It feels like the Mets are always looking in the rear-view mirror, reacting to yesterday’s criticism, yesterday’s news, and yesterday’s problem.
For instance, the team’s biggest problem in 2008 was an ineffective bullpen. So, Omar Minaya traded for JJ Putz and signed Francisco Rodriguez. However, early this season, while the bullpen looked great, the starting rotation was inconsistent, and the offense was nonexistent… and then the injuries came.
Actually, Minaya’s biggest talent may also be his biggest weakness, in that he’s a terrific Patchwork GM.
In other words, though he will always do whatever is necessary to fix the big problem of today, and do it well, I am not sure he recognizes what might need to be fixed tomorrow… and so it feels like, to me, that 
he and the roster are always unprepared.
What’s worse, this is not limited to on-field issues, but it also extends to off-field issues as well… whether the Mets are reacting to fan criticism of Citi Field, or media reports about financial dealings, or talk-radio chatter about beat writers and shirtless executives, the team seems to spends a lot of their time issuing press releases and public statements, which only seem to perpetuate the very story they are trying to beat down in the first place.
Come to think of it, it’s like the Mets are playing an eternal game of Whac-a-Mole, whether it’s on field or off, knocking down one issue today, only to have another emerge tomorrow.
Why is this? Are there too many people involved with making decisions? Is it because they live in the shadow of the Yankees? Is it a lack of a plan? Is it a lack of focus on what they’re trying to accomplish, who they’re trying to be? Or, is it some other reason?
{ 27 comments }
Very true. I was screaming all last year that simply fixing the bullpen was not enough. And when Omar got KRod and Putz in a matter of 2 days and told the media: “To all our New York Met fan out there, we fixed the bullpen”, I knew that comment was basically him saying “hole patched, we’re done”. Assuming the big 4 would have been healthy, I still thought one more big bat was necessary due to the lack of clutch hitting (even though they scored the second most runs of any NL team in 2008).
Exactly .. I was one as well who was SCREAMING for a left field bat. We have big problems if the fans could see that we needed a bat but our upper management thought we were sufficient. We were a bat away from going to the WS in 2006 in my opinion. 2007 & 2008 having another bat down the stretch could have really helped as well….That being said, since we will be probably losing Delgado who hits 30 or more home runs for us we technically have a hole in left field (as usual) and first base! In my opinion we need a big time left fielder, and a serviceable professional veteran first baseman – maybe like a LaRoche or bringing Delgado back on a year to year basis.
The Mets need to address the following holes next season and need to stay within their 30 million budget to be competitive:
1. #2 Starter
1a. Left Fielder
2. Bullpen help (inexpensive)
3. 1st baseman – veteran
My plan includes Pagan AND Murphy on the bench.
I think that he actually, well they actually had a plan, Wilpon & Minaya, it failed. Time to find someone else to execute that same basic plan, that is just the situation at hand.
Otherwise the Wilpons should seriously consider selling the team, this is not an instance of isolation, but multiplied effect.
What i don’t understand is – was the bullpen really fixed? He got a closer and a set-up man two things we needed and then depended on stokes, parnell, and green for the rest of the bullpen and throughout the entire year there have been guys going up and down through the bullpen and that we were too dependent on feliciano – no doubt he’s been great but he’s pitching so much it would have been nice to add another lefty – it just seems that after a big splash omar is done and that is the problem with him. This off-season we the complimentary parts to our core – big bat, number 2 starter to make the team successful. One of them will not do, we need both.
I don’t know, they brought in a slew of guys to not only be lefty help but even more righty help.
If I remember correctly they took Parnell and Stokes because they outpitched the competition, not by default. None of the lefties working out was unfortunate, but if Putz had stayed healthy the need for a second loogy would have been lessened.
The big problem was trading for a guy with a known suspect elbow and PLANNING around him staying healthy all year.
The thing is there isn’t just one glaring weakness the Mets will have this off season. They have multiple glaring weaknesses where one really isn’t more or less of need than the other. The starting rotation, bullpen and starting line-up all need to be addressed in the off season if the goal in 2010 is to make the post season.
If the Mets are cutting their payroll for next season, it’s going to take creativity for Omar or whomever is the GM. And by creativity, I am talking about making a tough move like trading Jose Reyes and his $9 million salary for 2010. Yes his value has taken a hit this year but he still has good value and could fetch some good prospects or maybe even a young Major Leaguer.
Well that is where you maximize value. If you are able to plug several holes by trading off one player, then I think you do it. I never think any player is untouchable – if you get proper value back in return is what matters.
I would be sick to my stomach if the Wilpons were doing so poorly financially that they couldn’t address all of the teams needs and still keep our ALL STAR short stop in his prime for only $9 million.
If they trade Reyes, all hope is lost.
The guy is a stud, he’s in his prime, he’s affordable. So he swings at some bad pitches and makes some stupid plays. You do not get better by trading your best players.
As someone said on this site a few weeks ago, did the Phillies start trading Utley and Howard just because the team failed in 06 and 07? Of course not. You build around those stars.
What good is Reyes if he is going to milk a 2-4 week injury into a season ender? I know I am in the minority on this one among Met fans but I would trade Reyes in a second if the Mets could get good value for him. This is a guy that was no where to be found the last two September’s and now this year. I have had enough of Jose Reyes.
if we trade our all-star 26yo shortstop while he is injured we will not get anything close to value for him
and if we trade our all-star 26yo shortstop for less than value to save $9M i will absolutely and irrevocably turn my back on this organization
and i doubt i’m alone
Thats what my point is above…. I would definitely turn my back on this organization if trading Reyes was a cost cutting move.
Simply put, when you are always reacting to the present and never forecasting the future, you are basically trying to do just enough to get by. This is why many of us feel the Wilpons will never get us over the top.
Again, I harp on the stadium and the Mets-ness of it, but its just to make a point. It was something extra, above and beyond. And the Wilpons don’t bother going the extra mile. They see if they can get away with not doing so. And they only react when fan outcry reaches a fever pitch.
These guys knew fans wouldn’t tolerate anything less than an overhaul of the bullpen, so they were fine with investing there. Would fans tolerate a rookie leftfielder with no proven track record in the majors? Sure, they seemed to like the kid. No need to invest there. Would they tolerate a parade of scrubs for the 5th slot in the rotation? sure, who worries about the 5th starter when subscribing for season tickets?
This offseason will be more of the same…what do we HAVE to fix vs. what can we get away with not fixing. Make no mistake, Thole is here to see if they can get away with leaving the C situation as is – either giving Thole the job next year, or maintaining that Schneider is just holding the spot warm for one more year. Catcher, 1B, and LF are gaping holes for next year, as is 3/5 of the rotation and a set-up man if Putz is not back. When this team meets to end the year it won’t be to determine how to address all of those spots, it will be ‘which of these spots can we fill in-house without creating a fan uprising and hurtung ticket sales.’ I will GUARANTEE you for example Stokes will be put in pen as the 8th inning guy next year, because fans will live with it – even if many of the baseball people are unsure. This is how the Mets do business.
I disagree that this is on the Wilpons. This is on Omar for not spending his money more wisely.
Every team in the history of baseball has won a championship with a payroll less than the Mets have had the last 3 season’s. Omar has the funds to put together a championship team. But when he pays an average 2B $6 million and an enigma starting pitcher $12 million it leaves you with less money to fill in other holes.
Bottom line for a $149 million payroll the Mets should not have had as many holes as they did heading into the season. And that falls on Omar. Now if you want to get on the Wilpons for not holding Omar accountable, I agree with you. But on the money spent I just can’t and to me it’s a weak argument.
You are right – in now way should Omar be absolved completely, and what the Wilpons DO spend is certainly acknowledged. But ultimately they pull the purse string, and Omar as to work within a budget. I cannot believe that he is so clueless that he would opt to go with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis instead of a bonafide, established ML leftfielder if he had the financial freedom to do so.
The first poster on this thread made a great point about Omar literally issuing a press release after the KRod/Putz deals saying ‘problem solved.’ This was right when season ticket sales were in full force. Coincidence? It’s like his mandate was “fix what everyone is up in arms about so we can sell it to the fans and move these luxury suites.” I mean, who else issues statements like that?!
Italpiazza are you aware that Jeff Wilpon is the COO? That being said, he makes the decisions just as much as Omar. The Wilpons can not go unblamed here it is their fault as well. Not to mention they are the ones who gave Omar a three year extension coming off of a second straight season collapse. And I do think Omar has had some financial restrictions in the past… If it was up to Omar 100% I definitely feel that we would have had an Abreu or Manny in left field this season or someone along those lines.
Point is whenever a business is failing the people at the top are held accountable because business performance stems directly down from their decisions. Jeff Wilpon runs the show…He should be getting most of the blame..Period.
Great comment, Dave. Very well said.
anybody else notice how good/effective Livan hernandez has been since being released by the Mets?
why did we release him again?
From an article in March announcing Livan’s signing:
“If added to the 40-man roster, Hernandez would get a $1 million salary with a chance to earn an additional $1 million in performance bonuses based on innings, starts and appearances.”
And there you have it.
It was a financial decision made by our wonderful COO Jeff Wilpon. That is $1mil towards the $700mil they will be trying to make up for while running this franchise in the future… Get ready to be aggravated every offseason.
No one objected when that move was made… He wasn’t getting out of the 1st without putting the game out of reach most nights.
The way he was pitching they couldn’t keep putting him out there, however releasing him wasn’t the only other option. They should have skipped a start or two and let him get things straight. This would have saved some money and maybe gotten him back on track for a few more turns. Then when Santana and Perez went out he would still be here.
I have no problem with the release though, he was awful to watch. At least with Parnell there is a chance something better can happen.
I don’t hear much complaining about Smoltz or Penny being released in cost saving measure by the Red Sox, and they have holes in a rotation that actually matters… When a pitcher is accumulating bonuses for pitching terribly it makes sense to cut your losses, right?
This is an age old concept. Reactive versus Proactive management. Good management is proactive, not reactive. (You can be both proactive and reactive, of course, but you need to be proactive in order to grow).
You even see it in politics, where some politicians are proactive, making things happen, with the large majority of politicians being reactive (especially on partisan lines), and they waste all their time squabbling about the current issue and no time preparing for the future.
At a minimum, the Mets need some very proactive minds to manage the farm system. Having a reactive person in charge of the minor league system is usually what spells the difference between good and bad farm systems.
You don’t draft a first baseman simply because you don’t have any in your system, you formulate a plan and stick to it, bringing in the best talent available, period. It’s ironically the same model that business management should have, and sadly I regularly find myself witnessing reactive management, where people are looking to hire people simply because a need has presented itself (and sometimes missing out on talent just because it isn’t a perfect fit for the current reactive needs).
I don’t understand why we’d even give Omar credit for being a good “patchwork GM.”
Anyone on this site knew the Mets needed a closer this year, and Minaya went out and got the biggest name closer by offering him the biggest deal.
Thats just common sense. To me, the GM doesn’t deserve that much credit for making the easiest and most obvious move.
omar is a terrible GM and calling him a good “patchwork” GM is nothing but a (deserved) insult in disguise as a backhanded compliment
by far his biggest moves have been free agent signings (or in the case of johan a trade + signing) that have fallen into his lap when the big dogs decided they weren’t interested. pedro, beltran, johan all would have never wound up here if NYY or BOS was interested.
any one of the “ONE MILLION GMS” could have done the job he’s done with this team
Matt,
You are right. There is always something wrong with this team. I actually think the problem is management. I don’t think this team has ever been in “rebuild” mode. If a team is going to “rebuild”, then you get rid of everyone on the team. Everyone and start over. This is what the Marlins do every so many years, and guess what, they have had success.
The mets fill one whole at a time. This is why they are competitive but not good enough to win it all. Frankly, I am sick of the same crap every year. Everyone said when the mets got Santana, that we were WS bound. The mets have not even made the playoffs with the guy. So is he worth the 20 mil? Maybe, but without a solid team around him, the mets are wasting valuable dollars.
And I am sorry, but the way this Wagner thing went down, IMO, was just horrible. Why would the mets not take the draft picks? Instead they get a guy that maybe will be good, but think about it, will the mets actually give this guy a shot? I don’t think so.
Giving a GM a sunk cost of around 90 mil for 25% of his roster and telling him to fill out the other 75% with 30 mil more is going to make a lot of GM’s look bad…
If they brought in someone new under these same guidelines not a whole lot can change. A new GM to complain about would at least freshen things up a bit.
matt – step off the ledge ..
Comments on this entry are closed.