Mets baseball blog

Will Omar push for a major trade?

Rain might have washed out last night's game between the Mets and Rockies, but Beltran and Sheffield were preparing for future games they hope will mean something. If two of the Mets' walking wounded haven't given up on the season, neither should Omar Minaya.

The Mets embattled general manager did not make himself available to the media yesterday. Hopefully, he was working on some kind of trade to bring Victor Martinez to the Mets -- a deal that needs to be made to offer some real optimism to a season that's hanging by a thread. Continue

Jeff undermines and backs Omar at the same time

Jeff Wilpon threw his support behind embattled GM Omar Minaya Tuesday, but the Mets' chief operating officer also issued a public apology to Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin that went beyond the one Minaya had made the previous day. At a press conference Monday, Minaya openly questioned the reporter's motives behind a series of exclusive stories that ultimately led to VP of player development Tony Bernazard's firing.

"After some reflection, I thought it was important to come out and talk to everybody. We're very sorry about what happened (Monday)," Wilpon said before yesterday's game against Colorado. "It was the wrong forum. The wrong time. The wrong situation for Omar to express himself in that way." Continue

Omar "I'm in charge" Minaya fires Bernazard

Mets VP for player development Tony Bernazard has been fired. Mets GM Omar Minaya made the move official at a press conference at Citi Field Monday afternoon.

The Daily News broke the story this past week of the 52-year-old Bernazard's over-the-top antics, which included a July 1 incident where Bernazard removed his shirt and challenged the Binghamton Mets to a fight while using a slang term for a part of a woman's anatomy to single out players.

On a recent homestand, Bernazard also ripped into the team's baseball operations manager, Adam Fisher, with a profanity-laced tirade after Fisher suggested to Bernazard that he wait until the end of a half-inning to take a seat occupied by an Arizona Diamondbacks scout. Continue

Minaya and Jerry safe-Great news for Phillies fans

 Omar Minaya confirmed Monday that he and Jerry Manuel were told by Mets COO Jeff Wilpon last month that their jobs were safe. But given the broken-down state of the team, which has nine players on the disabled list, was that a reward or punishment?

Wilpon's intent was to ease their fears over speculation that he knew was coming after the Yankees swept the Mets on June 26-28 at Citi Field. The Mets seemed to be at an especially low point in falling to 37-37 and slipping 2½ games behind the Phillies in the National League East, which is why Wilpon delivered the news that weekend.

"I told Jeff, 'Thank you for that vote,' but I don't think about those things and I know Jerry doesn't, either," said Minaya, whose three-year contract extension begins in 2010. "We do the best job we can. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. I think it was more of a reaction to when teams go bad." Continue

Mets in danger of falling too far back, your move Omar

Not only did GM Omar Minaya watch the Mets lose two of three to the Yankees -- including the 15-0 Sunday slaughter and Friday night's ultimate give-away, when Luis Castillo dropped that pop fly -- but he's had to do it from a sick bed.

Minaya has the flu and has been down the last four days.

"At least it's not the swine flu," he said yesterday. "I was tested and everything's fine, just the regular flu."

His Mets are down, too, already four games back of the Phils in the NL East and 1½ games behind in the wild-card chase. Continue

Omar stirs the pot

Omar Minaya moved quickly yesterday to douse a potential brushfire of his own making, contradicting himself wildly in the process.

Disturbed by the Mets' disappointing 9-12 mark in April, the general manager mouthed off to FOXsports.com on Thursday that his club's core stars lack a certain "edge."

"We have good guys, solid professionals," Minaya told the Web site. "There is a smile on David Wright's face, a smile on Jose Reyes' face. But there is not an edge to them.

"Some people see edge as leadership. Sometimes, you need a little meanness to your game. Some people perceive leadership as meanness. I couldn't tell you that we have that type of guy. We have leaders. But everyone's perception of leadership is different."  Continue

Mets GM Omar Minaya rates chance of more pitchers at 50-50

On the same day the Mets introduced their new starting pitcher, Tim Redding, GM Omar Minaya described his confidence level at adding another, bigger-name free agent pitcher as "50-50."

"You're never too confident," Minaya said on a conference call. "You never know. The bottom line is, you're in negotiations. Clubs all need pitching. I'd say it's 50-50."

Ideally, the Mets would like to sign either Derek Lowe or Oliver Perez, and Minaya acknowledged, "We do have some offers out there." Randy Wolf is a fallback option and Pedro Martinez is "one of the guys still under consideration. Right now, we're dealing with some other guys. Is (Martinez) an option? He's in the pool. Continue

GM Omar Minaya tries to get grip on Mets' rotation

The Mets spent Tuesday again discussing starting pitching options and today will formally introduce someone who should make being a member of the Met rotation a bit more comfortable - new closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is making an appearance at the Mets' annual holiday party, along with Jerry Manurl, GM Omar Minaya, Mike Pelfrey (who will play Santa Claus) and John Maine. After sampling a few candy canes, Minaya will get back to work sifting through the starting pitchers available on the free-agent market.

"We're going to look at everyone on the list," Minaya said.

Re-signing Oliver Perez, which Minaya called "50-50" at the winter meetings, seems to be their first choice, but the Mets have inquired about several other pitchers, as well, and there are other intriguing names available since last week's non-tender deadline. Continue

Wilpons give green light after Ponzi scheme

Omar Minaya spoke with the Wilpons concerning their huge losses in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the Mets' general manager told Newsday yesterday, and he received the green light to keep working on the Mets' offseason renovation.

Sterling Equities, the real-estate firm co-founded by Mets CEO Fred Wilpon, lost a reported $300 million in the scheme.The Mets released a statement last Friday that their operations won't be impacted by the news, and Minaya said he received similar information from his bosses. Continue

Omar Minaya juggling lots of pots as Mets' stove heats up at meetings

Omar Minaya has little appetite for gambling, and points out that he shied away from casinos when he was GM of the Expos, who played home games in two cities with legal gambling, Montreal and San Juan.Good thing.

Minaya, who is scheduled to arrive at the Bellagio this afternoon, has plenty of work to keep him busy at the winter meetings, which begin tomorrow in Las Vegas.

The Mets' offseason so far has been hardly inspiring: the biggest moves have been re-signing Fernando Tatis and Nelson Figueroa, the latter to a minor-league contract with an invitation to big-league spring training. Continue