Tag: Omar Minaya

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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Jerry Manuel Plays Favorites, Hurts Mets

Jerry ManuelLast season I was completely on the bandwagon to fire Willie Randolph and I still think it was the right move. At the time I thought the Mets should have hired someone from outside of the organization to manage the team. They didn’t, and I really liked the way Jerry Manuel led the team for the remainder of the 2008 season. But I have to admit that he’s starting to wear on me already this season. Now I can see how he lost the team in Chicago in 2003. He plays favorites with the players to the detriment of the team.

I’m definitely not saying that Manuel should be fired. He won’t be this season no matter what. Omar Minaya just signed him to a 2-year deal before the season started and the team won’t eat the money. Besides, they’re still paying Randolph and there’s no way that they’ll have three managers on the payroll for this season.

What I am saying is that I’m paying much closer attention to his moves now than I have in the past. I’m looking at him with a much more critical eye than I did last season. The honeymoon period is over. Manuel always impressed me with his talk, and actions, about how if players produce they’ll play. That’s the way it should be. But this season he’s not showing it.

Manuel’s Doghouse

Luis Castillo – He was awful last season and deserved the backlash that he received. That being said, he appears to be healthier and in better shape this season. He’s hitting .370 with a .878 OPS. What more does he have to do to get out of the bottom of the order? Alex Cora is hitting at the top of the order when he plays for Castillo. That doesn’t make sense.

Ryan Church – Manuel chided him all spring, then the Mets brought in Gary Sheffield and Manuel said he’ll see time in right field. Church is hitting .313 with a .845 OPS and playing a very good right field. Why is he the outfielder to lose playing time and be chided all spring? Daniel Murphy can’t play the field and has a lower OPS than Church. He should be losing plenty of playing time to Sheffield.

Ramon Castro – The guy is a solid #2 catcher. Sure, he’s not a star player but how does he get pinch hit for by Omir Santos? Castro has 2 hits against the Marlins on Wednesday and gets pinch hit for with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded. It makes no sense. Castro can hit, let him do his thing.

I’m starting get tired of Manuel’s stubborn attitude. That’s one of the things that I disliked about Randolph. Omir Santos, Daniel Murphy, and Alex Cora are getting favored treatment over players that deserve better. This is a classic recipe to lose the team. Manuel needs to wake up before it’s too late.

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Audio: Omar Minaya, Ed Coleman April 24, 2009

Omar MinayaMets GM Omar Minaya joins WFAN’s Mike Francesa to talk about the current sorry state of the Mets. He debunks the rumors that changes are imminent in the starting rotation or coaching staff. Clearly, he isn’t happy with the way the team is playing but he doesn’t have his finger on the panic button yet.

Omar Minaya audio

Mets beat reporter Eddie Coleman of WFAN talks to Evan and Joe about the debacle of a series in St. Louis this week and the problems with the starting rotation.

Eddie Coleman audio

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Mets 2009 Payroll May Increase

Omar MinayaI have to admit that I’m surprised to read a report at MLB.com that Mets GM Omar Minaya says that the team has the flexibility to add payroll this season. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised given that the Mets have some new revenue from Citi Field. But given the current economy I thought that the Mets would stand pat at just over $139 million. Only the Yankees are higher this season at $206.8 million.

If the Mets do make moves before the trading deadline this season the most likely acquisition targets would be starting pitching and right-handed hitting outfielders. The list of potential targets is pretty impressive and will likely grow as teams fall out of contention and look to dump salaries. The overall economy may even enhance the number of players that become available this season.

The likes of Roy Halladay, Jake Peavey, Maglio Ordonez, Eric Byrnes, and Matt Holliday figure to become available via trade at some point this season. Apparently, the Mets could be in on some of these players during the season.

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New York Mets Top News Stories April 7, 2009

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=823807&PublisherId=0MLB: FEB 26 Spring Training - Marlins at Mets

The Mets had a nice win on opening day yesterday against the Reds. The weather was cold and dreary but it was great to see Johan Santana get a win that he didn’t have to pitch a complete game to get. The bullpen held up just as Omar Minaya drew it up in the off-season. Of course, every media outlet is running stories this morning about how the Mets bullpen problems are fixed. I’ve seen about 50 of those columns today and I’m sure more will be coming during the day today.

Onto the news of the day:

Dave Singer at New York Sports Dog has a great post about the Mets all-time record on opening day. He lists every opening day game result and starting pitcher back to 1962. Very cool post. Its incredible to see how things went down hill after Doc Gooden left in 1995.

Darren Rovell of Sportsbiz at CNBC has a good post about the Mets and Yankees official sponsors. Did you know that Kozy Shack is the official pudding of the Mets? I didn’t either.

Andy Knight of the Cincinnati Enquirer has a good photo slideshow of the opening day parade in Cincinnati yesterday. It was good to see Frank Robinson back in Cincy.

Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News writes sarcastically about how confident we would have been to see last year’s bullpen save the game for Santana yesterday.

The New York Post has some video of Francisco Rodriguez talking about his save yesterday after the game.
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Mets Delay Santana’s Elbow Examination

Johan SantanaMets ace Johan Santana threw 35 pitches this morning at about 80-85% velocity. He reportedly felt fine afterward. But his trip to New York to have the injured elbow looked at was delayed due to the impending snow storm here in New York.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen and Santana seem to be at odds over the cause of the injury. Santana believes the aggresive throwing schedule that Warthen mandates caused the elbow pain. Warthen believes that Santana had an agenda to prepare himself for the World Baseball Classic caused the injury.

Either way, they just need to get Santana right at this point. After the throwing session today Santana told reporters (from NY Daily News):

“I felt fine. It’s the first time in the last four days that I threw, but I feel good. … As you throw more pitches, you feel better. That tells me we’re making progress and getting loose.”

As Omar Minaya told reporters, the important thing is that he felt good after throwing. Hopefully, he’s not trying to be a hero and telling the Mets that he’s fine when he’s not. Time will tell.

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