As we head down the stretch I thought I’d do what I did last year and look back at the archives and see what catches my eye…some will be “greatest hits” and other’s just interesting. This one from January 2010 seems to have come true.
Great stuff often comes from the comments. This morning Yvaithe said:
I remember when the Mets won the division in ˜06 and Jeff Wilpon was interviewed in the clubhouse. I remember him saying, Hopefully in ten years people will say we did it the Mets way.”
Ah yes, the Mets way. Â I went into the Google News archives and found this from USA Today from 2006:
Having the resources to sign free agents, make trades and assume contracts give the big-market Mets a huge advantage.
Minaya says there’s more to the equation.
“We had to change the culture here,” he says. “The money is part of it, but you have to spend it wisely. What I’m most proud of are the small pieces we’ve brought in. The strength of this club has been players like Endy Chavez, Chad Bradford, Jose Valentin, John Maine. We’ve been forced to go through 13 starting pitchers.”
Seems Omar has been speaking the same way all along, we just didn’t notice because that team won the NL East.
From that same 2006 article..
Says (Fred) Wilpon: “When I went up to Montreal to finalize the deal with him I said, ‘I want you to model an organization that will not only be successful for a year, but that we can look back as people look back at the Atlanta Braves.’ And that’s what we’re doing. He’s done an outstanding job.”
“The money is part of it, but you have to spend it wisely,” said Minaya, shortly before signing a 32-year-old singles hitter for $25 million over 4 years and agreeing to pay a pitching reject from Pittsburgh $6 million per season.