Omar Minaya – Page 10 – The Mets Report

Mets Minaya, Manuel Jobs Safe; Manuel Denies Report

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.

Audio: Church, Minaya Discuss Mets-Braves Trade

Here’s the announcement to the media from Omar Minaya discussing today’s trade with the Braves. Ryan Church and Jeff Francoeur and trading right fields in the NL East.

Omar Minaya audio

This is Ryan Church’s reaction to the news that he’s been traded to the Braves. He does a good job of showing class when he could have taken the opportunity to air grievances with his year and a half as a Met.

Ryan Church audio

Mets Delgado Needs Surgery; Out Two Months

Breaking news this afternoon that Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado will have surgery tomorrow to repair a torn labrum and remove a bone spur in his hip. The surgery will keep Delgado away from the team until mid-July. Unfortunately, this is the kind of thing that happens with older players in the last year or two of long term contracts. The Mets were bitten by similar situations with Pedro Martinez.

Delgado will be 37 years old in June and leaves the Mets with somewhat of a hole in the lineup and at first base. I don’t think the Mets will be pursuing a trade before the deadline in July as some of the baseball know-it-all’s have speculated in recent days.

Expect Fernando Tatis, Daniel Murphy, and Jeremy Reed to split time. Murphy can consider this an audition for next season when Delgado certainly will be gone from the Mets. I believe that he’ll have a hard time holding off Tatis for playing time. Tatis has proven that he’s more than capable in the field and has some good power in his bat. The only question is whether his warts will be exposed with increased playing time.

Not to be lost in this story is the foresight of Omar Minaya acquiring Gary Sheffield last month. He’ll have the next two months to prove that he’s still got that old lightning in his bat that the Tigers thought was gone when they released him.

If Delgado doesn’t look like he can make a successful comeback in July the Mets can pull the trigger ona deal before the trading deadline on July 31. Unless the Mets can get something for nothing, there’s no reason to hit the panic button yet.

Mets Putz Out Two Days

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Mets GM Omar Minaya had a conference call with reporters this afternoon prior to the Mets game with the Giants. When there’s a last minute press conference on the west coast, I start thinking that the manager is getting fired. Isn’t that Minaya’s MO?

In this case Minaya told reporters that reliever J.J. Putz had an MRI on his right elbow that revealed inflammation and a bone spur. The bone spur has been there for a couple of years. Putz had a coritsone shot and won’t be able to pitch for a couple of days. That’s probably a good thing for the Mets right now. Putz has been bringing back bad memories of Aaron Heilman lately.

Minaya also gave an update on Carlos Delgado that didn’t help clear the air about his health. Basically, they’re waiting a few days to see if he starts to feel better after having some soreness in his hip.

Ravich: Mets Manuel On Hot Seat

: Image via Wikipedia

Karl Ravich of ESPN has an opinion piece up on the ESPN Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page about managers on the hot seat. He writes about Bob Melvin of the D-Backs being the first manager fired this season but Jerry Manuel and Joe Girardi being on the hot seat.

His reasoning for Manuel is that the team is now playing in Citi Field with high expectations. He also lists Omar Minaya’s comments about a lack of leadership on the team as a reason for Manuel to be concerned. Of course, the Mets problems late in games is an issue.

Personally, I don’t think that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of Manuel being fired this season barring something shocking happening. The reason is purely financial. The Mets are still paying Willie Randolph this season. If they fired Manuel and hired someone else, they’d have three managers on the payroll. Nobody does that.

If the Mets don’t make the playoffs this season, I could see Manuel getting fired after the season. As a matter of fact, you can take that to the bank. Manuel signed a 2-year deal this off season. He wanted three years but they wouldn’t give it to him. That’s a strong sign that this is Manuel’s year to show that he can get the Mets to the playoffs.

Audio: Minaya, Manuel, Maine, Wright May 4, 2009

WFAN logo Prior to last night’s game against the Atlanta Braves Omar Minaya spoke to WFAN’s Ed Coleman about the decision to move Oliver Perez to the bullpen. That decision has certainly been controversial with the media and blogs typically arguing that Perez should have been sent to the minors. Listen to Minaya’s explanation of what happened below.

Minaya audio

After the Mets beat the Braves 6-4 in Atlanta, WFAN got the reaction from the team.

David Wright audio

John Maine audio

Jerry Manuel audio

Mets Move Oliver Perez To Bullpen

New York Mets Bullpen The 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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