this matter very seriously."
Well, the Mets did suspend Francisco for a whole two games. Whoopee.
And why the heck didn't Wilpon speak to the media personally? It was one thing when an aging, addled George Steinbrenner would have his press agent issue statements for him. But why is the COO of this team pulling the Greta Garbo act all the time?
As for the storm of stories about what really happened to spur on K-Rod pummeling his in-law, it doesn't really matter to me what was said, and what caused it. What matters is that Rodriguez, who will get paid over $11 million this year to pitch, used the hands that the Mets pay him so much money for to pummel somebody so badly that he was sent to the hospital. And that he did it on Mets property, in front of Mets family members.
What if Rodriguez had hurt his pitching hand in the fight? I wonder if the Mets would have punished him more for potentially missing games.
Anyhow, the Mets fans who pay their money for tickets and support their team deserve more accountability than they've been getting from their team. When will this nightmare end?
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Mets honor '86 greats, then get started on 2010 Hall of Shame
When Davey Johnson was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame this afternoon, he told the crowd, "if you don't win, you don't really like us a lot." Johnson went on to say that the fans inspired the 1986 Mets. Unfortunately, the celebration of the Mets' last championship did nothing to inspire the current team, which put on a dismal display that left the booing crowd not really liking them a lot.
I'm glad that Squawker Lisa and I were there for the ceremonies. The actual game, not so much. At least, unlike the last game at Shea Stadium, the festivities were held before the awful game, when fans were still in a good mood.
By the end of the game, I was hoping for another ceremony - inductions into the 2010 Mets Hall of Shame, along with the following acceptance speeches:
GM Omar Minaya: Frank Cashen spoke of how his Met teams set attendance records. As I look around at the empty seats, I wonder if we, too, are closing in on a record - biggest attendance decline in the second year of a new ballpark.
But I couldn't have done it alone. I work for a team that doesn't want to spend more money, but claims that it does, which makes me look like the one who just couldn't get a deal done at the trade deadline.
Then again, if my hands weren't tied, I probably would have done something like trade Angel Pagan for Jake Westbrook.
At least I was able to stack this year's roster with retreads like Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews Jr. and Frank Catalanotto.
Manager Jerry Manuel: Omar, you may have provided the pieces, but I was the one who batted Mike Jacobs cleanup on Opening Day and started Gary Matthews Jr. over Angel Pagan at the beginning of the year. I made John Maine my number two starter coming out of spring training. And I'm the one who pitched Fernando Nieve every day until he lost his effectiveness.
Jose Reyes, your uniform says 7, but you'll always be a number 3 hitter to me. And then there's my bullpen strategy - if you can call it that. (laughs)
Second baseman Luis Castillo: I would not be here were it not for the people on this stage. Jerry, thanks for batting me second so many times this year. And Omar, I want to thank you and ownership most of all for not eating my contract. Instead of my poor performance getting me quietly designated for assignment, your insistence on keeping me around has turned me into the Mets' version of Eddy Curry. (quickly looks down the stage) Oh, I'm sorry, Ollie - didn't mean to step on your toes.
(At the mention of Ollie's name, the fans start booing.)
Finally, I want to say that there is no greater thrill than winning a ring in New York. And I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to do just that - when the Florida Marlins clinched the 2003 World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Pitcher Oliver Perez: Dwight Gooden said that the fans' rhythmic clapping inspired him to get that third strike. I am also fortunate enough to get a strong fan response every time I take the mound.
(The crowd boos.)
When I hear that sound, it's as if you are saying Ooooooooooooh! So that's what a $36 million pitcher looks like!
(The boos get louder.)
Look, I know I've gotten a lot of grief for not wanting to pitch in the minors, but I don't see how people can criticize me for not wanting to pitch in the minors when I'm willing to pitch for the Mets!
(The booing gets so loud that Mr. Met covers his ears.)
Okay, maybe that came out wrong. But do you really want to trade me for Carlos Zambrano? His contract is a lot bigger and he's even crazier than I am! And, well, this franchise hasn't exactly had good luck with Zambranos in the past.
(The crowd starts chanting "We want Zambrano!" Security drags Ollie off the stage.)
Howie Rose: Our final induction into the 2010 Hall of Shame, is...
Met fans.
Management responded to the calls for the team's history to be honored, but when the biggest names of 1986 finally got their long-overdue induction into the Mets Hall of Fame, there were too many empty seats.
Photo by Jon Lewin.
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