Omar Minaya

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: LaRue, Martin, Ortiz, Minaya

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2010 at 12:22pm CDT

On this date four years ago, Trevor Hoffman set a new career saves mark when he retired Ryan Doumit, Jose Bautista, and Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates in order. His 479th save moved him past Lee Smith and into first place on the all-time list, a spot he still holds today with 600 career saves on the nose. Other than Mariano Rivera and the soon-to-retire Billy Wagner, no active closer is within 310 saves of Hoffman's mark.

Here's a collection of links from the last week of the baseball blog world…

The Hardball Times takes an in-depth look at the legal implications of the Johnny Cueto–Jason LaRue brawl that led to LaRue's retirement.
Disciples of Uecker checks in with the players the Brewers traded for C.C. Sabathia back in 2008.
Pittsburgh Lumber Co. looks at how the Pirates bullpen has performed since trading away some key pieces at the deadline.
The Process Report follows up a previous post and explains how Jose Lobaton continues to help the Rays even though he's never played a game for them.
Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness breaks down the Dodgers' options with Russell Martin.
Red Sox Beacon tries to figure out what Boston should do with David Ortiz.
Amazin' Avenue audits Omar Minaya's front office.
Crashburn Alley discusses the genius of Charlie Manuel.
Drunk Jays Fans looked at the merits of Rays' bench coach Dave Martinez as a potential Cito Gaston replacement.
Feeling Dodger Blue says Tim Wallach should have gotten the Dodgers manager job over Don Mattingly.
A Fan's Opinion plans out the Angels offseason.
DesigNate Robertson does the same, but for the Tigers.
Lookout Landing guesses at the Mariners' 2011 payroll.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Yelich, Harper, Tigers, Minaya, Guillen

By Mike Axisa | August 6, 2010 at 9:27pm CDT

Links on a Friday night…

MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that negotiations between the Marlins and first round pick Christian Yelich are progressing slowly, but all signs point to a deal being reached before the August 16th deadline.
Meanwhile, Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post says there is nothing new to report about talks between the Nationals and first overall pick Bryce Harper.
Like the Marlins and Yelich, talks between the Tigers and their top picks will go down to the wire according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. Four of Detroit's top five selections remain unsigned, including their two first rounders Nick Castellanos and Chance Ruffin.
When asked about his job security, Omar Minaya responded "The fact of the matter is that I have a contract beyond this year, two years beyond this," according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Owner Jeff Wilpon recently implied that Minaya's job is safe through 2011.
Jack Curry of the YES Network says (via Twitter) we shouldn't expect the Yankees to have any interest in Jose Guillen. We heard this morning that they were going to keep an eye on the recently DFA'd outfielder.
Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News spoke to an American League GM who said he can't see Derek Jeter signing anywhere but back with the Yankees after the season. I suspect that's the general belief pretty much everywhere.
The Tigers have expanded the roles of three front office members, reports Steve Kornacki of MLive.com.

Odds & Ends: Anderson, Smoltz, Red Sox, Dye

By Tim Dierkes | January 29, 2010 at 4:36pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Heyman tweets that the Angels and Dodgers could pursue Garret Anderson.
Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the Mets are falling behind in their attempts to sign John Smoltz.
As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com notes, Theo Epstein says the Red Sox do not have a policy against negotiating extensions during the season.
The Red Sox, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Rockies watched Oscar Villarreal throw today, tweets Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse.
An MLB executive tells ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that Jermaine Dye turned down $3.3MM from the Cubs before they signed Xavier Nady for the same price (Twitter link).
MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that money may prevent the Nationals from signing Orlando Hudson. Adam Dunn believes Washington is Hudson's first choice.
The club could go after Adam Kennedy if Hudson signs elsewhere, tweets Ladson.
The Blue Jays have money, but aren't going to spend for the sake of spending, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
In case you'd like more on the Johnny Damon-Yankees drama, SI's Jon Heyman talked to the player and GM.
Alex Rodriguez was "staring at retirement right in the face" last March when diagnosed with a torn labrum in his hip, he told Kim Jones of the YES Network Wednesday night.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs wonders if aging players are the new market inefficiency.
Cameron compares Jason Bay to Josh Willingham and concludes that the two outfielders are pretty similar.
In an interview with SNY's Kevin Burkhardt last night, Mets GM Omar Minaya insisted he has full autonomy. Joel Sherman of the New York Post doesn't buy it.
U.S.S. Mariner's Dave Cameron tweets of rumblings that the Royals and Mariners have discussed Alberto Callaspo.
The Red Sox signed catcher Gustavo Molina to a minor league deal, reports WEEI's Rob Bradford. Molina, 28 in February, hit .209/.233/.308 for the Nationals' Triple A club last year.
Larry Granillo of Wezen-Ball digs up the true story behind Andre Dawson, the Cubs, and the blank check in '87.
Twins lefty Glen Perkins explained his grievance to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Odds & Ends: Street, Nelson, Prospects, Mets

By Tim Dierkes | January 27, 2010 at 4:01pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Check out Huston Street's contract extension details, courtesy of Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.
Free agent reliever Joe Nelson has expressed an interest in pitching for the Cubs, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Nelson seemed like a bargain signing by the Rays at $1.3MM, but his control and flyball rates took a turn for the worse and he was designated for assignment in September.
ESPN's Keith Law ranks the farm systems, from the Rangers at #1 to the White Sox at #30. Law's Top 100 Prospects list comes out tomorrow.
Baseball America is also kicking into gear, with their Prospect Handbook coming out soon. They're holding an all-day chat Friday, with BA editors as well as prospects Tim Alderson, Ryan Westmoreland, Logan Morrison, and Casey Crosby available for your questions.
ESPN's Tim Kurkjian has a must-read article on Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and his plan to bring the team back to prominence.
Scott Lauber of The News Journal tweets that while the Phillies like Chien-Ming Wang, but he might not be a fit because he won't be ready for the start of the season.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are on a "Pollyanna streak," currently regarding their rotation. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports seems to believe the Mets are a total mess, and suggests they start over.
Red Sox GM Theo Epstein told Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News that he wouldn't have made the Billy Wagner deal last August without the shot at two draft picks.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that the A's agreed not to offer arbitration to Ben Sheets if he's a Type A free agent after the season. Achieving that status seems impossible anyway after he missed all of '09 and did not receive DL days. Slusser also notes that Coco Crisp received a $250K signing bonus, bringing his deal to $5.5MM guaranteed.

GM Trade Histories: NL East

By Tim Dierkes | January 3, 2010 at 5:23pm CDT

Brendan Bianowicz is back with a bunch of updates to the GM Trade History series. The Excel spreadsheets linked below cover each GM's trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks via tabs along the bottom. It's interesting to see each GM's most frequent trade partner – for example, Omar Minaya has matched up with Larry Beinfest and Mark Shapiro most often in his career.

Mets Talk: Cora, Catchers, Krivsky

By Tim Dierkes | December 1, 2009 at 10:43am CDT

Let's gather up the latest Mets hot stove links…

Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News, and Ken Davidoff of Newsday all trashed yesterday's signing of Alex Cora for $2MM. The basic premise is that every dollar counts when you're up against a payroll limit, and uninspired signings like Cora, John Grabow, and Ramon Hernandez for $2-3MM hurt.
In that same blog post, Davidoff says the Mets "like Matt Holliday, but it's pretty apparent that they're not going after him the way they pursued Carlos Beltran five years ago."
The Mets are poised to add Henry Blanco and Chris Coste as backup options, but Davidoff says their top free agent target is Bengie Molina. If he's offered arbitration today and turns it down later, Molina would cost the Mets' their #40 draft pick (unless they also sign a higher-ranked Type A who turned down arb, in which case their #40 pick would go to another team and the Giants would get #71). Davidoff notes that Gerald Laird and Chris Snyder were Mets trade targets in the past, and that other free agent catchers would not cost a draft pick. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post says the Mets are interested in Type B free agent Rod Barajas.
Roch Kubatko of MASN talked to Orioles president Andy MacPhail about Wayne Krivsky leaving his special assistant position with the O's for a better position with the Mets. Knowing that Krivsky wants to be a GM again, does this put more pressure on Omar Minaya?

Odds & Ends: Mets, McCourts, Cardinals

By | October 28, 2009 at 8:33pm CDT

A few more links to peruse, including some fascinating news out of Queens and L.A….

Sources have informed SI.com's Jon Heyman that the re-signing of longtime Mets scout Sandy Johnson is an indication of the "diminishing faith" in general manager Omar Minaya. Johnson was apparently talked into returning because of the stability he brings to the front office. He had been considering retirement.
According to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, Frank McCourt revealed in his divorce filing Wednesday that he fired his wife, Jamie, as Dodgers CEO because she had an affair with her personal driver and "undermined the chain of command by not reporting directly to him." This is only going to get uglier and could hurt the stability of the organization as we near the offseason.
SB Nation's Viva El Birdos is hosting an ongoing discussion on some of the Cardinals' potential offseason trade chips. Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick and Mitchell Boggs are among the names being thrown around.

Mets Notes: Wilpon, Minaya, Jaramillo

By Howard Megdal | October 15, 2009 at 10:16am CDT

According to Peter Gammons, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon is the general manager of the Mets, not actual GM Omar Minaya.

Gammons went on to describe Minaya as "the one out there to take the heat” on Michael Kay's 1050 AM radio show Wednesday.

This has implications for how the Mets will proceed this winter, of course. The good news is that if Wilpon wants to spend money on a player, he doesn't need to run it by ownership, since he is, in fact, ownership. The bad news is, no one knows exactly how much baseball expertise Jeff Wilpon has.

The quote from former Mets' co-owner Nelson Doubleday in 2003 isn't encouraging:

“Mr. Jeff Wilpon has decided that he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year… Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail… Jeff sits there by himself like he’s King Tut waiting for his camel.”

This has ramifications for recently-jettisoned Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo as well. After all, Jaramillo has been linked to the Mets before, and the well-respected coach once managed a young minor leaguer named Omar Minaya.

While a failure to bring in Jaramillo doesn't prove much, if the Mets do bring him in, it goes a long way toward showing that Minaya still has some power with the Mets.

Odds & Ends: Mauer, Towers, Joba

By Luke Adams 2 | October 8, 2009 at 5:43pm CDT

Some links to peruse in between innings of the Cards/Dodgers game….

Barry M. Bloom at MLB.com writes that Twins catcher Joe Mauer is concerned with "winning, not fame." Mauer's willingness to fly under the radar might be good news for Minnesota fans worried that the batting champ will eventually leave town for a larger market. Of course, I'm sure knocking off the Yankees would help too.
No one thinks former Padres' GM Kevin Towers will be out of work for long. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Towers should be the first choice for any team seeking a general manager. The New York Post's Bart Hubbuch adds that he expects Towers to join the Mets' front office, since Omar Minaya's tenuous grasp on his job could result in an eventual promotion for Towers.
Joel Pineiro tells MLB.com's Tom Singer that developing a sinker was the key to his 2009 success. Singer points out that Pineiro leads all free agent starters in a handful of categories this year, including baserunners allowed. The 31-year-old righty will get a chance to prove his effectiveness on a bigger stage this weekend against the Dodgers.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe speculates on Joba Chamberlain's 2010 role, wondering if "the pitcher Red Sox fans love to hate may be no better than a set-up man after all."
Baseball America's Aaron Fitt views the settlement between the NCAA and Andy Oliver as a "return to status quo" for the draft's "no agent" rule, but doesn't anticipate it lasting long.
We've heard some rumblings that Oakland's David Forst might be in the mix for the Padres' vacant GM spot. ESPN.com's Rob Neyer wonders, if it's true, why the Padres wouldn't just hire the ex-A's assistant GM they already have: Paul DePodesta.

Minaya Interested In Hiring Towers, Ricciardi

By Tim Dierkes | October 5, 2009 at 8:33am CDT

Mets GM Omar Minaya has interest in hiring two of his former counterparts, Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi. Joel Sherman of the New York Postsays Minaya contacted the ousted GMs "to express his support…and also to lay the groundwork to speak to both soon about possible jobs in the Mets' organization."

Sherman notes that Minaya is on thin ice, and bringing in his potential replacement is a double-edged sword. Plus, Minaya would have to deal with Towers ribbing him about the Heath Bell trade.

In other Mets news, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reported on Twitterthis morning that Minaya fired coaches Sandy Alomar Sr. and Luis Alicea while retaining Howard Johnson and Dan Warthen. Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has a few more details.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Omar Minaya

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect