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Great job by Michael Baron putting this up on http://www.metsblog.com/2010/10/04/fred-and-jeff-wilpon-speak-about-omar-minaya-and-jerry-manuel/#mce_temp_url# who has great recaps today.

I only saw half of WilponTV before being called away by real job. It was hard to pull myself away.

While I was watching I thought Jeff was better than Fred but once I walked away the tweetosphere made it seem Fred was good. I thought he was close to losing his cool in the early going.

Apparently something was said about lowering ticket prices. That’s cool.

MetsBlog has some solid recaps of what went on today but over here we have a different tone. I wanna hear from my peeps.

So – what did you guys take away from this one?

Real work calls and I can’t keep up with MetsBlog or the various news sites….here’s the text of the press release and the letter sent to Mets fans via email.  We got “dissapointed” and “winning (culture)” as I predicted…but then again what else would they say…

This is from the letter to fans signed Fred, Saul Katz, and Jeff.

Dear Mets Fans:

Thank you for your support during another extremely disappointing season. Like you, all of us at the Mets had high expectations for 2010 and we did not come close to meeting them. Since reaching the National League Championship Series in 2006, we have underperformed. The failure is unacceptable and we share your anguish.

As Ownership, we are ultimately responsible and have determined that changes are necessary to produce a winning team for the long term.

Earlier this morning, we relieved Omar Minaya of his duties as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager, and advised Jerry Manuel that we are declining to exercise the club’s option on his contract as Manager for 2011. We appreciate all that Omar and Jerry have done for the Organization and thank them for their time and effort. Changes like these are never easy, especially when dealing with people you like and respect.

We feel a fresh perspective in the leadership of our baseball department will elevate the performance of our club. That person will work with Ownership to hire a new Manager and will be responsible for creating a winning culture.

We have a lot of work to do to regain your confidence and support. Thank you for the opportunity to do so.

and the press release:

METS RELIEVE OMAR MINAYA OF DUTIES AS GENERAL MANAGER,

DECLINE CLUB OPTION ON JERRY MANUEL’S CONTRACT FOR 2011

FLUSHING, N.Y., October 4, 2010 – The New York Mets today announced that Omar Minaya has been relieved of his duties as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager and they have declined to exercise the club’s option on Jerry Manuel’s contract as Manager for 2011.

A search is underway for a new General Manager who will run the team’s Baseball Operations department.  Ownership will lead the process with assistance from Vice President, Assistant General Manager John Ricco who will in the interim direct the department.  The new General Manager will work with Ownership to identify and hire a new Manager.

“We are extremely disappointed in this year’s results and the failures of the past four seasons,” said Jeff Wilpon, Mets Chief Operating Officer.  “We need to hire a new General Manager with a fresh perspective who will transform this club into a winner that we want and our fans deserve.

“We appreciate all that Omar and Jerry have done for the Organization and thank them for their time and effort,” Wilpon said.  “Changes like these are never easy, especially when you are dealing with people you like and respect.”

Mets Ownership will meet with the media today at 1:30 p.m. in the Press Conference Room at Citi Field to address these changes.

I’m gonna take it all in and post later rather than rush for posting sake.

Good morning Mets fans,

Welcome to the obligatory end of season article.  Since my blog is mostly about off the field stuff I’ll keep my thoughts there.  Here’s what goes through my brain as I type this on Sunday night.

I thought Jerry handled himself well down the stretch.   Maybe he isn’t the best manager in the game, but he didn’t get surly while on death watch.

I remember how much I enjoyed the first half.  2 back at the All Star break.  I bought a green Murphy jersey, a stars and stripes, a burn orange Wright, a jersey for my daughter, and my still never worn jacket.  The Mets got  lot of money out of me.

This was the year the Mets invited the bloggers over for dinner (twice).   Very nice to see them adapt to new media.  This isn’t about trying to get free tickets (I declined the second invite because of real job – I only have so many days off) but it’s neat to have a dialogue of sorts with the team.

We got our museum.  What a great addition to Citi Field which finally felt like the home of the Mets.

I really enjoyed The Apple which made me laugh hard a few times a week.   Came to really appreciate Faith and Fear and their quality writing (as opposed to my half-thought out sentences).   I dig what On The Black is doing.  Michael Baron at MetsPhotos. Had a nice lunch or two with Cerrone.   All the other blogs in my Google Reader that help me kill time until I can go home from work.

Sitting in the Promenade with the kids and a Saturday package that was probably a waste of money.  I bet I waste money again next year.

The night we all tweeted during the 20 inning game.  We got another taste of that yesterday during Ollie.

How “You own this Mets jersey” caught on and how folks send stuff in to [email protected]   Much appreciated and always a good laugh.

Any random mention of Lee Mazzilli.

The long slow death of 2010.  One minute the Mets are two games out, one horrible road trip and then the longest 7 weeks I can recall.   Interesting to me – my site traffic is up 36% comparing 2010 to 2009, yet September 2010 was lower than September 2009 People really tuned out on this team.

The great work by Walt (@formerdirtdart) tallying the attendance and making those cool uni-calendars for me to post every month, and for giving me lots of tweets to retweet.

Media Goon and Dan for watching the blog and watching my back when I wasn’t paying attention or traveling.

Now all that sounds like a farewell – nope.   I know some blogs hibernate during the winter but I’m crazy and will continue to post a few times a day.   You can get the blog via Google Reader or free daily email or right here where you always get it.  Goon and I are working on another site which is up and in Beta if you hunt around the internet enough.   I need to put some time and thought into it and will let you know when it’s ready.  Right now we’re just laying the foundations for the site to make sure it works correctly, and to find the right “voice.”

If you don’t already, please follow @metspolice on twitter.   I enjoy the back and forth dialog on there.

With 2010 in the books…let’s see what Jeff has to say.

The 2011 Mets:  Man Up and Play Better.