The manager summoned one of his veterans into his office for a closed-door meeting, challenging him to focus more on baseball. It was a rare, line-in-the-sand moment for Randolph, who avoided confrontation with his players. But the manager’s attempt to assert his authority failed miserably, as the two men raised their voices at each other.Of course, he was right. This makes me wonder, how much is "veteran leadership" worth when the whole team is full of veterans? If there is a benefit to such leadership, surely there is a tipping point where having too many veterans causes a sense of entitlement, not leadership.
As he walked out the door, the elder Met taunted Randolph, “I’m going to be here longer than you.”
I know this is supposed to be an anecdote that shows Randolph's failure as leader, but to me it is more of an indictment of Omar Minaya, just as most of the team's problems are. The unnamed veteran could be anybody. It doesn't really matter, because there are so many of them on the team. It was probably Carlos Delgado, who can be sure of his job because the general manager has turned the Mets' bench into a club for all his buddies instead of a source of depth and roster flexibility.
I'm not going to name all the crappy players on the Mets here. You know who they are. If you don't, do yourself a favor and look at all the guys who have played left field for the Mets in 2008. Met left fielders have hit .243/.294/.315 this year. I don't care how bad the situation is or how much you've been caught by surprise-- finding at least replacement level production in left field should be one of the easiest parts of the job. And that Moises Alou will hit the Disabled List should have been Omar Minaya's Assumption Number One.
Met first basemen have hit .247/.317/.406 this year. If that's not below replacement, it's pretty damn close. Again, finding replacement level production at first base should be one of the easiest parts of the job. A platoon partner for Delgado should be easy to find. There's one in AAA right now.
But did Omar Minaya stock the bench with suitable depth and protection for left field and first base? No, he started the offseason by handing out guaranteed contracts to mediocrities-- easily replaceable guys who should hold no special place in the organization. And now, with two starting outfielders out of the picture (one predictably and the other due to Minaya's negligence) the lineup regular features the worst offensive and defensive corner outfielders in the game, an old and broken first baseman, and two starters who would be lucky to ever slug over .400-- two starters whom Omar Minaya went out of his way to obtain and retain for the 2008 season and beyond.
So yea, quip all you want about how Willie Randolph was a poor leader. He was an even worse tactician. But 100% of the blame should go to Omar Minaya.
21 comments:
I know Minaya isn't getting a free pass per se, but he's pretty close considering the failings of his tenure.
On SNY last night (the few minutes I was able to bear) at least one guest kept going on and on about how we can't forget the good moves Omar has made.
I'm still looking for the good moves.
Santana was a slam-dunk. Omar's "patience" didn't get the deal done, Theo and Brian's failed game did.
Maine and Perez were a throw-ins for Jorge Fucking Julio and RObbie Fucking Hernandez, not some shrewd acquisition that Omar stole from the O's and Bucs.
The "goodnessocity" of the Castillo deal was flushed right down the shitter when he signed the 4-year contract.
Alou can't be considered a "good" signing because he never plays.
Beltran and Pedro were simply throwing the money at the agents - it's not like you have to sell NYC (sorry for the bias there). I could have signed them if Freddie Coupons handed me a blank check and a Amex Gold to take them and Boras to Per Se.
I've lost my incoherent train of thought.
Well said.
Look for Omar to be in full desperation CYA mode. Keeping Church in the lineup was just the beginning.
Omar knows that he is next in line on the chopping block if the Mets do not make at least a run at the playoffs this year. Look for him to do something selfish, shortsighted, and stupid. I'm expecting something like F-Mart for Bartolo Colon.
One thing I will say about Omar, he milked 2006 for all it was worth, raising expectations and attendance. He seems to be very good at marketing the Mets and selling tickets. As it has become obvious that this is the only thing the Wilpons care about, there is a shot that he will be retained.
As a Nationals fan and reader of your GM rankings, I've taken some inspiration from your posts. Not to mention I'm kinda jealous that people who don't succeed in NY get fired sometimes.
Come by and check out http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com.
Not sure if I agree with "100% of the blame should go to Omar." Lets not forget Willies complete lack of understanding of leverage. However past real time in game decisions I think it is difficult to assign blame to Willie or Omar as we just don't know who is calling the shots (ie in platoon situations). Willie was definitely a stinker though.
The problem with firing Willie and Omar is that we have no guarantee that there replacements will be improvements. Maybe Omar is a 30th percentile manager, but with 90th percentile payroll that is enough to get to the playoffs now and then.
Do you have enough confidence in those who find GM replacements to get a good GM? I am not old, but Phillips was replaced by a stinker in Duquettee who was replaced by a stinker in Omar.
John, Angel Pagan was the insurnace policy on Alou. Pagan actually played at about or above replacement player level. Why do you keep pointing at that Omar had no back-up plan for Alou? He also got Pagan for next to nothing.
-Coolpapabell
Coolpapabell.
Have you ever looked at angel pagan's stats. You can't really say he a good player based on 91 at bats with mets
.259 .316 .406 Career Major Leauge
.280 .337 .373 Career Minor League
That is utterly pathetic. Pagan is not a major league baseball player. That is why Omar could get him for nothing.
Thanks, Nationals Fan and Chicago Mets Fan!
MP, I follow you. I think you have to give some credit to Omar for "throwing money" at the right players (for the most part), though.
Brian, that's what I'm afraid of. As far as 'growing the brand' and 'marketing the product,' well, I guess I never speak to that. I know it's part of the GM's job, but Omar still hasn't managed to convince the rest of baseball that the Mets aren't a second-class organization.
Manhasset Paulie, no. I do not have confidence that the Mets will find a suitable replacement. I have said that. The Mets should keep him around until they have found someone good. Of course, it's highly unlikely that there is someone in charge there who actually knows what to look for.
Coolpapabell, I don't know if you're just being ironic, but Angel Pagan is pretty meh. He was a castoff from Cubs. He played over his head a little bit here, and if he continued to play, he would be just as bad as the others. He doesn't walk, he doesn't hit for power, and he plays corner outfield. Yea, that's replacement level at best. I was talking about a solid 3rd/4th outfielder. In the offseason we talked about how Church needed a platoon partner. If the Mets had their full contingent of outfielders healthy (yea right), he would be that.
It's about replacement level isn't it? I think that's the point CPB was trying to make. Although I agree, Angel Pagan should never be an insurance plan for a corner OF spot on a *championship caliber* team.
John - Agreed, he could have thrown the money at Jeromy Burnitz, Roger Cedeno, and Kaz. Pedro and Beltran were no-brainers, but living through the Steve Phillips era reminded us all that we shouldn't take anything for granted.
all this stuff about backups on championship caliber teams is malarkey. granted the 2001 yankees didn't win the world series, but they were within some bullshit singles of doing so.
their bench was unequivocally terrible. now while i agree the mets could've brought in some better options, i still maintain that it's hard to convince a guy to come in and be a backup in free agency unless that's what he is by nature.
val pascucci should be on the mets roster but besides that i don't see much else.
The *championship caliber* was sarcasm. This is totally without factual basis, but it always seems to me that the teams that have the best "insurance policies" are the ones who get lucky finding someone who delivers a great season off the scrap heap or goes above and beyond what they usually produce.
So I'd tend to agree with you that unless they're going to take Moises out back and put him down it would be tough to sign/trade to function as a good "insurance policy."
Fare points gentleman, but player projections for young players at the major league level are not that reliable. It is quite possible for Angel Pagan to give replacement player production over a bigger span of time.
Yes, we do have a small sample size but you don't really get to test it out if he doesn't play. Isn't that the ethos of this blog.
Yes Pagan is just meh, but isn't that the defenition of replacement player. Secondly I would actualy like to test Pagan's numbers in a bigger sample size. Isn't that what we most belly ached about with Gotay. Isn't that what this blog pushes? Trying out more internal and or cost effective options? Fukudome would have been great, but I doubt he would want to come in as Alou's back-up or Chruch's platoon partner. I also think the Mets were commited to giving Church a chance at being an everyday OF, a gamble that has paid off-concusions aside. I think the only other optoins the Mets had was to sign an old slugger, and we know how this blog feels about that.
Again guys, good food for thought.
-Coolpapabell
I'm not necessarily opposed to signing old sluggers-- just bad, old ones. Sure, Angel Pagan might improve a little bit, but there are lots of guys like him floating around. He's nothing special. (And neither was Gotay. It was the principle of the thing with him.)
For instance, I wouldn't have been adverse to signing Mike Cameron (just 1 year, $7 million), if possible or picking up Kevin Mensch (basically free). The problem is not, as Triumph has characterized it, that better players aren't available. It's that Mets' management seems to be satisfied with the players we do have (after all, they have track records, right!) These aren't people who pay attention to player projections and aging curves. Baseball Prospectus and The Hardball Times may be run-of-the-mill for us, but for them it's still some geeky nonsense way out in the ether.
His at bats as a cub
2006- 170
2007- 148
This is hardly enough to draw a tangible conclusion with regards to Pagan. He also got hurt one year and made a few mental mistakes that put him in the dog house with Sweet Lou.
-coolpapabell
Pagan's Robust .710 minor league OPS minor league sample is over a very robust 2482 at bats.
I think the point is less of Pagan representing fair value as he costs nothing and produces nothing, definition of replacement level, and more the fact that mets spents low millions on replacement players (ie marlon anderson). These millions could have been spent complimentary players. Maybe big RH Bat with big platoon splits as a spell for delgado and church, and plantoon insurance in the event (which turned out to be true) of delagdo not turning it around in 08. IE a Kevin Mench and his career 909 ops vs lefties for 1 year 1.25 million would have fit.
This I think is the problem. Clogging the bench with guys with OPS+ in the 80 range. Which give a dismal bench which is obviously of extra imporantance in the National League (talking about yankees bench in AL is not that relevent) and of extra importances with an aging team.
I thin what I am trying to say is you want guys on your bench who will provide marginal value in special situations. Mench to kill lefties, a player like endy is great to me as he is the OF in the game. Not old light hitting 2B after old light hitting 2B.
sorry. to say the grammar there got a little sloppy would be an understatement. Long work day.
No problem. Thanks for the great comment.
I think having a player like Endy on the roster is fine, but not if he is going to be pushed into regular outfield duty, which is his current situation with the Mets.
I just gave you a quick shout out, fyi.
http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com/
Cool. Thanks.
I don't give Omar as much credit as Blastings does for throwing money at the right players. If your game plan is to throw money at All-Stars, you'd have to be spectacularly inept not to get returns for your money some of the time.
Beltran's signing with the Mets--please recall--came in the wake of what was perhaps the most spectacular offensive playoff performance ever. Far from shrewdly evaluating the evolution of the market and extrapolating Beltran's productivity over the course of the contract, I fully suspect that Omar signed him based on his reputation and his personal impression of Beltran during that small sample period.
Why do I suspect this?
Because the overwhelming bulk of evidence shows that this is how Omar works. Wagner's name got him signed. Wagner was just good enough to make the deal defensible. Omar traded for Delgado's name. This, rather predictably, did not work--as his decline began in the 2nd half of 2006. He bought Pedro's name, and blew 56 million and Clay Bucholtz doing so. He bought Castillo's reputation and the atavistic offensive approach he represents. He bought Duque's reputation and Alou's and Marlon Anderson's.
And let us not forget, if not for the occasion of the worst signing in baseball history, he would have also bought Zito.
Looked at in context, the Beltran deal fits into the same pattern as all the other signings Omar has made. The happenstance that sound analysis was on Omar's side with Beltran means little compared to the consistently flawed methodology Omar applies to all of his trades and signings, including the Beltran signing.
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