Piling On Omar Minaya; Mets Won’t Fire Him

New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya befo...
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As the 2009 season slips away, it seems that more fingers are pointing in Omar Minaya‘s direction when we try to determine who’s to blame. Although Minaya didn’t cause the severity and depth or the Mets injuries this season, he didn’t have a good backup plan either. As I’ve said all along, I can’t see the Wilpons firing Minaya with three years left on his contract.

Sure, Minaya has his share of bad deals. Oliver Perez certainly comes to mind. But don’t forget that he’s also the one that brought Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez to the Mets with very fair contracts. And he didn’t give up much of anything to the Twins to get Santana.

Certainly, I don’t defend Minaya’s meltdown/attack of Adam Rubin. Those were the actions of a person that isn’t prepared to be in front of the public. I’m sure that incident put him on extremely thin ice. It had to. I don’t think it was a fire-able offense, but I’m sure it means that Minaya needs to watch his step over the next year or so. Continue reading “Piling On Omar Minaya; Mets Won’t Fire Him”

Mets News Aug. 27, 2009 Perez, Minaya, Putz

NEW YORK - APRIL 29:  Johan Santana #57 of the...
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I’m a little behind on my Mets news. But I’m ready to jump back in. As I’m writing this I’m listening to the Mets-Marlins game on the radio. I usually watch on TV but this team has become one that I can’t bear to watch anymore. They could get swept in Florida for their sixth consecutive loss. It’s gone from ugly to I don’t know what to call it.

Anyway, here’s the news:

  • Oliver Perez is done for the season. He’ll have surgery to address tendinitis in his right knee. He stole $12 million from the Mets this season. I can’t imagine that he’ll be able to repay them over the next two seasons.
  • Joel Sherman of NY Post writes about Omar Minaya’s horrible press conference announcing that Johan Santana is done for the season.
  • J.J. Putz is done for the season after an MRI showed fraying and tearing in his right forearm. He doesn’t need surgery though. He left the team on June 4 for surgery and only appeared in 29 games this season. What a waste!
  • Matthew Artus of Always Amazin’ asks the question that everyone wants to know: Why did the Mets keep pitching Santana when they knew he was injured? Artus says that heads need to roll over this and I can’t say that I disagree.
  • Dave Singer of NY Sports Dog writes that several Mets bloggers were recently injured and lost for the season.
  • Dave at Mets Lifers ponders the worst Mets lineup ever.

Audio: Minaya Addresses Wagner, Santana, Putz, Perez

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Here’s the conference call with reporters to address the surgery that Johan Santana will have. Omar Minaya also gets into the Billy Wagner trade to the Red Sox, J.J. Putz‘ next rehab appearance being delayed, and Oliver Perez coming back to New York to have his knee examined.

As usual, Minaya stumbles and bumbles his way through the call. It’s bizarre that he doesn’t even remember that Santana had elbow problems during spring training that almost caused him to miss opening day. It’s also odd that Minaya hasn’t spoken to Santana yet about the injury and impending surgery.

Oliver Perez To Have Knee Examined

NEW YORK - MAY 13:  Oliver Perez #46 of the Ne...
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On the heels of the news that Johan Santana is finished for the season, WFAN is now reporting that Oliver Perez is leaving the team to return to New York to have his right knee examined. This comes after Perez was rocked for 6 runs on Sunday against the Phillies in .2 innings.

Perez missed most of May and June on the disabled list because of his knee. But I always suspected it was more of a phantom injury because he was pitching so poorly. He seemed to tweak the knee while covering first base on a play on August 18 against the Braves. But he did his side work and made the unsuccessful start against the Phils on Sunday.

Perez has pitched decently, but not great, since returning from the DL on July 8. He hasn’t pitched more than 6.1 innings in a game since then. We don’t know what this will mean for the rest of the season.

Johan Santana Surgery Will End Season

Johan SantanaWFAN is reporting that Johan Santana will have arthroscopic elbow surgery to remove bone chips in his arm. Santana’s season is over, much like the Mets.

Santana finishes the season at 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA and 1.212 WHIP for a team that is currently 57-68. Reports from the team are that Santana hasn’t been throwing between starts since the All-Star break. The last thing Mets fans had to cheer about is over. Santana went 8-3 at home and 5-6 on the road. He pitched 3 games against their biggest rival, the Phillies, and went 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA.

Billy Wagner Traded To Red Sox

SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 10:  National League All-...
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After a lot of back and forth over the last few days about what conditions were required for Billy Wagner to waive his full no-trade clause, the Mets and Red Sox finally finished the deal right before the deadline today. The Mets will receive two minor league players in return for Wagner.

Wagner did fly with the team to Miami last night, so he’ll be turning around and heading to Boston where the Red Sox are playing the White Sox.

The reports were that Wagner wanted the Red Sox to guarantee that they wouldn’t pick up his $8 million option for next season and wouldn’t offer him salary arbitration either.

We don’t know all the details of the trade yet. More updates soon.