Month: August 2009

Fred Wilpon Supports Minaya For Mets 2010

NEW YORK - JUNE 23: General Manager Omar Mina...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

We haven’t seen much of Fred Wilpon this year and with good reason. Nobody wants to watch the stumbling, bumbling 2009 Mets. They stink. But Wilpon did make a rare appearance at Citi Field last night because the ’69 team was in the house.

Wilpon would only answer one question from the assembled media. “Will Omar Minaya be back in 2010?” His answer: “Absolutely. That’s a fact.”

I’ve heard about this topic from Mets fans since April. “Fire Minaya!”. And I’ve always said that there’s no way they’ll fire Minaya with three years remaining on his contract. It’s just not happening. He could be the worst GM in baseball (you could make that argument) and they still wouldn’t fire him and eat three years of his contract.

You might want to read Joel Sherman of the NY Post today. It’s the “Bernie Madoff Effect”. The Mets got taken for ride by their good friend Madoff and their real estate business is struggling. They just don’t have the stomach to lose more money on Minaya and replacing the entire front office. Sherman estimates that the cost would approximately $12 million. That may not seem like much by baseball standards, and it’s not for on-field talent. But teams don’t eat that kind of money for the support staff. And that’s a fact!

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Mets Get 1969 Celebration Right

Donn Clendenon, Mets hero - video
Image by bobster855 via Flickr

If you missed the pre-game of last night’s Mets-Phillies game, you missed a very well done celebration of the Mets first World Series championship- The Miracle Mets. A couple of things stood out for me about the celebration:

  1. The Mets organization does a great job with these events like they did with the final game at Shea and the 25th anniversary of the ’86 World Series champs
  2. It was fantastic to see Nolan Ryan back in New York with a Mets uniform on; the pitching they had on that team was off the charts

Related to point number 1, how can the Mets get these events right that celebrate their team’s history yet get their new stadium so wrong? It doesn’t make sense to me. Just when I think that the organization is completely out of touch with their fan base, they do something like this so well. I guess there’s still hope for them yet.

I want to add a couple of links on the ’69 celebration:

  • Remembering Shea has some good comments about watching the celebration last night
  • Ken Belson of the NY Times writes about how Mets fans got a brief reprieve last night from a season of injuries, incompetence, and all-around sloppy play when they saw the ’69 team take the field
  • ESPN has a good report including that Jerry Manuel played with Bud Harrelson and Jerry Grote briefly in a Senior League in Florida
  • Keith Olbermann, the Baseball Nerd, writes about his attendance at the event last night
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Preview: Phillies at Mets Aug. 22, 2009

phillies logoPhiladelphia Phillies (69-50 Road: 37-21) at New York Mets (57-65 Home: 34-29) 7:10pm

J.A. Happ (9-2 2.66) vs. Tim Redding (1-4 6.53)

TV: SNY

What to watch: Redding is making his first start back in the rotation since the Mets released Livan Hernandez. Redding was the obvious choice for the rotation because he’s been rocked in his last two relief outings, giving up 6 earned runs over 4 innings. On the other hand, Happ has been outstanding this year. He hasn’t allowed more than 2 runs in his last four starts including a complete game shutout of the Rockies on Aug. 5.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!

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Gary Sheffield Unhappy With Mets; No Surprise

SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 17: Gary Sheffield #10 of...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It was bound to happen at some point this season and now it has. Gary Sheffield isn’t happy with the Mets and even asked out of the lineup on Thursday night. He did play Friday but got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes and it looked like it was on purpose.

For all the talk of Sheffield being a team player when they signed him in April, that’s over now. He wants out or he wants a contract extension and neither is going to happen. The reports were that the Giants claimed Sheffield on waivers but they couldn’t work out a trade that was satisfactory to the Mets. So the Mets pulled him off waivers and have to keep him for the rest of the season.

Sheffield was surprised that he had to learn about this development through media reports and not Omar Minaya. He told reporters after Friday’s game that he was confused why the Mets wouldn’t let him go to play for a contender in San Francisco.

The Mets only have to deal with this for nine more games to finish out the month of August. Then they can release Sheffield after September 1 so he wouldn’t be eligible for another team’s postseason roster. If he continues to make a nuisance of himself, that’s exactly what they should do.

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Mets Billy Wagner Claimed By Red Sox

Wagner
Image by phillenium1979 via Flickr

The Mets have an opportunity to come out from under a total of $3.7 million of Billy Wagner‘s contract. The reports are that he was claimed on waivers by the Boston Red Sox. I’m sure the Mets were shocked that anyone would claim Wagner after coming off Tommy John surgery and only pitching in one game on Thursday night.

The Mets now have until Tuesday to: 1) work out a trade with the Red Sox 2) let Wagner go to the Red Sox for nothing 3) pull Wagner off waivers and keep him for the rest of this season. Of course, option 1 is ideal but it will depend highly on how much of Wagner’s remaining salary ($2.7 million) and next year’s option buyout ($1 million) that the Mets are willing to eat. It also depends on Wagner allowing a trade because he has a full no-trade clause in his contract. The reports are that he wouldn’t allow a trade back to the Phillies but would go to a contender.

The Mets should just let Wagner go for nothing and have the Red Sox pick up the rest of his contract. At this point, the Mets are bordering on becoming one of the worst teams that money can buy in the history of Major League Baseball at almost $2 million per win. The only worse team was the 2008 Seattle Mariners, and that cost almost everyone in the front office and the manager their jobs.

For the sake of his reputation and legacy, Omar Minaya needs to drawn down the Mets financial exposure as much as possible. He’s already responsible for one of the worst trades in MLB history and now he’s on the verge of spending the second most money per win in history. Minaya could very well become known as one of the worst general managers in baseball’s 140 year history.

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Mets News Aug. 19, 2009 Church, Sheffield, Santana, Wagner

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28: Manager Jerry Manuel ...
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Of course, the big news of the day is the continuing feud between Ryan Church and Jerry Manuel. But there’s more on the heels of the Mets 9-4 win over Atlanta at Citi Field last night.

Here’s the news:

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Mets Jerry Manuel And Ryan Church Trade Shots

DENVER - JULY 11: Ryan Church #25 looks on fr...
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The Atlanta Braves are in town and Jerry Manuel and Ryan Church took the opportunity to wage a mild war of words. Basically, Manuel said that David Wright’s concussion is being handled differently than Church’s because they’re “different animals”. Manuel later tried to clarify by saying they’re “different individuals” and apologized if Church took offense.

Church responded that he’s fighting for a playoff spot with the Braves and would take the high road by not responding negatively to Manuel’s apparent slight.

It’s difficult to understand why Manuel would use this situation to take a backhanded shot at Church after he’s already been traded away. As Joel Sherman properly points out today, Manuel should be the adult in any situation involving a player.

Despite the public denials, it’s clear for the world to see that these two just don’t like each other and probably never did. That’s fine. It happens. But Manuel needs to tone it down and keep his negative comments to himself about Church. There’s no point in continuing to take jabs at Church. He’s gone. It’s over. Just let it go.

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