Q&A: MetsBlog and Minaya on Win-Now
Matthew Cerrone, from MetsBlog: Lastly, it seems like there has been a big shift in the last year or so – going away from the big time free agent signing – and it has shifted to locking up young players, such as the Rays and Evan Longoria, or even what you did with Wright and Reyes. It seems to me, that that means there are going to be less and less free agents available on the open market in years to come. I would assume that you are going to have to have a more concerted effort in terms of developing young talent. However, the problem as I see it, and I feel for you on this, is that you are in a city where a lot of people have a ‘win–now mentality.’ So, the question that kept coming to me on e-mail was, ‘How do you strike that balance, between a win-now style, but also to build from within?’
Omar Minaya: That is a very good point, and an observant point on your part. We are in a market with a ‘win-now mentality.’ The reality is that there aren’t going to be as many free agents out there available… First off, teams economically are doing very well and they are locking up all of their young players long term. Teams are really 
going to have to be more creative, you’re really going to have to be more astute from an evaluation standpoint, from a scouting standpoint, to be able to bring in guys like the John Maine, the Oliver Perez. You are going to have to bring in guys who are having bad years and bring them in and hope that they perform well.
At the same time, from a budgetary standpoint, as much this is a ‘win-now town,’ you are going to have to give the Pelfrey’s, the Murphy’s, the Niese’s, you are going to have to give them a chance, because you just cannot rely totally on free agents. You are going to have to rely on guys that have had bad performances in the past and slide them in, or use young guys that you hope will perform in the Major Leagues. We’ve been fortunate with that in the last year with Pelfrey, Murphy, Evans, and Niese, who won a big game for us, even Argenis Reyes has done a good job for us… So we are going to have to find a way to blend them in, even though the market wants proven winners, because you’ve got to ‘win-now,’ that’s the bottom line.
Matthew Cerrone, from MetsBlog: Thank you so much, Omar, for taking time to listen to what readers of MetsBlog.com have to say. I really appreciate it.
Omar Minaya: Great, great, keep up the good work. I think it is great that there is so much fan participation in the blogs. For me, I think it’s all good.
To read a full transcript of this entire interview, click here.
