SNY’s Matt Yalloff talked to Mets GM 
Omar Minaya last night while in Nashville, which you can watch by clicking here.
During the quick interview, Minaya had the following to say, among other things, when asked…
…if the list of players he would like to acquire is narrowing as the meetings move on…
“No, not much has changed…I think we’re getting more of a feeling for the agents, more of a feeling with the clubs, and whether you have a chance to make a deal.”
…the super-high cost of pitching in the trade market…
“These teams don’t have to trade these players, and I would not be surprised if some of these guys who are being mentioned to be on the block do not get traded at all…Usually what teams try to do is, what they call, being ‘blown away.’ You know, being offered deals that they can’t turn down. The problem is, what’s going on right now, that you are trying to hold on to your prospects as much as you can. Teams are willing to give up prospects, but the question is: who are the prospects and how many of those prospects.”
…if he has ‘refreshed an offer’ for any top-line pitcher, who he was likely intrigued by in the past…
“Well, I’m not going to comment on details of what’s going on with the club. All I can tell you is we are talking to clubs, continuing dialogue with clubs and we had a busy day today talking with agents.”
…nice try, yalloff…omar even cracked a grin while that last question was being asking…
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“I am on the verge of acquiring not one ace but two aces!”
“who? bedard and santana? santana and haren?”
“LIVAN HERNANDEZ and BARTOLO COLON…viva L0s Mets!”
Really? You too (re: los mets)?
Seriously this has to be the least productive winter meeting in history. One meaningful trade so far and it is almost over. What a colossal waste of time
what meaningful trade did the mets make?
dont tell me it was their best major league ready prospect for a couple a jerry’s kids.
Schneider is the 30 yr old version of defilice.
Here’s a great line from a deadspin commenter in the string below deadspin’s piece on the Mets announcing that yesterday’s story on John Maine was bogus:
“…the Mets insist that he has not been in New York since October and was in Virginia on the night of the incident.”
It’s good to see the Mets keep such close tabs on their players. Any word yet on where the rest of the team was in September?
Gathered round the sweetest tasting champagne they could find, waiting to take a big swig.
Yawn…..
I don’t like knowing that Omar is talking to SNY, I want him getting an ace. Time is too precious.
I wish he had been chatting with Matt Yallof when Jim Bowden was trying to reach him.
“Usually what teams try to do is, what they call, being ‘blown away.’ You know, being offered deals that they can’t turn down.”
Like being offered Lastings Milledge for a 4th OF and a .235 hitting catcher?
“Usually what teams try to do is, what they call, being ‘blown away.’ You know, being offered deals that they can’t turn down”
Really, that’s what blown away means? Thanks for putting it in layman’s terms for me, Omar. Now I know why you are the GM and I am the schmoe fan.
Blown away could mean us talking about Omar next year at this time after he got fired upon the completion of another horrible season. You know, Omar was blown away by the fact the Wilpons showed him the door.
Horrible season? What the hell?
You don’t count this season as a horrible season considering what was expected coming in? Next year will be worse if the team is what it is now.
Expected? By who? The talking heads on ESPN? The heartstrings of some fellow mets fans? Current lineup means next year will be worse?
You’re right, we should trade our entire double A team just for appearances.
Gimme a break, dude…it is Dec, and no, the sky is not falling.
‘02, ‘03, and ‘04 were horrible seasons. ‘91 through ‘96 were horrible seasons. ‘74 to ‘81 were horrible seasons. Despite falling short of the ultimate goal, ‘07 was not a horrible season. Disappointing, yes. Horrible, no. Part of what makes someone a baseball fan is that they enjoy watching baseball games, not just victory celebrations.
No more spin. An historic implosion makes for a horrible season. There were two enjoyable months, and the rest was listless, mediocre, clock-punching baseball.
Slob, I agree with your approach. Though I must admit that the Mets’ collapse put me in a sour mood for about three days. After about a week, the feeling had disappeared. I think that a victory would have put me in a good mood that lasted longer.
One problem with being an “original” Mets fan is that after 1969 we knew that nothing could ever be that sweet again. And it hasn’t been, though 1986 came close.
damn omar…cut back on the fast food or something. homeboy must be feeding his anxiety…
Definite new appearance of a double-chin.
Has Omar been locked in his room with the Chunky Monkey since the collapse?
i wasn’t able to get us an ace, but last night I traded the a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large fry for a KFC value pack and a pint of Cherry Garcia….so score for me…i mean, i need brain food.
“Bad new is I wasn’t able to get an ace, but the good news is that I saved hundreds by switching to Geico.”
Not for nothing but you know he’s just gonna turn around and trade that for yesterdays stale nachos Bell Grande.
i thought him and livan finished that bad boy off last night.
Right on!
I’m getting kinda nervous around here. Better watch my wallet! Too many esses around
Maybe we should sign Wells or get Leiter out of retirement….their skin is like mine!
I’m glad he cracked a grin while all the fans are panicking and border-line throwing up during these winter meetings.
wow. chill out!
Too bad we don’t have something like football has, where fans can gather on draft day and wait in expectation that they actually will know imminently who the team picks up. I think the stress is getting to us all. Cranky, cranky posts all around. Can’t believe I’m checking this site so much.
Kramer,
I agree…he looked stressed and a bit lost.
Though, he did make it through without even one “Juuuu know wha I’m sayin?”
Spent most of today talking to agents…didn’t he do that yesterday?…Omar talk to clubs, not to agents please….
he says the same crap everyday
Do you really think Omar – or any other GM – is going to say something beyond that standard boilerplate responses? Come on. No way is any professional negotiator going to reveal what he’s really thinking to a TV interviewer. That would be beyond stoopit.
er, you realize I wrote “stoopit” to emphasize that it was more than stupid; i.e. beyond stupid.
Keep reaching for the stars though.
Matt Yalloff looks has this odd look on his face as Minaya answers him…I wonder if he is a Met fan like us??? And why is Omar always looking behind Matt?? Are the other Gms behind him teasing Omar and making funny faces @ him??
Love yallof…great gu….worked with him at SportsNet in Philadelphia………..theres a hint for ya
This sounds identical to the interview I heard last night with SNY.
I mean the questions and answers sound identical.
Are you sure this wasn’t a rebroadcast of an earlier interview?
At the top of this post, Cerrone says its an interview from last night. This is old news.
He changed the post. Before it said this occurred minutes ago.
at this point, I’m just going to assume Mets are going to get Livan and Silva. So when they actually acquired someone good, i will be pleasantly surprised.
One of those guys would be a solid addition to the back end of the rotation. Both would be an egregious waste of money and roster spots.
…Yalloff then left and Omar resumed spinning around in his chair and throwing darts at a board with pictures of Livan Hernandez, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia. After every miss, he did a sh0t of Patrone and upped the number on the dart by 1 millon and 1 year.
I hope he gets a bullseye soon!
Hahaha! Awesome!
You thought that was awesome?
You must have low standards guy
OT: i saw that news item on the left hand side of the page saying that damien easley will platoon with church in rightfield. i like easley as a bench player. again. this just shows how pathetic this team is. we give up on a 22 year with a fast bat for a fourth outfielder and 37 year old on the verge of retirement.
willie can stuff his comments about milledge needing to learn how to win.. first of all, willie, how do you get that attitude unless you’re given a chance to play.
second, i see milledge getting thrown out of the game as a sign that he had way too much passion– now maybe immaturity–but he got thrown out b/c he cared what was happening to the team. at least he wasn’t laughing on the bench like delgado and el duque
bottom line. i hate willie. he is a turd of a manager. omar is an awful gm and the wilpons are real estate barons
please please someone with a heart buy this team
Nice spin to support your opinion
Milledge flipped out because of his own ego. Not because of what was happening with the team.
He was a raving lunatic on the field. If they hadn’t stopped he’d probably be suspended for parts of ‘08
how do you know it was because of his ego. b/c the mets pr brass tells you that. b/c the all white ny sports media tells you that. after the game i recall millledge saying he was upset about a number of calls going against himself and the team. i mean, get real. he showed some fire. it’s not like he through a bat at someone
BC the Mets PR machine told me so? Bc the white media? Are you serious man?
I watched the game. HE WAS MAD BECAUSE OF CALLS AGAINST HIM! HIM!
He was mad about called strikes at the plate. HE was mad because HE was called out at first.
Get your facts straight
No one is against Milledge.
Passion and enthusiasm is busting your @ss down the line….passion is running out every fly ball….passion is barreling the catcher so you score a run…
Passion is not losing your mind on the field acting like a lunatic who’s about to cause someone harm
At the time everyone was calling for some fire on the team. Milledge new this and did it to try to win over the fans….didn’t work with me.
Mark Cuban? Donald Trump?
Bernie Marcus? Mayor Bloomberg?
What about Ed Koch? Is Abe Beame still around? Maybe the two of them could get together and put together an offer.
i’d take cuban in a heartbeat.. trump is an egomanaic. but cuban would be willing to put together a winner with passion
he would fire lay back willie in a new york second
why dont we all just pool our money together and buy the team. we can have cerrone just post polls on moves we can make.
I can honestly say for the 1st time in my life , I am almost ashamed to tell anyone who doesnt know me that I am a Met fan..now that says a lot.
i hear you. and i’ve been a mets fans for a long time and long suffering one. i don’t mind the suffering when i feel there’s some plan. there’s no plan here. it’s just put together some hodge podge group of players and hope they get into the playoffs.
very sad. i mean just go with pelfry and humber at this point and see what happens. if you get santana that’s great. but under no means do i want a rotation filled with livian hernandez, freddy garcia or carlos silva. that’s a joke. and any mets fan who says they can root for that is kidding him or herself
A real mets fan roots for the team no matter what.
If you don’t, you’re just a casual observer…..keep observing guy
you sound like a republican.. my country right or wrong
Roach is a donkey..he didnt get my point….I dont love “the team” any less….just the way things are being run right now….telling any baseball fan that you are a Mets fan right now is just asking for laughter and ridicule ..which is no fun….i.e collapse , horrible trades.
I am chure that Roach has a particular leeening towars this teang. juuu know what aiyme saaaying esse?
Oh, i got your point. And you’re wrong–and you should be ashamed of saying it. So, your team’s not going well….you’re now going to lie and say you’re not a Mets fan? How do you even DEFEND that?
That’s not rooting for the team…your statement and mine are the SAME THING.
LTSMF: You’re all about reactionary history. When the mets win, regardless if they fit YOUR “plan” or not, you’ll love them again. If they suck, you’ll denounce them like you are now. Epitome of a casual observing fan.
What a donkey….same guy that gets beat up at Phillies // Mets games probably.
THATS ALL YOU GOT? Talking about a mets fan who gets beat up at a phils game? What are you 16?
You just came on board in 06, didnt you?
Listen, i’m not going to argue with someone who obviously can’t understand what i’m saying. Your outlook on this team is pathetic
No plan? So the plan should be to blow up the framework they laid the last 2 years to make headlines? To try and win 2 weeks which they lost 2 months ago?
You make moves that make sense, not just to make moves.
can you please tell me what the “plan” is? oh, you mean the plan to use aging veterans
The plan is to build around Reyes, Wright and Beltran on offense and find players to compliment their skills. Castillo and Schnieder add quality defense to make us very strong up the middle. The corner OF and 1B should be filled with either vets (Alou, Delgado) or youth (Church, Gomez) with potential coming up from the farm (F-Mart and Carp).
With Pedro lending experience, he leads a staff of quality youth (Main and OP), veteran with guile (El Duque) and unproven youth with potential (Pelfrey). There’s a very good chance that Humber, Mulvey, or someone we haven’t mentioned yet turns into Bannister and makes a run at #5.
There is youth in the minors and the Caribbean/South American signings have yet to show up on the radar. By next year, our farm may look very differnt in the eyes of the league.
What you all seem to forget is how pathetically horrific this team was before Omar and Willie got here. Don’t blame it on spending money, because we spent money before that and had diddly poo to show for it. We still don’t have an NL or WS title, but the team isn’t an unwatchable bunch of hot head losers who play in front of an empty stadium in July.
Come on people…think. Omar has done a great job. He just needs to get this team over the hump, but unfortunatlely our prospects may not be as coveted. Gotta trust that he will either pull off a deal for an ace…or go with the young guys (rather than trade them for a faux ace).
Is taht you, Jeff W?
met prospects are coveted but we already traded them away. i.e.
(kazmir, milledge, bay, burnett, bell, bannister, flores)
“i just wanna say our team is better now than it was a year ago”
dude. i haven’t forgotten anything. i’ve been a mets fan for 35 years. this team was in the world series in 2000. that wasn’t so long ago.
the mets have a history of a few good years and a lot of lean years
but this team has no damn direction and it’s hard to get behind them. except for reyes and wright,..it’s an interchangeable parade of aging veterans and bench players brought in here.. nothing is being built for the future
i feel like this team has been hijacked from us.
the wilpons only care about the Mets as a real estate venture
Free the Mets
Attica, Attica, Attica!
there you go
No direction . . .
Reyes, Wright and Beltran form a young, talented, long term core we haven’t seen. Ever.
Maine, OP. Two young, talented core pitchers to form a staff around. OP may have ace in him in time, but coupled with Pelfrey, who last year was possibly the next Verlander and may just need another year to reach his potential, we’re not in bad shape.
Let’s step away from the ledge. An ace would have been great, but really, we’re still a very good team. I prefer the subtle moves that yield Maines and OPs more than the big splash anyway. He still may pull off one or two of those.
I know this is childish, but does Omar think people have as small a grasp on the English language and colloquialisms as he does? “What they call ‘being blown away,’ — you know, a deal they can’t refuse”. Duh. Is that what it means Omar? Why does this guy do interviews, he just constantly comes off sounding at best dismissive and disingenuous and at worst, plain dumb.
b/c he has nothing to say.
I don’t understand the blind faith in Omar. The organization turned around because of David Wright and Jose Reyes. This was a direct result of good drafting from the garbage seasons that we had. Pedro, while a good pitcher, is very injured and was not 100% when he came here. The Beltran move was universally panned until recently… and Delgado was a 16M no brainer that any chump could have made. He also chose to stick with Willie after the biggest collapse in baseball history. He was incompetent with the jesus flores situation, he traded away most of our pen and brought back a known juicer and showenweiss, and the Milledge trade still reeks to high heaven. For as much as I dislike Steve Phillips, he atleast got this team into the postseason for 2 consecutive years, something that this organization has only done 1 TIME. I have no lover for Omar and the day he is fired will be a glorious day for this organization.
good analysis. ., i would just add that blind faith in omar comes from people who believe being a fan means you never criticize, or from Jeff Wilpon secretly posting on this blog
the point is not that criticizing is a problem or that you’re upset with the off-season.
It’s that people saying they’re not going to be Mets fans….ashamed to be a mets fan. Well, screw off then….this franchise has been through FAR worse than this.
People are already tightening the nooses for willie and omar before ‘08 has begun…it’s ridiculous
Reyes wasn’t drafted, just saying.
Hey! Wait a Second!, you stole my thoughts! Exactly!
Get out of my head with your crazy witchcraft John Edward!
i wonder how long we’ll be able to bash the wilpons now that this blog has a deal with SNY
Everyone needs to just relax already..
ITS ONLY DECEMBER and already everyone thinks we got no shot..
It’s me Omar. Juuu like my double chin? Thaz whaa happens when you know jour job is on the line because you haven’t done anything…juuuu know what i’m saying?
Just curious… why is it ok for the Yankees to openly talk about other teams players under contract (Santana) but Yallof can’t ask Omar directly about Santana? Anybody know this? Cerrone?
freddy coupons
test
I wonder if the Wilpons made Minaya pay his own way at the hotel for the Winter Meetings?
Although, he might not have even had a reservation, cause he never seemed to be around or doing anything….
Omar is a turd.
jeff coupons
Likely because it’s just stupid!
All you guys who re-write history and convince yourselves
Daddy Skill-Sets doesn’t spend money just don’t know your
METS history !
I remember the Payson/Grant days when, while the Yankees
were signing FAs like Reggie and Catfish and the Angels were
signing guys like Baylor and Grich, WE were romancing the
likes of Elliot Maddox and Mike Cubbage.
yes. the payson grant days were the worst. but doubleday was a more powerful force in pushing the wilpons to spend on excitign players. doubleday wanted piazza. it’s been reported that the wilpons weren’t sold on piazza
question…does anyone really think the mets would go with pelfry and humber in the rotation? or do you think they will bring in has beens like livian and freddy garcia, allowing pelfry and humber to rot on the farm… i know how i vote
They will bring in Hernandez, Silva, Contreras, Colon, etc…
Willie doesn’t like playing kids. He likes “his guys” to play. And “his guys” means players usually not equipped to play full-time.
Anyone who is freaking out over the winter meetings really needs to calm down. Some Mets fans are getting on my nerves as much as Yankees fans get on my nerves. What a disgrace.
Ok so I am sitting at work and reading as much as I can and following the winter meetings and after seeing some comments I really just need to address the whole winter meeting situation and the whole santana thing and its ridiculousness. So here it goes, the twins are morons if they dont trade santana( i know its obvious).
1. The red sox are only in the santana talks to block the yankees and its as simple as this the red sox are willing to trade 5 prospects for santana (this is crazy). The sox are willing to make this trade and they will only be gaining at most an extra 5 wins at most for the year. Lester has the ability to win 13-15 games and is very young and then give up the other guys and take on 20+million in payroll just doesnt make sense, other than keep him away from the yanks who struggled to find starters to pitch from game to game this year.
2. The angels prospects are so overated and always have been when are other teams going to wake up and realize this. Biggest example would be macpherson when he was said to be better than wright (upsurd) whose to say brandon wood will turn out any diff ( he seems to be macpherson all over again). The angels have ervin and jered (ervin sucked this year and jered was good) and then howie kendrick is good but they arent trading him. So overall the angels prospects are honestly in reality no better than the mets prospeccts however soe guy sitting in the stands says that isnt true( the same guy who said macpherson would be better than wright).
3. Now on to the dodgers they are to in love with there prospects to trade them (its the truth theres always talk but no action and they arent trading broxton). I know Kemp is goodbut if hes so good why isnt he playing full time yet I feel like its been over 2 years now of hearing how great he’s going to be but has yet the play full time (most great players play when they are being so highly touted). Overall the dodger arent going to package multiples of there prospects bc they like there prospects to much.
When it comes to the mets why isnt maines name being thrown in the talk. A package of maine, helman, gomexz is as good as anyone elses. And i know no one wants to trade maine but to be honest your getting a cy young pitcher and if u can def lock him up u have to do it. It works out for both teams and I think it needs to be considered a rotation of santana, pedro, perez, livan or silva, and el duque is real good.
Mets then need to draft well this year and make there farm sytem drastically better and hope fmart turns into the real deal this year.
You’re spending this much time doing this at work? You’re fired!
Omar just signed Julio Franco again……..I just can’t believe it
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_76998.asp
Guess that’s our big splash
thankfully this article is from 2005
very funny, its sad that i completely believed your post until i clicked the link and saw the date.
Did Omar leave the winter meetings yet?
I don’t think he was ever there…
They filmed those interviews from SNY soundstage with a green screen behind them.
Flights are expensive to Nashville….you expect the Wilpons to pay for that?
ok two months from now, we will hear the moronic comments from omar and willie about how “this is the team i’m ready to go to war with.”
then it will be time to vomit
Omar Minaya is getting a sponge bath right now from Tony Bernazard and John Ricco.
This was posted on mlbtraderumors.com
Santana/Reyes/Haren Blockbuster In The Works?
Just got an incredible rumor from a trusted New York sportswriter. Stay with me, because this one’s crazy. But rest assured that if the source wasn’t good, I wouldn’t post it.
Minnesota has initiated talks for a three-way blockbuster with the Twins and A’s. Here’s how it would go down:
Mets send Jose Reyes, Kevin Mulvey, and Hector Pellot to A’s
A’s send Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson to Mets
A’s send Dan Haren to Twins
Twins send Johan Santana to Mets
Mets get Johan Santana, Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson
A’s get Jose Reyes and Kevin Mulvey
Twins get Dan Haren and Hector Pellot
The source says Haren is exactly the type of player the Twins want for Santana, a cheap frontline starter. It’s known the Mets would hate to deal Reyes but they would get some value beyond Santana. Billy Beane is happy because he gets Reyes for one more year than he had Haren plus longtime favorite Mulvey.
P.S. I posted this rumor before and Xavier22 is a POS
Billy Beane wouldn’t want Reyes. He tries to steal. The A’s don’t believe in giving away outs. Geez. Enough with this silly rumor.
Anytime someone on the Internet says “STAY WITH ME ON THIS” usually means it’s a load of Bull….just saying…
How much would Oakland be paying us to take Crosby and Johnson off their hands? Them in the same lineup with Schneider would be beyond awful. That is the worst offense in the majors regardless of who else you have. Santana is not enough.
It’s been an utter choke by Mets ownership/management since the day after the horrible season ended. Essentially, Mets fans have only been told:
1) We’re sorry!
2) Everyone keeps their jobs! Yay!
3) Go buy a brick.
What else could we have done besides fire people? I mean, honestly…
Who would be a better manager than Willie?
Who would be a better 2nd baseman, number 2 hitter than Castillo?
Who would produce in LF and give you a productive rightie bat like Alou?
Did you want to keep Mota?
Yeah, I don’t think the Milledge trade was great; but it did address the catcher need and gave us a “proven” ML bat (trade bait?)
So far, so unspectacular. But, so far, so good.
Are we just that afraid of the Phillies now?
wow, we really missed something intelligent there, I’m sure.
haha, have you read this message board Achilles? it’s a joke….no intelligence, just frustration.
In Omar we bust.
It was probably Minaya, Willie or the Wilpons who deleted it. They got controlling interest in the blog now, no?
Is there a daily SNY logo quota for the blog too?
And hey, Cerrone, maybe you can tell SNY nobody cares about those lame shows they put on when the Mets are not on. I don’t need to see aquarobics on SNY….why not something Mets-related? That would be too creative, huh?
What you need Perez is a life. Ever hear of a remote?
Interesting approach….
Do you enjoy those horrible shows they show on SNY? Wouldn’t you enjoy more Mets programming?
haha sadly thats totally right. even if we dont make a single move from this point on this still isnt our worst offseason, not even in the past 10 years. vlad guererro and arod, both free agents could afford both, 1 even stated he wanted to play for us and we blew it.
I nominate winter ‘01-’02:
acquired Roberto Alomar, Shawn Estes, Roger Cedeno,
Mo Vaughn, Pedro Astacio, Jeff D’Amico, Jeromy Burnitz,
Tony Tarasco, and John Valentin.
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