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Yesterday, ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons told 1050 ESPN Radio that Jeff Wilpon is the real GM of the Mets, not Omar Minaya.
The show’s host, Michael Kay, asked Gammons if the Mets will look to hire hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, saying, ‘Omar loves him.’
“But, Omar isn’t the General Manager,” Gammons explained. “Jeff Wilpon is.”
According to Gammons, “Omar’s the one out there to take the heat.”
To listen to Gammons on Kay’s show, click here.
In 2003, the team’s previous partner, Nelson Doubleday, told the Star-Ledger:
“Mr. Jeff Wilpon has decided that he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year… Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail… Jeff sits there by himself like he’s King Tut waiting for his camel.”
…let’s not get too crazy here… i mean, i don’t recall anyone ripping on jeff when the Mets were cruising through the NL East and headed to the NLCS in 2006, with players mostly acquired during the four years after doubleday… that said, i can’t believe it will be good for minaya, the team and productivity if everyone is questioning omar’s authority, especially other GMs…
Last week, Jon Heyman of SI.com quoted a Mets person loyal to Minaya as saying, “Omar would be gone if not for that extension,” which will pay him $1.1 million each of the next three seasons.
Gammons believes Jaramillo is leaving the Rangers to earn more money, and he feels there is no chance Wilpon will pay the type of contract Jaramillo will be seeking, especially when considering, as he explained, the Mets are likely to cut their budget for pro-scouting next year.
…i don’t know what it is, but something is off with the Mets…
…maybe it’s financial, maybe it isn’t, maybe gammons is right, maybe he isn’t… who knows… but, what i do know is, teams that win and have direction, and who have a bright future, don’t typically have these sorts of soap operas and accusations made against them over and over again… i mean, it’s been like 10 months of these sorts of jabs, news stories, rumors and comments…
…i’m sure the Mets will say gammons is wrong, everything is fine financially, and so on, and this might be true… i’m not saying it isn’t… but, if it is true, and the Mets are correct, and everyone is happy and surrounded by sunshine and roses, then, what i’d like to know is: why all the rumors, why all the insinuations, why are there so many of these stories circling over only their heads, in what seems like every other week… i mean, do gammons, kay, and everyone else in the media have it out for the Mets, or is this a case of where there is smoke there is fire…
Biggest issue there is his statement that the Mets will cut the pro-scouting budget. I can’t see any scenario where this is a good thing. They should raise it. scouting at all levels. This is how you get guys like Mo Vaughn, or Kaz Matsui.
Wait, watching Mo hit in his indoor hitting cage and proclaiming him ready for MLB action doesn’t classify as real scouting???
Bobby V went on that pilgrimage to CT as well, for all of those who love to forget that fact.
Just like when we take Mo’s word that he’s in the best shape of his life coming into Spring Training in 2003…Didnt he allegedly lose 25 pounds or something in that off-season.
Shhh! Do not sully the memory of Bobbyus Magnus with inconvenient facts.
HAHA! Thanks for that.
Bobby V didn’t want Mo Vaughn, Steve Philips did…. for those who love to forget that fact. That was one of their biggest disagreements.
Lorenzo! Where have you been? I was beginning to think you jumped out of a window after hearing Omar and Jerry will be back next season.
hahahaha I hear ya man. I missed ya!
I couldnt take it anymore.. I needed a couple weeks off to become sane. Now I’m back and better than ever… Nice and refreshed and ready to debate about the much needed offseason moves.
And yes I’m furious Omar is back.
In fairness to Bobby V., he was not the one who signed Vaughn, nor would he have, had he had any say in the matter.
He was presented with a done deal, and asked for a response. What would you expect him to say about his new 1B, with whom he had a longtime connection?
In fairness to Bobby V., he was not the one who signed Vaughn, nor would he have, had he any say in the matter.
He was presented with a done deal, and asked for a response. The “workout in the batting cage” was strictly PR. What would you expect Valentine to say about his new 1B, who he mentored and supported from his high school days?
(sorry for the double)
Gameball I am with you on that one (See above). People forget the amount of disagreements Bobby V had with Steve Phillips over player personnel. Unfortunately Jeff Wilpon sided with Steve Phillips (probably cause of money Jeff owed Steve) and fired Bobby when he wasnt the one most deserving. We than lost Bobby V to Japan where he became a coaching legend. What a mistake by the Mets organization…Add that to the list.
You know what’s pathetic? Mo’s numbers in his first year as a Met (.259 26 72) would have been a very welcome asset in 2009.
What’s more pathetic is that Mo’s numbers are very similar to Delgado’s in ‘06- but because they made the playoffs, everyone forgets. After wasting $40-$50M on him, some people STILL want “Mo” Delgado back!
In 06, Delgado had a good year hitting 38 home runs and 114 RBI. You are referring to his 2007 season, when he hit .258 with 24 home runs. That was the year of the 7 game lead collapse and he made those “bored” comments.
Nothing like people who try to rip on a player but can’t even keep track of the game they are supposedly watching.
Delgado puts Mo Vaughn’s time in a Met uniform to utter embarrassment.
Lets just completely forget that you did not know the difference between 2006 and 2007 or assume it was really confusing for you. Delgado put the entire team on his back last summer. If the Mets had a bullpen Delgado would have taken his 1.199 2006 post season OPS into the playoffs.
Say what you want about HoJo….but I’ve seen players go out of their way to praise him and how he’s helped them……Wright, Murphy, Delgado (in 08). I think when things go bad, its easy to blame people. However, it is hard to believe that HoJo is the source of all problems…..actually didn’t the Mets lead the league in hitting last year? Power is another story….but I wonder if that is attributed to every power hitter in the lineup sans for Wright went down.
Are we to believe then that it’s Wilpon on the phone with other clubs making proposals for deals? That’s only a part of the GMs job of course, and Jeff may be part of the approval process, as many owners are, but I don’t believe Omar’s been just a front man. I don’t think this story is to be taken literally.
I’m sure Omar’s recent erratic behavior – especially after having been given a 3 year extension – has cost him some stature in the Wilpon’s eyes. And as a result, Jeff has taken on more responsibility. But I’m sure Omar still has some GM authority.
Gammons has never been a big Mets fan, so I’m not surprised if he’s going to kick them when they’re down.
Gammons has a great relationship with Omar though. I would have to agree with Chaseh, it should not be taken literally, but I do feel that at the end of the day Omar has to “submit his recomendations to ownership” and Jeff decides what route he wants to take.
That can be said of most organizations as it is the owners money and at some point they will want a say in how it is spent.
Is anyone else tired of the media bashing that we’re taking? I mean, part of me is upset at the media but I’m mostly upset at the organization itself.
This team and it’s ownership can’t seem to get out of its own way. They continously make mistake after mistake, without even realizing what that mistake is.
Press conference after press conference they are shifting blame, calling out reporters, apologizing for past statements. All the while the players, team and fans are suffering. The Wilpons don’t care, they’ve got their little baseball team and are making money. But I bet Minaya cares. Whether or not he’s competent is another story.
I’m just sick and tired of all this drama. This isn’t a baseball team, it’s a soap opera. They won’t but the Wilpons should just clean house, from top to bottom, step back and say, “This is the new GM, Assistant GM and Head Coach. They are going to make all major decisions and have full autonomy to do so. When it’s necessary (major trades, FA signs, etc. I will offer my opinion but this New GM is running the show”
Kinda like what 90% of most other teams do. Sorry, I’m just really frustrated right now. I’m tired of seeing a team that I love underachieve and look like a joke to so many other organizations.
The wilpons are terrible owners. Things won’t improve with the mets unless and ntil they sell. For all of his flaws Doubleday was clearly the better half of that partnership. Whether or not jeff w is the de facto gm is sort of irrelevant. He definitely has his fingers all over so many things that happen for the worse. Payroll isn’t the answer for incompetence. I wonder what gammons colleague seve Phillips might say if asked
I disagree. I think the Wilpons have made huge strides to bring this franchise to premium status from 2nd rate. They’ve brought the team and its fans a new home from the pit they were in, and continued to provide the funding for competitive teams. I’m far from placing a lion’s share of the blame on their shoulders. Omar’s a victim of the Wilpons now? That’s a joke.
I think Omar is a vicitm of himself but I also believe the Wilpons are helping to call the shots behind closed doors.
Even if you blame Omar for everything, who hired him? Look at our track record of GM’s…Phillips, Duquette and Minaya. What’s the constant…Wilpons.
I do agree that a large portion of the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the Wilpons. The fact that a) they did not fire anyone of significance after this season and b) are looking to bring in yet MORE former GMs to add to the confusion, speaks volumes about their style of management. Plus they are also clearly afraid of going out and getting someone from outside the organization to bring them a different perspective.
Are there worse owners out there? Of course – just ask any Pirates fan. But does that make the Wilpons good owners? No.
I want to punch Michael Kay in the ovaries.
Why fight the urge?
He just annoys me so much.
This is another disaster for this organization, and whether it’s real or not, the perception is that this organization is clueless and rudderless.
Gammons’ words carry weight, and this is just another cinderblock on the sinking ship that is the SS Mets.
The METS are the only team that I follow or pay attention to. I don’t know if this stuff happen around other teams, like the Royals or Pirates? Perhaps MATT, or somebody, should look into it? Do any other teams have these kinds of “stories” floating around them?
Other teams don’t have stories floated around them like this because they dont play in NY. All this, like most of this garbage is a by product of the market the Mets play in. The Yanks and Mets always draw the attention of these media types because they know that the NY teams have th most eyes following them. If Gammons brings up a story like this about the Pirates, no one cares. He says it and its falls by the wayside. He says it about the Mets and bang, the next day 100 blogs are mentioning it, linking to his story, mentioning him on talk radio etc.
The teams you mentioned probably have only one newspaper and reporter to cover the whole team, so odds are not much is talked about other than the games.
I seem to have heard stories about A-Rod and Jeter fighting and the the steroids thing, the Boss and his son, ect…. The thing is the YANKEES win, and, when you win all these other things fall by the way side and are forgotten. When a team flounders and chokes like the METS fingers are pointed and these stories take on a new life. If the METS want these things to go away them they have to win, its simple.
I would have dismissed Gammons comments as meeting his daily quota of spew, but I took the time to read Nelson Doubleday’s comments from 2003. Now I think Gammons should be chided for not citing his sources.
Doubleday sounded like a grumpy old man with an axe to grind. I especially liked his comment about checking Glavine’s record in the second half. Some of what he said sounds prophetic.
One way to play GM is to tell Omar who to pursue or not pursue, or who he’ll let Omar spend the family fortune on.
Maybe Omar looked uncomfortable during the Bernazard press conference because Jeff told him to blame Rubin.
This is leaving me with an uneasy feeling. I reall want to Wilpon’s to sell.
These stories continue because of a 24 hour news cycles that need things to print. Some of these accusations may be true but as you said, no one complained in 2006. The Mets have suffered the perfect storm for this type of abuse. They came close in ’06, collapsed in ‘07, fell short in ‘08, and were ravaged by injuries this season. Anger toward the Mets from the fan base has never been higher. That has a lot to do with how these alleged stories feed the negativity. If you take the Yankees, and perhaps the Red Sox out of the equation, who besides the Mets have invested in their team more? True that it has not netted a championship yet, but sometimes, that takes more time than a fan base is willing to wait. If you recall, the Phillies were crucified prior to ‘07 for not having “what it takes” to get over the hump. That went on for several years before the Phillies turned the corner. I’m not saying the Mets do not have work to do, but if everyone comes back healthy, a starting pitcher here and a left fielder there, the Mets should be fine next year. Then these same writers will hop on the band wagon and write how the Mets knew what they were doing all along.
Can the offseason please start so we can start seeing some positive articles. “Mets shock baseball by trading for Halladay and signing Lackey in same day.”
I wouldn’t take anything Peter Gammons says as gospel. That being said, Jeff Wilpon really is starting to look a lot like James Dolan, isn’t he? Actually, Hank Steinbrenner would be James Dolan too if the organization didn’t have more money than God and can erase their expensive mistakes by spending more.
If Bobby’s firing was such a mistake how come no MLB has re-hired him in the last 7 years?
The problem I had with the whole post 2002 season was not Bobby being fired. His time had passed and he lost that 2002. My problem was that Steve Phillips wasn’t fired with him. Both Valentine and Phillips should have been fired not one or the other.
Matt, it’s just not this year that soap operas and abysmal play have been an issue. This is a franchise that has been plagued with this type of nonsense since day 1, with a few special years here and there. Overall, though, this has been a poorly run franchise for as long as I can remember. There is always some sort of rumor, some sort of undermining…. there is always something that casts a negative light on the team.
As you said, Matt, championship teams do not have this kind of nonsense constantly surrounding the franchise. I hate to say it, but look at the teams in the area: Yanks, Boston, and even the Phillies. Do any of them have this kind of garbage constantly in the news?
I would be more worried if we had a bunch of grumbling players, but we don’t. It’s the press that seems to really have it out for the Mets and who would blame them: lack of information on injuries to key players, public humiliation of a fellow member of the press corps, and a doubling of ticket prices to see a losing team.
Nonetheless, I think this “noise” hurts the Mets’ ability to deal effectively with other teams.
This is silly. Anybody can say what they want, and to take it at face value is silly. I think it was clear through the past few off-seasons that Omar is the GM – he is the one that does all the leg work and he takes the heat when he should. I mean to take this at face value makes it seem like Jeff purposely gave Omar an extension to take the fall when he (Jeff) messes up? this is way too elaborate. It’s more trash talking because the Mets are not in a good place right now
Speaking of Jeff, I know a lot of us “hate” the Wilpons and whatever but I don’t see how everybody claims they don’t want to win, of course they do, why would they buy a baseball team if they didn’t want it to win? Besides that they are buisnessmen, they want to make money. Nobody wants to be associated with the kind of mess the Mets have become and the Wilpons know that it is their face next to the Mets collapses and injuries.
This whole thing with their finances and the budget is getting really old. There is no way at this moment they can convince the public that they are financially sound. Once free agency opens up and they start to sign some big guys and make some big trades (Halladay anybody?), then it will be clear. They will have to spend money to make everybody shut up about this and they just can’t do it at this moment until then we’ll have to deal with this.
I really don’t know what to make of this.
Jeff clearly seems like the type of guy who was born on third and thinks he hit a triple, but I think (hope?) Gammons is off-base here.
There’s no denying Gammons is tight with Omar and Gammons always goes above and beyond to protect his guys.
Do I wish we had different ownership? Sure. But I don’t think Jeff is making baseball decisions. I just think his judgment in trusting people like Omar to make baseball decisions is bad.
I live in the Washington DC area. For the past several years, we have watched Dan Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, destroy a once-proud franchise, by playing General Manager. I hope the Wilpons don’t make the same mistake…..a great owner is someone who hires the best possible baseball person, establishes a budget and gets out of the way.
Choo Choo, I think they already have….
the comparison to the redskins seems valid to a point but the skins have a salary cap and the mets dont…
I hate to say this, or, even think it, but, IF, the PHILLIES win the WS again things will get worse for the METS if they dont bounce back.
Folks. The Wilpons are not selling the Mets. And you know what fanbase hated their GM, Owner and Managers collectively right up until the final two weeks of 2007? The Philadelphia Phillies.