The Mets relieved GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel of duties, according to a press release. Minaya is not a part of the organization at present, but would not rule out a return in a new role. Assistant GM John Ricco will fill in for Minaya in the interim. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon had this to say:
"We are extremely disappointed in this year’s results and the failures of the past four seasons. We need to hire a new General Manager with a fresh perspective who will transform this club into a winner that we want and our fans deserve. We appreciate all that Omar and Jerry have done for the Organization and thank them for their time and effort. Changes like these are never easy, especially when you are dealing with people you like and respect."
Minaya was hired by the Mets six years ago. He made big trades involving Mike Cameron, Carlos Delgado, John Maine, Angel Pagan, Oliver Perez, Xavier Nady, Heath Bell, Brian Bannister, Lastings Milledge, Johan Santana, and Jeff Francoeur. Minaya spent big bucks on Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, Jason Bay, and Perez as free agents and also extended Santana, Jose Reyes, and David Wright. The Mets made one playoff appearance under Minaya, in 2006.
Feel pretty remorseful for Jerry actually. Definitely the victim of some circumstance.
Remorseful? Jerry Manuel stole money just like the entire Mets team…complete frauds.
Go Phils!
The Mets should have done this 2 weeks ago and signed Towers to run the show. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done with a large payroll. His press conferences with the NY media would have also been very entertaining.
1st, glad to see Minaya gone, but also, Why would Towers want to take over a team that appears to have limited budget flexibility for the next year or 2 and has a ownership that constantly meddles in harmful ways?
To see Towers take the reigns of a large market team would be exciting for sure, but one inwhich he would be allowed to indeed take over as a true GM, not be 2nd guessed etc.. Have a feeling Towers has had jobs offered and is waiting for that perfect one to open up is all.
I think the Cubs would be a great gig for Towers. That team is a mess like the Mets minus the moronic Wilpons
Towers has already been hired by Arizona and I don’t see how that is a dream job. As well any GM for a large market will constantly be second guessed by the owner and the fans.
Forgetful here for sure with Towers..
All large market team fans will allow these GM’s some leeway, they just need to produce like Epstein and Cashman. Have a feeling if Towers had held out for a larger market job he would have had success also, because the D-backs are not a large market team and most will probably agree struggle at being mid market.
Cubs would have been a good place for Towers, except they also have tons of salary due over the next few years and hard to see any flexibility for any GM for a few years because of that. Hard to see the Phillies job coming up any time soon either and Epstein will be in Boston as long as he wants to it looks like.
An interesting research project for some MLBTR writer:
Is a team typically more or less active during the first offseason after this happens.
My gut says more, but is that really the case?
I’m guessing a big variable would be how long it took the team to find a replacement for either position.
As a Mets fan, this is the most exciting day of the 2010 season.
In the words of Gary Cohen…”IT’S OUTTA HERE”
We’ll miss you Omar!
Haha, I was confused until I read the user name.
Should change it to “PhilliesLoveWilpons”
BYE BYE CHARLIE
I think you mean “BYE BYE JERRY!” Charlie and HIS friends are sticking around…for the postseason!!
step one complete
They both had to go – Jerry is a good baseball man – not his fault
wake me up when jeff wilpon is removed from day to day operations. I see the Mets and see the Knicks as one in the same. Nothing will change until people are accountable. that starts at the top. the top is Jeff/Charles
Sucks that Manuel was a victim of having a bad job. But, on a more positive note, sources have told me that there is dancing in the streets of New York scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight to celebrate the liberation of the GM job from Omar Minaya.
yes it also sucks that manuel filled out the lineup card according to the astrological readings of the day. it also sucks that manuel completly screwed up some of the arms in the bullpen by pitching them every single day. fernando nieve says hi !
The dancing actually started yesterday at the Stadium as we watched Jerry insert Oliver Pérez into the game so he could blow it one last time. We were hopping mad, and while it wasn’t fun, that’s one way to bust a move…
BOBBBBYYYY V!!!!!
Why keep Minaya “on in some capacity”? What the heck is it about this guy that makes him so revered?
Good scouting
Didn’t mean to like that…he’s a great scout, the list of guys he scouted is really amazing,
Phillips-lee-sizemore for colon.
Doesn’t seem like he had a good appraisal of his own talent, at least when he was in montreal…
To be fair, he was the GM of a franchise that everyone knew was gonna shut down. Albeit Colon didn’t work out as planned, it’s reasonable to give away the farm for a push for a final playoff berth.
funny how everyone brings up that trade…yet people rarely bring up the failed texiera trade to atlanta. texas completely robbed the braves…yet…strangely…john s. gets promoted for it !
Minaya’s obviously doesn’t have a monopoly on “worst trades in the past 20 years”. I would certainly agree Schuerholz was a poor judge of talent – but a team President is a business position that focuses on everything from revenue streams to marketing to facilities, a GM is a talent and contract manager.
in a perfect world. one in which I must admit, your twins are a MODEL of SUCCESS for.
in the mets/knicks world, the dolans/wilpons do not believe in that.
As much as the Pohlad’s get a bad rap for being “cheap” (they’re not, their payroll has always been around 52% of revenues), they didn’t become billionaires without a serious business sense. They know how to run organizations, and we’ve been lucky here that they maintain clear job descriptions. St. Peter knows his job is to focus on the business side of things, Smith knows his job is to assemble an on-field product, and Gardy knows his job is to coach that product on a day-to-day basis.
Maybe we are spoiled. I suppose it’s not terribly uncommon to see owners dabbling in player management issues, GM’s dabbling in roster issues, and managers trying to dictate which players the GM needs to get (Ozzy comes to mind).
Sucks man. Can’t imagine how frustrating it must be.
dude u have no idea.
jeff wilpon just said that he has NEVER had any INPUT on Player Personnel.
I feel for Fred Wilpon, as he really is a good man, and i truly feels he has the best intentions for the team and city. But the fact that he can not separate family and business will be the un-doing of this franchise.
The Mets will suck until they stop making personnel moves for the sake of big NY Post headlines and the placation of angry WFAN callers.
I’m a Braves fan and I bring up that trade every day. Scheurholtz already had the president job, and he made the Teixeira deal to try to go to the playoffs once last time as the Braves GM. It was all about his legacy. He was never a great GM. Bobby Cox built the team that won all of those division titles. Wren is definitely an improvement over Scheurholtz.
I would have 10x more respect for Jeff Wilpon if he just said he was going to be General Manager, rather than hiring a puppet/pinata that he will control and use to take abuse for his decisions/non-decisions.
GRISSION COMPLETE
someone else said…this…
“Is your goal to create a championship team, or to create something that is sellable to another owner.”
as a fan, thats what i wish i could ask the wilpons.
JP Riccardi and Bobby V.
Riccardi is a fan of sabremetrics. Wilpons don’t care for sabremetrics at all.
It shows
Ah, don’t worry. The champagne is going to taste that much sweeter.
no. jeff would never fire himself
Hehe, “duties.”
Hello Hope!
Good riddance to Minaya. His problem is he made all his trades and signings based on short term fixes and its cost him. He was good at scouting, I’m surprised he didn’t improve the young talent in the organization more.
Today was agoo day fo the Mets,,, finally
Both Manuel and Minaya will get opportunities at the big league level again.
They handled two simple things incredibly poorly.
1) Jose Reyes injuries year in and year out.
We all know injuries occur…but when they happen repeatedly and you still continue to building your roster around him. You are asking for trouble. The writing was on the wall and they should have dealt him when they could. Or…they could have come up with a plan B at shortstop.
2) The new stadium.
Their overall roster was not built for such a ballpark. Virtually everybody else outside of the Pittsburg Pirates, transition to THEIR new park with a plan in place.
For instance, look at Minnesota going outside this season. What did they do? They prepared their outfield for the spacious grass at Target Field and a acquired another big bat that would lengthen their already potent lineup. (i.e. Jim Thome). They seemed to know what the dimensions would be and how they would play and built accordingly.
In my opinion, the Mets worried more about the PSL’s and filling up New Brooklyn Dodger field. They seemed a day late and a dollar short.
Its about time. What took them so long? Minaya should have been gone years before this.