Read: MetsBlog Interview with Omar Minaya
Mets GM Omar Minaya and LHP Oliver Perez were guests during last night’s Mets Hot Stove Report on SNY.
To watch a clip of Minaya’s appearance, click here.
…i was able to run down to the studio and ask him a few questions, before he went on air…keep in mind, i was only allowed five minutes…
Matthew Cerrone…
It was reported in the New York Times, towards the end of the season, that Scott Schoeneweis had been pitching with a severed tendon in his knee. Did he have that taken care of?
Omar Minaya…
A tendon issue?
Matthew Cerrone…
Yes, it was reported that he had some sort of knee issue, and that it may have been the cause of his early-season struggles…
Omar Minaya…
Nah, that was something he had before. It was mostly in his leg, it was nothing major and he pitched through it. It was early in the year and he had problems with the knee, but overall he was fine.
Matthew Cerrone…
He was great against lefties. Did you, or will you guys consider using him only against lefties, or…
Omar Minaya…
Well, I think it’s fair to say you wanna use guys where their strengths are. I mean, Willie will have to decide that. But, his numbers against lefties were very, very good, and when we brought him here we knew that. i think we tried to expand him a bit against righties, but overall his success against lefties was very, very good.
Matthew Cerrone…
I know you guys won 88 games last season, and I know you’re proud of that, but the end of the season was obviously disappointing. That being said, what did you learn about yourself and about the job, you know, what could you have done differently, given how difficult that ending had to be.
Omar Minaya…
Yes, the ending was disappointing. When you’re a General Manager, you look back and think, ‘What could I have done different.’ You know, the truth is, Matt, all I can think of is to be very supportive of the manager, and be supportive of the players.
Umm, you know, that’s a good question, though.
I mean, all you can do is put the best team on the field and it always goes back to pitching and defense being so important. You always have to keep improving the pitching, and I’ll always believe that. But, when you look back at our pitching, and when you look at the division, we were probably better off than most teams in the division and our relief pitchers did a good job, they just didn’t do a good job at the end of the season.
Matthew Cerrone…
Lastly, I know you guys gather at the end of the year to create a game-plan for the off-season, and decide how best to improve the club for next season. That said, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being ‘everything is going perfect, you’re hitting everything out of the park,’ and 1 being ‘everything is going wrong, nothing is working, we’re striking out left and right,’ how do you feel your off-season plan is going so far?
Omar Minaya…
So far, I wanna say that we’re doing fine, that we’re doing good, but at the end of the day, in this market place, there is always a need for that big-name…If we are able to improve our starting pitching, and can go out and get that front-line starter than we can say it’s been a successful winter. So far, it has not, I can say that it has been good, but it could be better.
Matthew Cerrone…
Do you sense the hype from fans, that we want that front-line starting pitcher? Do you feel we expect anything?
Omar Minaya…
I think people expect it, but - we have a very educated fan base - and they understand that in the free-agent market there is not that guy, so the only way to do it is in trade. And, when you’re talking about trades, you know, sometimes it’s just the timing of it that makes it work. You can’t force it. You cannot go out there and give up the whole thing, you know, six or seven players for one guy - and I think most fans understand that, and it makes no sense to give up a Jose Reyes for one of those aces.
