Tag: Omar Minaya

Timing Of Randolph Firing Irrelevant

There’s never a good time to fire an employee. Whether it’s first thing in the morning or after a day of work, it isn’t pleasant.

We don’t know the nature of the conversations that took place between Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph. It’s possible that Minaya that wanted to fire Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto but Randolph said that he couldn’t work under those conditions. The reports were that Randolph was very unhappy when Minaya fired hitting coach Rick Down last season.

I know that it makes for good headlines in the mainstream media and the blogs to rip Minaya for the timing of this move. But don’t be too quick to judge.

New Reader Poll: Who Should The Mets Fire?

Update June 17 11:00 AM EDT: Since the decision was made for us early this morning. I decided to take the poll down.

Since it appears to be imminent that someone is going to get fired. I’d like to get your take on who should get the axe. See the poll on the right side of the page. If you’re using a feed reader, visit the site to participate in the poll.

Roster Changes A Long, Difficult Road For Mets

For weeks I’ve been hoping that the Mets would settle on a direction to go for this season. There are two choices: change the manager or change the roster. The acquisition of Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamond Backs may signal that Mets GM Omar Minaya is going to give the latter a try.

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Although I hope that Minaya has decided to pursue roster changes, there are a few problems that I have with the Mets organization. First, they shouldn’t leave Willie Randolph twisting in the wind for a variety of reasons. Second, the Mets roster is going to be difficult to make significant changes to, and it will take time to implement.

Minaya has offered tepid support for Randolph twice over the last two weeks. The lack of substance to this support has left the players, and certainly Randolph, wondering when the shoe is going to drop. The Mets need to eliminate this distraction and offer full support such as, “Willie is our manager for the rest of the year” or not talk about Randolph’s job security at all. Going half way with his support isn’t helping the situation. Minaya has to be smart enough to know that.

Continue reading “Roster Changes A Long, Difficult Road For Mets”

Mets Trade For Trot Nixon

The Mets acquired Trot Nixon from the Arizona D’Backs. Nixon has been playing for the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders this season. His line is .309/ .437/ .558 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, and 31 RBI’s in 181 at-bat’s over 58 games.

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Mets GM Omar Minaya announced the trade immediately after tonight’s game against the Rangers. He expects Nixon to be at Shea tomorrow in time for the second game against the Rangers. The Mets traded cash or a player to be named later. Most likely Robinson Cancel will be headed right back to New Orleans.

Nixon is 34 years old. His major league career spans eleven years, most recently with the Cleveland Indians last season. Typically most telling is his 162 game average which is .275/ .364/ .466 with 20 home runs and 83 RBI’s.

He has a reputation as a hard-nosed, gritty player. That’s something that the Mets seem to be lacking this season. Nixon made $3 million last year with the Indians and signed a one year minor league deal with the D’Backs this season.

Minaya Provides Meek Support For Randolph

Prior to tonight’s game Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the rumors swirling that manager Willie Randolph’s firing is imminent. Minaya re-affirmed his statements from two weeks ago that Randolph has his support and the support of the Wilpons. However, he didn’t commit to Randolph managing the Mets for the entire season.

There were plenty of columns written on the topic this afternoon. Perhaps the best one was written by Fox Sports.

Some quotes from the column:

"Bottom line is, I’m just not going to answer every report that’s out there," Minaya said. "This is a game of performance and you have to do certain things."

Minaya didn’t rule out personnel changes, either, and said: "Nobody is untouchable."

"They tell us he’s going to be here. He’s our manager and nothing has changed," Carlos Beltran said. "It’s been rough lately but we need to move on. We need to play better, that’s the bottom line."

Once again, we get a statement of support for Randolph that lacks emphasis. If they’re going to keep Randolph they need to come out and say that he’s here for the year. Until then, the speculation will continue. Clearly, this is a distraction for the players.

Report: Mets Brass Met Thursday- Still No Changes

NEW YORK - APRIL 08: General manager Omar Minaya of the New York Mets looks on as his team takes batting practice before taking on the Philadelphia Phillies before the last home opener at Shea Stadium on April 8, 2008 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer Jon Heyman reports that Omar Minaya and members of the Mets front office met yesterday to discuss the Mets decline. Although no decisions have been finalized, the Mets are considering changes at manager and several coaches.

Heyman reports that a source close to the Mets says that Minaya remains a vocal source of support for Randolph but other members of the front office have differing views.

Minaya and other club higher-ups met Thursday to discuss the deteriorating fortunes of the team and what can be done about it. Minaya is considered extremely loyal by co-workers and has been Randolph’s greatest supporter for weeks. As one Mets person put it, “Willie’s his guy.” However, Randolph’s detractors have become more vocal in recent days, and there seems to be a general feeling that something major needs to be done to reinvigorate the club.

After the bullpen’s latest meltdown and the lack of hitting with RISP, both Howard Johnson and Rick Peterson are candidates to be replaced.

My feeling is that the Mets have to do something, whether it’s replacing Randolph and/or coaches or making significant player moves. The problem is that moving players is much more difficult and time consuming. It won’t happen overnight.

The front office just needs to do something now though. They’re letting the last season at Shea Stadium slip away without a fight. That’s what is most disturbing about this season. They need to determine a direction quickly (like today) and start moving in that direction. It’s the indecision about what to do with this team that’s hurting the chances for a successful outcome.

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Bartolo Colon And Missed Opportunities

Back on February 25th when I was looking at the Mets potential Quadruple-A starters, I wrote that I was disappointed that the Red Sox signed Bartolo Colon. At the time, the Mets were put off by his excessive weight.

Well, tonight Colon beat the Orioles to bring his record to 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA. I know that hindsight is 20/20. I know that you should look forward and not back, but this was a big mistake by Omar Minaya.

Colon would’ve given the Mets a great insurance policy in case someone (let’s say Oliver Perez) blew up during the season or someone was hurt for a significant period of time (Pedro Martinez). Perez is 4-4 with a 5.37 ERA. Martinez is 1-0 with a 6.91 ERA is three starts.

Who knows if Colon will make it through a long hot summer? He is obese. But he sure looks good for Boston so far.