The trendy thing this morning is to say Omar Minaya should be fired.
My question to you is, "Why do you want him fired?"
Is it because of the collapses? That has nothing to do with July.
The lack of organizational depth? That guy got axed yesterday.
The injuries? That's the trainers, the medical staff, and I still
blame the WBC for several of the early season losses.
The losing? You fill out a lineup card with Berroa and Sullivan in it.
Part of complaining and asking for change is offering solutions.
"Fire Omar and get someone in here who…". That's not a solution.
You wanna tell me the next manager should be LaRussa then I will hear
you out.
"Someone who…" is not a solution.
Omar doesn't speak well in press conferences. He did a dumb and mean
thing yesterday. He also apologized.
You and I both had this team going to the playoffs.
If Omar is to lose his job it shouldn't be over yesterday, it should
be because there's a better choice to run the organization in 2010.
I'm still waiting for the writers, bloggers, WFAN and fans of this
blog to tell me who that is.
Sent from my iPhone
Though it's not a popular opinion today, I totally agree with you.
You want a reason? Here's your reason. He has repeatedly not conducted himself with the competence, professionalism, and dignity for which his position calls.
Yesterday, lack of professionalism was reason enough for Minaya to fire Bernazard. The same bar should apply to him. That someone would get in front of a microphone and state he fired someone for inappropriate and unprofessional interpersonal interactions, and then in the middle of the same press conference, question the personal motives of a reporter–by name, and whose reporting proved to be accurate–is the height of irony.
Minaya mishandled the firing of Randolph, he turned yesterday's press conference into a circus, and baseball-wise, his organization is in a shambles. While you can say specific things are his underlings' fault and he addressed part of it yesterday, he's the GM, and that's where the buck stops. He can certainly and very fairly be held accountable for hiring incompetent people in the first place.
Who do they hire to replace him? Promote the next guy in the chain for the remainder of the season. Long-term plans can wait. While canning Minaya isn't going to be a magic bullet cure-all, that doesn't matter. You get the X-rays AFTER you stop the bleeding.
I was pro-fire-Omar before yesterday. Lots of reasons-some you mentioned.
Organizational depth – you can't dismiss it b/c Tony got fired. Its Omars shop-full autonomy-he's responsible for the success of the people he hires.
Bad Contracts (mostly b/c of too many years) – Castillo, Schoenweis, Mota, Pedro (debatable), Perez
Injuries – Again, trainers report to him. I'm not convinced there is a problem there, but if there is, Omar is culpable.
Poor media management – Why can't we ever come off as 'classy'? We always look like buffoons–petty, childish and mismanaged. Apologizing about yesterday doesn't absolve him. If I come up to your kid and kick him in the shin but follow it up w/ an 'I'm sorry', I don't think you'd be too quick to let me off the hook. This is not an isolated incident. How bout the Randolph fiasco?
As for who should replace him? I don't think its right to put the onus on fans to pick a replacement or offer solutions. Just because we smell a dead rat inside our house doesn't mean we should have to tear up the walls to find it.
The entire NL East made moves last week…some punted, some went for the ring. The Mets did nothing…That leads me to believe Minaya/Mets have accepted the nail in 2009 coffin. Their team MAY be good enough to compete in 2010, but look at the Phillies current roster, we are not that good…
Defending Minaya with who is better is an awful argument. Can you keep a 100+million budget, and have a better record than the Nats? That currently is the job requirement. Where can I send my resume? The bullpen is awful WITH a world class closer. Putz going down doesnt forgive everyone else being awful. Has anyone asked why Bernazard was so incensed? Maybe Minaya let him know that no results in the minors would lead to no job. Yet Minaya gives us no results in the majors and his job is safe… The Mets could run GM with this plan.
I believe we are 6 back of the wild card behind 6 teams or so. We are not going 35-23 to close and that doesnt even guarantee a playoff spot. So we are giving a pass to a top 5 payroll with back to back chokes and a "free pass" for injuries this year.
Just curious…what HAS Minaya done that merits keeping his job? He paid a lot of good players a LOT of money to stay (or move) to Flushing? The team has NO chemistry the last 3 years. The team has NO FEEL, and that is really the only job of the GM. Look at Florida, tiny payroll, whose team has more heart, if the uniforms had no names, who would you rather watch? That guy is a GM, and every 3 years the good players all move to NY or Boston or LA. He refills by having a good minor league system, and accepting some years suck and you sell on the bad years.
At worst, since it is crystal clear that management has pulled the plug on the 09 season..why not play the scrubs!! Dump Berroa and Santos, they won't be here when people are healthy… we are just giving these guys free auditions for other teams next year. Maybe 2 of them pan out as backups or a starter or possibly a sub 5 bullpen ERA!! Maybe dying out on the West Coast swing will let them pull the plug and get 50 games for the AAA players.
Just pretend every Met was healthy…are they good enough to win? NO, this team is BUILT to make the playoffs then see what happens. How many free passes does he get…moreover what has he done that is special? And dont get me started on Manuel!
Omar Minaya should be fired, and it is up to the Wilpons who want fans to come to Citi Field to find a suitable and believable replacement for the fans to believe the ship can be steered properly.
Minaya should be fired not because of Adam Rubin, not because of the injuries, not because he has the public speaking acumen of a kindergartner.
He should be fired because when he was hired in 2004 after the insane mess that was Jim Duquette and a bunch of past their prime scout flunkies who Fred Wilpon trusted, his plan, his roadmap was pitching, defense athleticism. His plan was pointing toward building a winner and competitive team as quickly as possible but the purpose of realistically being a world series contender in his own words in three to four years. Well it is five years and the Mets have been down hill since their NLCS appearance in 2006. Other than brief glimpses from the likes of Mike Pelfry, Jon Niese and Daniel Murphy the players brought in and developed under Minaya have been unspectacular.
I give him credit for being able to be in on players such as Martinez,Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, Santana and Rodriquez, frankly three of those were simply money deals and one was a salary dump, his only coup was Santana.
Minaya has not been as terrible as people tend to label him, but he has failed at this own blueprint.
That is why he has to go, and that is why it is up to the ownership to find a credible GM who is committed to a plan and vision that includes a better fundamental handling of the minor leagues while focusing on acquiring the necessary pieces to make Santana, Wright, Reyes, Pelfrey and Rodriquez a winning core.
Everyone else is expendable, including Beltran.