The 63-62 Mets likely need a “big finish” for GM Omar Minaya to return in the same role next year, people familiar with the team tell Jon Heyman of SI.com. Minaya’s contract guarantees him about $1MM in 2011 and the same amount in 2012, but the Mets would still consider firing or reassigning Minaya. Here are the details on the Mets, plus the rest of Heyman’s rumors:
- Disappointing and expensive Minaya additions like Jason Bay and Francisco Rodriguez aren’t doing their GM any favors. Mets execs haven’t been impressed with all of Minaya’s major signings.
- Heyman lists Kevin Towers, Pat Gillick and in-house candidates John Ricco and Wayne Krivsky as potential replacements for Minaya.
- A person connected to the White Sox says the team offered the Dodgers two proposals for Manny Ramirez at the end of July, but received no counter-offers. Ken Rosenthal reported today that the White Sox will claim Manny if he reaches them on waivers.
- Heyman says it would be “a surprise if Kirk Gibson isn't retained” as D’Backs manager next year. Interim GM Jerry Dipoto also has a “decent chance” of keeping his job.
I’m thinking signing guys like Luis Castillo, Jeff Francoeur and Oliver Perez will lead to his firing far more than those two.
So true indeed.
Yeah the Luis Castillo and Ollie signings were horrendous, and those are going to be his undoing. As for Bay, who could have seen him regress as much as he did this year.
I didn’t think he’d be this bad, but I knew he wouldn’t be the same player he had been since 2004 (minus 2007).
Oh definitely, I didn’t think he would be the same player either, but yeah from 36 homers to 6. Wow.
I wasn’t about to draft him in Fantasy as long as he was wearing a Mets uniform.
Or any uniform, actually.
-wtk
Free Manny Dodgers! Let him go already…so good teams can use him. lol
I don’t see it happening. No matter what anyone says it comes down to the Wilpons. I feel the only guarennted things for the Mets next season is that the man calling the shots at the games will not be Manuel. But not like he’s done much with that.
The Wilpons will quickly change their minds when they see a half empty stadium in September.
I’d love to agree with you…but the stadium was empty earlier this year as well, so much so that they make comments on the air about it. Nothing happened then, nothing will happen after this season.
Kevin Towers
hes working with the yankees
honestly im surprised he has not been fired yet, last winter he was out there saying we need this we need that…and they only got bay….and every one knew and said that bay would not repeat his power numbers going to that field…THEY NEEDED pitching and got jason bay……and now they still need pitching with johan starting the downside of his career and there are reports that they are not going after cliff lee….if that report is true and if it was omar who said that, he should be fired simply for that
They need pitching? Johan Santana is declining? Which team are you talking about? Certainly, CERTAINLY not the Mets.
He’s still a great pitcher with good stuff, but he’s really lost a lot of velocity on his fastball. A slower fastball is going to make his changeup less effective over the rest of his contract. I’m not sure if that’s what jwsox meant, but I’d agree to that. His stats otherwise don’t show much regression, aside from strikeouts per 9.
As for the Mets needs, what team doesn’t need starting pitching? Sure, they could go with Santana / Pelfrey / Niese / Dickey / Flavor of the Week, but they have no assurance that Dickey is going to maintain his success in 2011, and they could use another starter. Now with Rodriguez’s situation, they may be in the market for a closer as well. They should be in the market for pitching. Every team should be in the market for pitching, especially large markets that want to contend, like the mets.
Put Omar as head of scouting since you have to pay him either way. Hire Kevin Towers to construct the team to Citi Field with some defense and pitching just like his padres team with a $130 million dollar payroll…pennant in 3 years…
Yeah, except the Mets have had fine pitching all year, and their defense hasn’t been terrible either. What’s led to their undoing this year is an absolutely abominable offense, part of which comes from having Francoeur and Castillo on the team.
I agree the pitching has been fine for the most part, and the defense has not been terrible. It’s been atrocious. Have you been watching? How many times have they committed multiple errors on one play this year, or come up with a miscue when the game has been on the line? If it were not for Davis at first, Reyes and Wright would have more errors this year. You’re taking a cheap shot at Francoeur and Castillo when you leave out Beltran, Wright, and any of the catchers. Reyes doesn’t look bad statistically because he’s a ‘bully hitter’, he fattens up his stats againist bad pitching. He’ll go 3/4 or 2/3 one game againist bad hurlers and 0/4 againist decent pitching when the team needs a hit to stay in a game.Davis after a good start early, has not adjusted to the league catching up to him. The team needs a serious overhaul.
Why? This guy has ruined the team and everyone knows that. Why pay him to be your head of scouting, thus in charge of the future of the team when he clearly does not know how to build a team. Just fire him eat the money, and get a fresh face in there that knows what he is doing. If anything hire the EX blue jays GM as head of scouting and get a new GM in there
thank you for not saying his name.
pennant in 3 years… its just that easy.
What do the mets need offensively?….a 2nd basemen, a left fielder and a right fielder right? assuming they dont move beltran…there are a lot of those guys in upcoming free agency they could get, they also need at the very least one top of the order pitcher, there are like 2 in FA…and probably a bullpen arm or two…and a bench player or two, they have a lot of hole to fill. They are very close to a contending team and at the same time very close to a fire sale and a full rebuild. It will be a very fun/funny and interesting off season for the mets and their fans.
The New York Mets have a left fielder (Bay) and a right fielder (Pagan). We may even have a second baseman in Murphy. Would a top of the roto pitcher like Lee be nice? Yes, but is it necessary? No, but a solid #2 should be on the agenda.
I agree w/ some of the above. K-Rod and Bay are the least of what should get Minaya fired. Mets were in a desperate situation when they signed K-Rod. Almost the entire collapse that September before was due to a poor bullpen so when winter came around they had a need and K-Rod was the best to fufill it. As for Bay who the hell could have predicted such a rapid decline? I mean the guy played 350 AB and had more Stolen Bases (10) than HRS (6). To his credit he was 10/10 in stolen base attempts but dang. Maybe Minaya can hire someone to taint one of his HGH tests? Howie Spira out yet?
I hope kenny is not putting all of his hopes in one player, there are a ton of great players on waivers right now, Yes manny could be good in the DH in the cell but there are other options out there too, dont just settle
yes. it always seems this way. one or nothing.
Say what you want about Minaya but he has a very good track record as a scout and farm director.
As a Texas scout he signed Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzales and Fernando Tatis.
As a GM he has a history of suckage. Maybe he can be a super Latin American scout or something.
He does have a tendency to find diamonds in the rough, such as R.A. Dickey, Omir Santos last year, Fernando Tatis in 2008, or half the 2006 team.
Jose Valentin in 2006
Yes. Sammy Sosa and his corked bats.
While I’m at it, the team that SHOULD by all rights get bashed is the Cubs. This isn’t out of animosity, but rather because they should be a contender, and their lineup frankly sucks. That front office buggered the team a long time ago, and it’ll be a while before they’re successful again. It’s a shame, because I really like their rotation.
I agree. The Mets with thier payroll should be better than .500, and it’s understandable that Minayna would be in trouble. As a Cub fan I just marvel at the fact that we have the highest payroll in the NL, we’re over 20 games under .500, and Jim Hendry’s job is perfectly safe.
probably because Hendry’s got 2 division titles under his belt as recent as ’08 and the Mets have won jack under Minaya?
It’s very hard being a Met fan. Clean the house. Fire Minaya and Manual. Hire Towers (would prefer Davey Johnson) and Backman. Also, if Castillo and Perez are on the team next year I am not buying a ticket. So either release them or do a bad contract for bad contract deal.
If by clean the house you mean coaching staff and not the entire roster I agree completely with everything you say. Although, I would personally say Bobby Valentine is another option if they aren’t comfortable with Backman managing in the majors right now.
Mets r paying big $$$$ for a manager…fans want blood give them Wally
Time for the Mets to fire Minaya and Manuel. The players should not get a free pass either. They are just very bad. Wright and Reyes are who they are. They are not superstars. They lack any sort of consistency to put in that class. Ike was a nice edition but so far doesnt appear as if he will be a stud. Tejada doesnt hit enough to play in the majors. Thole maybe adequate or may just end up being mediocre at best. In the outfield Bay will have a bounce back year. Not Fenway type #s but can t get much worse than this year. Gotta hope Beltran has monster year playing for a new deal. Pagan is also good. I would trade him though as his value is at its highest. Johan is as solid as a rock but if the Mets don’t add another starter and go into the year selling the fan base that Dickey, Niese, and Pelfrey will round out the rest of the rotation they will dwell in mediocrity next year. The Mets are surely gonna have to give Reyes minimum 5 years at 15 million per following next year. A dangerous deal for a guy who hasnt been the same player last 2 years. only time will tell. Reports also have them trimming payroll to 120 million next year. We shall see.
Although I agree with some of your points, I have to say Tejada’s defense is enough to keep him in the majors until his hitting gets to at least a below-average level. Also, Davis has given me the impression of someone who could develop into a stud given time. I think Thole was rushed to the majors, and that might be the difference between solid starter/platoon player or being a replacement player. As far as Beltran, I don’t think his attitude is going to change, he got his big pay day, so why should he try? Also, I wouldn’t get rid of Pagan because he can take over in CF (where he looks much more comfortable fielding) after Beltran leaves. Dickey, Pelfrey, and Niese would not make the rotation mediocre. This is Niese’s first full year in the MLB, and he’s pitching quite well. Pelfrey has his ups and downs, but is still effective, and Dickey is still young in knuckleball years, and his knuckler has seemed to get better as the season goes on, so I’d say that’s at least an above-average first 4.
So tired of hearing bad things about Wright. Compare his numbers to that of ANY 3B in ALL of baseball and tell me he’s not in the top 2-3. Also, look at their record when Reyes scores…the Mets need him, whether or not he’s a superstar is irrelevant. Everyone needs to stop looking at Wright or Reyes and start looking at everyone else. It’s a team sport, these were the same two guys on the team that was 1 win away from the World Series.
Yea the Mets being 1 win away from the World Series was four years ago. Never said David Wright was bad. I think he is a very good player and so is Reyes but they have had back to back subpar seasons by their standards. If its a team sport then they are also part of the problem the last 2 years. Their ceilings were limitless when coming up and they may have peeked. Reyes will be looking to get paid like a superstar after next year and as a Met fan are you willing to commit to him long term. Its risky bc you dont want to be hamstrung by another bad contract.
Dude. David Wright is probably the best third baseman in the NL! You can’t say anything bad about him when he has virtually nobody to protect him in the lineup, and when he gets hot, he doesen’t need anybody to protect him! Sure he strikes out alot, but he drives in alot of runs, and gets on base alot for his teammates, and hits .300 year in and year out. Jose Reyes is also someoneyou can’t say bad things about, he steals alot of bases, and he scores alot, and if he has to, he will use his power. Reyes is the perfect catalyst for that team. You can say alot of bad things about the Mets, but Wright and Reyes are some of the very few bright spots for the Mets.
It is rare that a quality GM, like Kevin Towers, is available.
Seeing what he did for the Padres with no budget and his ability to put together strong pitching staffs – the Mets would be crazy not to grab him.
And that is exactly why they won’t until the Wilpons sell the team.
A “decent chance” for DiPoto to keep his job after that abomination of trade he made with the Angels for Haren?
Is it just me, or has Haren gotten the same horrible run support from the Angels as he did from the Dbacks?
Hire Towers. I’d love to see what he can do with a large market team.
Makes no sense. If they’re keeping Gibson why fire Hinch. Look at win %…. End the madness, bring Bobby V to the desert.
so let me get this straight…the mets have had the worst batting average with the bases loaded this year…(same as 2008/2009)…the mets have lost the most 1-2 run games this year…and no one even thinks about replacing the hitting instructor…smh at the “politics as usual” -(c) Shawn Carter
Gotta agree with you the Mets are one of the worst situational hitting teams in the mlb. Reyes or pagan will lead off an inning with a triple and will stand on third for the rest of the inning.
Hahaha ohh the pathetic Mets… Damn shame they can’t build around David Wright and Jose Reyes
The Mets are dead as long as they are owned and operated by the Wilpons. The club needs young ownership, management and enthusiastic field leadrship. Once the Mets groomed their stars in their minor league system. No more. The spend $$$$ to keep up with their uptown rivals…by importing ***** players who have already peaked or are past their prime. This has to stop. The Mets have to develop their own personna. Stop trying to be copycats.
You can remove anybody you want from the Mets system and it will still fail as long as the Wilpons own the team.
Actually, you look at the Mets with Wright, Reyes, Santana, Beltran, Krod, Bay, etc. and they should be a much better team than they are.
Something went wrong with this club and I think it all happened after Willie Randolph was pushed out of town by the likes of the petulant Carlos Delgado (who blatantly refused to hit when he wanted Willie out, then went on a HR spree after his firing) and Tony Bernazard.
Now that both of those guys are gone from the Mets organization it left a void of leadership, albeit bad leadership.
No one in the locker room has the ability to inspire confidence and challenge their teammates to be better.
The team needs new players and a head to toe attitude adjustment.
The problem is the Mets will not take the painful steps required to make this change.
They may get a new GM and a new manager, but they will not turn this team over and get the weak willed albeit talented players off the team.
I don’t see Towers taking the Mets job. Working with the Wilpons and potentially Omar in a positively Isiah Thomas like “consultant” role in the organization is beneath him.
The Mets will make changes but they won’t be the tough ones needed to be made.
They’ll promote Omar’s underling to GM and then go hire Wally Backman to appease the fanbase who still remembers 1986.
The only thing potentially good about that is Backman knows he’s managing for his life and reputation and would have no issues asking more from the players than a social huckster like Jerry Manual would. Manual is a con man which is not surprising since his boss in Minaya is a bigger con man.
The Wilpons need to sot down and look at successful organizations and study the caliber of the people who are at the top and how they go about their jobs.
There hasn’t been anyone like that here in a long time and that includes the Bobby Valentine/Steve Phillips era. The Mets owners like style over substance and they are attracted to con men.
I feel sorry for their fans.
Your post is a very harsh but accurate indictment of the Mets organization. I would disagree a bit with the con man label of Manuel and Minaya. Manuel from day one has seen how badly Randolph was treated by a significant number of fans, players and media, and has tried to avoid the situation. He has been very accessible to the media, given witty and often flippant remarks to appease the fans and has never thrown any individual player under the bus. Even during the recent K-Rod fiasco, he’s held out judgement until all the facts are disclosed. Just recently he label ed the teams play “pathetic” and took a beating in the press from some of his underachieving players that he had managed to avoid .All this in order to keep his job. You may say Con Job, I would say Management Style.
As for Minaya, he’s more of a puppet or punching bag than con man. Omar is the public face of the Mets and has to be out there for the Wilpons. No one will dispute that he’s committed a huge amount of terrible blunders during his time as GM, especially recently.But in his defense, he has been hamstrung by the Wilpons, and not allowed to try fix things where possible. The Wilpons only care about marketing the team and making money. They went out and signed Bay to big headlines but did nothing else. When the club was still in the race earlier,they did nothing at the trading deadline. If Minaya truly had free reign, he would have made some kind of move to improve the team, instead they’ve kept Castillo, Perez, and Francoeur et al. They cut Cora to save money and traded Barajas for ‘cash considerations’.Omar, meanwhile takes the hit because the Mets do nothing. He won’t have the job next year, but you can bet he won’t be fired- just be ‘re-assigned’ and kept in the Mets family because he’s owed 2mm.
Minaya…Move to scouting
Manuel…move to the unemployment line
Warthen…bullpen coach
HoJo…though my favorite old time Met…move to 1st or 3rd base coach…or back to managing in the minors.
Santana…keep
Dickey….Keep
Pelfrey…keep
Maine…let go
Perez…deport
Rodriguez…Trade
Igarishi…let go
Reyes…trade for prospects
Wright…keep
Beltran…trade for anything
Pagan…keep
Bay…keep
Frenchy…let go
Ike…keep
Tejada…keep
Castillo…trade for anything
Blanco…keep to train JT
Thole…keep
Bring up Mejia
Rebuild Bullpen
Offer Arb to Pedro Feliciano and hope he signs with someone else since he is currently ranked Type B
The Orioles should be interested if the Mets put Reyes out there this year. We have prospects that you would be interested in too. Tillman or Britton and Reimold.