For the first time in six years, the Mets are looking for a new GM. ESPN's Adam Rubin has the latest.
- The field of GM candidates has about 32 names. Five to seven will be interviewed in person (twice), with a resolution hoped for by month's end. Terry Ryan and Rick Hahn are on the list, reports MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone. SI's Jon Heyman expects the Mets to consider Josh Byrnes, Sandy Alderson, Gerry Hunsicker, and John Hart as well to head their baseball operations.
- In the meantime, interim GM John Ricco will begin discussions with free agents Hisanori Takahashi and Pedro Feliciano and also talk about a Jose Reyes extension. Takahashi can declare free agency on October 31st, so there's slightly increased urgency. We discussed his situation here.
- COO Jeff Wilpon told reporters Omar Minaya never asked ownership to eat the contracts of Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo. Wilpon also said he "can't imagine" trading David Wright, but he'd listen if the new GM proposed something.
Jeff Wilpon is a man of gossip.
AND he is a man who sees an opportunity to make himself look good when Omar is no longer available to refute anything he might say. A real ‘stand up’ guy.
Omar is way too loyal/stupid to knock the Wilpons. He was a highly valued scout when the mets gave him his big break in 1997. he moved up the ranks to asst gm under phillips.
he ran the scouting dept and restocked the mets minor league system from 98-2001 ( jose reyes-99/david wright-01 )
then off the relationship the wilpons have with selig was suggested to over-see the expos while they were under league control and going under contraction.
the wilpons wanted to bring him back in the fold after phillips was fired as a co-gm ( think what john ricco is now )…but omar declined…the next year the mets tanked, fired duquette which is when omar was re-offered the job.
i wonder if he accepted the job in 03, would al goldis and bill levesy be in the fold to suggest the mets trade kazmir for zambrano ( supposedly the scouts had a bee-line to the wilpons, since they were hired by jeff…al was jeff’s boy-hood batting instructor )
they asked peterson if he could work with zambrano. peterson said yes, he could fix zambrano in 15 min. ( not knowing that meant TRADING KAZMIR for ZAMBRANO )
zambrano comes up lame, kaz is a star, everyone blames jim duquette, jeff wilpon gets off scott free hiding behind another GM.
Enter Omar – who is promised full autonomy in 2004. In the winter of 2006, he is said to have a deal on the table of Lastings Milledge, Aaron Heilman and one prospect for Manny Ramirez. Manny was going to replace Cliff Floyd in LF. The Red Sox after 2005/2006 had grown tired of Manny’s act and were set to ship him away. Mets ownership said NO. Manny goes on to have MVP years in 2007/2008. The Mets COULD HAVE had a lineup of Reyes/Castillo/Beltran/Wright/Delgado/Manny
By the way, Beltran/Delgado/Wright all had over 30 HR those years..imagine if they had Manny in the lineup….they could have had 3 straight division titles…
again…jeff wilpon hides from his decisions…smh…
Kaz is a star? This trade has been over reported as one of the worst ever, everything the scouts said about Kazmir was right, he was too small, would be injury prone, and couldnt pitch deep into games, the only problem is Zambrano got hurt and busted out.
ummm….lets see…
kazmir – 05-07 = 33-26 ——–3.51 ERA———-Average Salary 351K
zambr – 05-07 = 8-17 ——–5.08 ERA———–Average Salary 3 Million
the only problem is that kazmir on his worst day from 05-07 was 10x better
than Zambrano
I wonder if ur really Al Goldis, Al Leiter, or Jeff Wilpon behind the
keyboard…
ummm….lets see…
kazmir – 05-07 = 33-26 ——–3.51 ERA———-Average Salary 351K
zambr – 05-07 = 8-17 ——–5.08 ERA———–Average Salary 3 Million
the only problem is that kazmir on his worst day from 05-07 was 10x better
than Zambrano
I wonder if ur really Al Goldis, Al Leiter, or Jeff Wilpon behind the
keyboard…
Throw stupid money at Andrew Friedman and open up the payroll past $150 million.
I 100% agree.
the phillies should really try and get feliciano. i’m sure howard and utley wouldn’t mind…
That last thing said by Wilpon is why he shouldn’t have a job or he should be GM.
That’s what can happen when you win the genetic lottery. You can be stupid as a stump but if daddy has big bucks and a blind eye to your ineptness, you get a powerful position that you won’t get fired from…no matter how badly you mess up. Breaks a fan’s heart.
“COO Jeff Wilpon told reporters Omar Minaya never asked ownership to eat the contracts of Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo.”
That NEVER crossed anyone’s mind? Really? I call BS.
jeff wilpon: omar had full autonomy.
5 minutes later
jeff wilpon: “omar never suggested we should release any player, but if he did, we would take it under consideration and discuss it amongst management.” …………..how is that full autonomy ?!!?!?!!?…….these guys cant even lie correctly…
Terry Ryan would be a great pickup but I really don’t see it happening.
I cannot believe Terry Ryan would be interested in the Mets job! He could have stayed with the Twins for life; with the new ballpark and new revenues and a new generation of Pohlad ownership committed to winning rather than low budget baseball, he was in a perfect place. From a distance, it is very difficult to imagine the Wilpon’s as the kind of ownership that Terry Ryan would choose to work for.
Agree about Ryan, but remember he got his front office/scouting start with the Mets and may have fond memories so you never know. Mets should throw crazy money out and get someone well established, put him in charge and leave him alone. Ryan could be a fit, so could Friedman, Theo, Jocketty and any number of proven succesfull GM’s.
Terry Ryan came in under Frank Cashen, when Nelson Doubleday was the majority owner. Nelson was HANDS-OFF. simply supplied cash and backed off. As time went on and the wilpons became more influential ( i.e. as they purchased more stock in the company ) many of the scmubags on the team were dealt. the wilpons are adverse to criticism and do not want ANY controversial players on the team. hence why they traded cone after he got in trouble here. also why they traded dykstra. also why they go after smiling characters like bobby bonilla and avoid the ones like barry bonds.
terry probably has fond memories of working for Cashen and Doubleday.
I don’t know much about Ryan, what are some good trades/signings/talents he’s found?
What’s so great about him is the way he cultivated and maintained an excellent farm system, with a very limited budget. He put together teams that really performed, and some made it to the postseason. Also, since he came out of the Mets organization he is an intriguing name for Mets fans to think about. Whether he’d agree to come to Queens seems doubtful. When he stepped down as Twins GM he sited the wear & tear of pouring his heart and soul into the team, and the way he lived and died with every game. Given that and the magnitude of the task ahead of him, Flushing may not be the place for him.
david wright trade: angels offer mike napoli, mark trumbo, howie kendrick, and trevor bell for wright… works for both sides
for one, i heard that adam rubin was very chummy with sources inside the org., like any news reporter/fan, always 2nd guessed and made suggestions and was “joking” about working for them. the joke was taken out of context, relayed over to Omar…and hence things spill out of control
but it is funny how Adam Rubin NEVER CALLS OUT the WILPONS. I wonder why ?!!?!?
funny how Matt Cerrone of Metsblog NEVER CALLS OUT the WILPONS. I wonder why ?!!?!?
funny how Andy Martino of NY Daily News NEVER CALLS OUT the WILPONS. I wonder why ?!!?!?
funny how most of the revealing stuff about the Wilpons comes from sources outside of the mainstream media ( newsday/daily news/espn )
the wilpons have these guys in their back pocket…minaya is the human pinata, meant to take abuse from over-zealous met fans….
something i noticed…the wilpons technically still have not fired Omar…Jeff said a President could be hired that would have veto power over Omar and essentially strip him of his power…so technically Omar could still be the GM ( but with no ability to sign/trade/release players )
im telling u..the mets can mess up a ham and cheese sandwich.