The New York Mets under the leadership of general manager Omar Minaya have shown the baseball world how not to run a major league franchise. After Friday night's 5-4 road loss to the Houston Astros, the Mets are playing .463 baseball and are trailing the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies by 11 games in the loss column. The Mets have been hit by a plague of injuries - Old Testament style - but Minaya has been unable to tap the farm system for assistance, because there is nothing down on the farm.
Minaya was named general manager of the New York Mets at the conclusion of the 2004 season. Currently the Mets' Triple A team in Buffalo is playing .368 ball and sits in last place 19 games behind the division-leading Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees. No other team in the International League is playing below .400 baseball, except for the Buffalo Bisons.
The Mets' Double A team, the Binghamton Mets, are playing .388 hardball, languishing in last place and are 17.5 games behind the division-leading Connecticut Defenders (an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants). The Binghamton Mets are not the worst team in the Eastern League, because the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, the Altoona Curve are playing .380 baseball. Thank the Good Lord for the bumbling Bucs!
The Mets are the only team in Major League Baseball that has its top two minor league teams residing in last place. A minor league system is not defined by the cumulative winning percentage of its minor league teams, but a successful minor league system is defined by how it produces players able to fill-in at the major league level. The lack of success demonstrated by the Mets high-level minor league squads suggests a minor league system bankrupt of talent.
Mets VP for Player Development, Tony Bernazard, should start looking for a new job. Not only is Bernazard presiding over a miserable minor league system, but the guy is off his freaking rocker. Bernazard has been the focal point of multiple incidents that have embarrassed the Mets organization. Reportedly, Bernazard verbally tore into a Mets official, because Tony did not immediately get a seat behind home plate at Citi Field. Another team's scout was in Tony's seat, and Tony is an important man.
In Bernazard's most recent alleged act of Billy Martin-esque stupidity, it has been reported he ripped off his shirt and challenged members of the Binghamton Mets to a fight. Apparently, Tony was attempting to motivate his young Met charges, with a Vince McMahon WWE challenge that was further fueled by reports of underage drinking within the team. Are the Binghamton Mets the first minor league team to have underage players consume the devil's elixir? If the Binghamton Mets were playing .600 ball, I got a hunch Tony would have let the underage drinking slide.
From Adam Rubin's blog in the New York Daily News:
Actually, there is a vendetta against Bernazard. He's widely hated in baseball, and by a lot of Mets minor leaguers, major leaguers, coaches and other staff. And when people see he's vulnerable, they're going to pounce and leak information. That's what's happening now. Lesson for everyone in life: Don't treat people poorly on the way up.
Minaya and Bernazard have presided over a minor league system that is now devoid of talent at Buffalo and Binghamton. Minaya has had five years to assemble a minor league system that could contribute to the Mets' success on the big league level, and the evidence would suggest Minaya and Bernazard have failed at this critical task.
The owner of the New York Mets, Fred Wilpon, lost a ton of cash to Bernie Madoff. The nation's economic struggles are forcing each major league baseball franchise to scrutinize the bottom line, which highlights the importance of a healthy minor league system. Producing homegrown talent is an inexpensive method to improving the parent club, which the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox annually accomplish, but Omar seems to have a predilection for adding 40-year-old free agents.
Saturday night, the Mets will see if one of the organization's top pitching prospects, Jonathon Niese, can inject some life into a team that is reeling. At Buffalo, Niese has been dominating the International League with a .096 earned run average in his last eight starts. Let's see what Niese can do on the hill versus major league competition and hopefully the Mets will show some patience with the kid. No wants to see Tim Redding or Livan Hernandez get a start every fifth day.
Of course, injuries have undermined the Mets' season, but the rash of injuries have exposed real flaws in how the Mets do business. Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff, have to bear most of the blame for the institutional idiocy that has permeated the Mets organization, which dates back to when the Wilpons took full ownership of the team from Nelson Doubleday. The Mets will never have the revenue stream that flows into the coffers of the Bronx Bombers, but neither do the Philadelphia Phillies. If the Phillies are able to land Roy Halladay before the trading deadline, which appears unlikely, the Mets can count on being a second-class citizen in the NL East.
Fred Wilpon needs to stop his obsession with the Brooklyn Dodgers - he needs to realize he owns the New York Mets. The Mets have their own special place in the hearts of New Yorkers and most New York baseball fans were not alive to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play. The Mets, as an organization, have to make profound changes to catch up to the more progressive organizations in major league baseball.
A step in the right direction would be the dismissal of Minaya and Bernazard at season's end. Another move in the right direction would be to lessen the influence of Jeff Wilpon within the organization. It's 2009 and the Mets should not be run like a family business.
Fred Wilpon Enjoying The Action
