Tag: Jeff Wilpon

Mets Wilpon Apologizes For Minaya’s Outburst

Minaya1Mets COO Jeff Wilpon met with the media before last night’s game against the Rockies to express the organization’s dissatisfaction with Omar Minaya’s meltdown during Monday’s press conference. Mets fans are well aware by now that Minaya implied that Daily News reporter Adam Rubin wrote damaging reports about Tony Bernazard because Rubin wanted a position in player development with the Mets.

Wilpon said that Minaya apologized to Mets ownership for making a “very, very large mistake”. He went on to say that Minaya is well aware that he put the team in a bad spot with his comments about Rubin.

Rubin has received a voice mail from Wilpon apologizing on behalf of the Mets team and he hopes that Rubin will accept a call from Minaya to apologize.

Clearly, the simple firing of Bernazard has turned into a complete disaster for this PR-challenged team. I always thought of Minaya as fairly media savvy despite his lack of command of the English language. But this episode has exposed Minaya as easily shaken and a poor communicator.

All of this has left the Mets, and us fans, as the laughing stock of the league. Definitely take a look at Ray Ratto’s column for CBS Sports. He describes the Mets dysfunction in the front office and goes on the say that fans of the Royals, Nationals, and Pirates are thinking that it could be worse. They could be Mets fans.

Listen to Jeff Wilpon’s meeting with the media here:

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Omar Minaya Apologizes For Trashing Adam Rubin

bag head
Flickr photo courtesy of abbynormy

After Mets GM Omar Minaya attempted to discredit NY Daily News reporter Adam Rubin at a press conference today, he thought better of it and issued an apology. Interestingly, COO Jeff Wilpon was by his side looking like an adult forcing a child to apologize for bad behavior.

You can see the original press conference here. Oh, by the way, the press conference was to announce that the Mets fired VP Player Development Tony Bernazard.

Rubin quickly became the focus of the press conference to everyone’s surprise. This just goes to show that the Mets can make a bad situation even worse. You can see Rubin’s response to Minaya’s accusations here.

It’s been a bizzare day, even by Mets standards. This kind of bad PR just can’t be doing Minaya any good right now. Unbelievable… Does the embarrassment ever end?

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Mets Minaya, Manuel Jobs Safe; Manuel Denies Report

Flickr photo courtesy of Keith Allison
Flickr photo courtesy of Keith Allison

Both SI.com and New York Post are reporting that Mets COO Jeff Wilpon met with GM Omar Mianya and manager Jerry Manuel during the Subway Series at Citi Field. The purpose of the meeting was to assure both that despite the horrible season that the Mets are having, their jobs are safe.

When asked about the assurance from Wilpon, Manuel said that no such meeting took place. He said that he wished it was true, but it wasn’t.

Jeff Wilpon has long been rumored to use Jon Heyman of SI as his media mouthpiece. This was especially evident last season before Willie Randolph was fired and Heyman always had the scoop from a “confidential” Mets source about what the organization was planning. It looks like that’s the case this season again, minus the “confidential” part.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about Minaya and Manuel from Mets fans and some are valid. But this season was just completely lost to injuries. It really wouldn’t be fair to hold them accountable for what’s happened this year. Although if things go awry next season, the Wilpons might have a quick hook especially for Manuel.

Minaya has three more years on his contract and there’s no way the Wilpons are going to eat three years. It’s just not going to happen. So for those of you that want Minaya gone, and I’ve heard from you, don’t get your hopes up. He’ll be here for at least one more year.

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Mets Move Oliver Perez To Bullpen

New York Mets BullpenThe only logical conclusion occured from Oliver Perez‘ early season struggles, he’s going to the bullpen to get “right”. Many of you were in favor of shipping him off to Triple-A Buffalo but that wasn’t likely to happen. Perez was afforded a veto of an option to the minors due to his major league service of more than five years.

As I wrote yesterday, Perez should be in the bullpen. Ken Takahashi will take over Perez’ start on Friday against the not-so-lowly Pirates.

In case you were wondering, Perez’ last and only career relief appearance was on September 2, 2002 for the Padres against the Rockies. He gave up one hit, no runs, and had 3 strikeouts.

It’s interesting to note that Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon made the trip all the way to Atlanta today for this decision. There was some talk that Perez may have a slight knee problem that could put him on the disabled list, then in the minors. But I’d have to think that Perez and Scott Boras would object to that plan since the knee problem seemed to be very minor.

If you think about this from Perez’ perspective there’s very little to gain from accepting a demotion to Buffalo. Then he’s stuck with no leverage about when he comes back. Certainly, the Mets wouldn’t want to pay $12 million/year for a minor league pitcher. But look at what’s happened to Dontrelle Willis. He’s been stuck in the minors since last season.

If I were Perez, there’s no way that I would accept the option to Buffalo either. I’d tell the Mets if they don’t want me on the major league roster to release me and pay out the rest of my $36 million. I have a feeling that conversation happened in not-so-many words.

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Mets Executives In Atlanta To Discuss Oliver Perez

Omar MinayaSeveral of the Mets beat reporters are writing today that Mets GM Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon are on their way to Atlanta today. The purpose is to discuss the ongoing Oliver Perez saga. Presumably, they’re going to try to convince him, and his agent Scott Boras, that it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to accept a demotion to Triple-A Buffalo.

I get nervous whenever Jeff Wilpon sticks his nose into something. Remember, Jeff is the one responsible for Kaz Matsui and the much-maligned Citi Field. The Wilpons are the ones that forgot that the Mets play at Citi Field, not the Dodgers, and that fans would actually like to see the whole field from their seats.

Perez has the right to refuse an assignment to the minors. That’s his right under the Collective Bargaining Agreement as a player with more than five years of MLB experience. Jeff Wilpon’s involvement certainly doesn’t inspire confidence that this situation will be resolved properly.

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Audio: Jeff Wilpon Talks Mets Roster

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 02: New York Mets chief o...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Bart Hubbach of the NY Post posted this interview with Jeff Wilpon talking about the trade/free agent market being slow to move this off-season. One interesting point to note is that the Mets don’t have a set budget for their player payroll. I’m not quite sure that I believe that. They must at least have a range. I have a feeling that Jeff just didn’t want to get into specifics about it. Listen below.

Jeff Wilpon Interview

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