Over the weekend, Mets CEO Fred Wilpon gave Omar Minaya a vote of confidence that he would return for 2010. As expected, the backlash from Mets fans was not pretty.  I have been very critical of Omar too lately, mostly because of the bizarre way in which he handled the Tony Bernazard affair. But is the criticism of Omar fair? Does he deserve to come back or should he be let go?

The popular response is to fire him. But how much of that opinion is tempered because of fans’ anger and frustrations of a team with the largest payroll in the league playing so poorly because of injuries beyond repair?

No one can blame Mets fans for the anger they are showing. When a fan base has been promised a winner and when they are expected to pay exorbitant prices to attend games, souvenirs, and eat at concession stands, those fans have a right to be heard.

But is firing Minaya fair? Does he really deserve to go after a season when the team has been decimated by injuries, the most recent being to ace Johan Santana? Would any team be doing better under the same circumstances?

A common criticism in the media has been that the Mets farm system is barren and the Mets had no one to call up to fill in. Is that fair considering the number of major injuries the Mets suffered? Whose farm system could have replaced the homerun and RBI production of Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado? What club can boast a minor leaguer that could have replaced 50 to 60 stolen bases when Jose Reyes left for the season?

Emotionally, I wanted Omar fired too. However, intellectually, is it fair to not give him another chance considering the ridiculous number of players that were hurt and missed huge amounts of time this season?

As I recall, I did not hear many complain when Minaya brought in Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Billy Wagner, Xavier Nady, Paul LoDuca, Jose Valentine, Chad Bradford, Endy Chavez, Duaner Sanchez, Darren Oliver, John Maine, Pedro Feliciano, Orlando Hernandez, Oliver Perez (the first time), Shawn Green, Damion Easley, Jorge Sosa, Fernando Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Guillermo Mota, Brian Stokes, Ryan Church, and Johan Santana.  Each one of these players has contributed greatly to the Mets success from 2005 through 2008. I know many will disagree with 2007 and 2008 as being successful seasons but they were winning teams ending in second place, not the stumble bums from the Jim Duquette/Art Howe years. And the deals made for this year would have likely paid off if not more than half the team spent the summer on the DL. Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Sean Green, Jeff Francouer, Alex Cora, and Angel Pagan all helped the Mets this season until the wheels fell completely off.

And in regards to the minor leagues, Omar and his staff drafted Mike Pelfrey, Jon Neise, Bobby Parnell, Joe Smith, Daniel Murphy, and Eddie Kunz. All have contributed to the Major League club to some degree. They are not the greatest prospects of all time but each has shown potential to have very good major league talent given time to develop. Also, there does appear to be a lot of talent at the lower levels of the organization. They were not ready this year to fill in and probably won’t be ready for a couple of more years. And don’t forget that some minor league prospects were used to acquire Santana, Delgado, and others.

What are some of the bad moves Omar has made?

He should have never let Chad Bradford go to Baltimore after 2006, haggling over a two year deal then giving a two year deal to Scott Schoeneweis who never worked out.  He traded Heath Bell and Royce Ring to San Diego for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins, both since released.  Omar then sent power arms Matt Lindstrom and Henry Owens to Florida for Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick, both released. He traded Brian Bannister to Kansas City for Ambriorix Burgoes, also released.  He let Darren Oliver go to the LA Angels where he still enjoys success and signed aging player Moises Alou who could still hit with the best of them but could not stay healthy. Omar traded for Luis Castillo who was dreadful until this season. He brought in Brian Schneider who has had trouble staying healthy and never lived up to the hype in terms of being a great pitcher’s catcher. He acquired Tim Redding for 2.25 million, whose shoulder was not in good shape when signed then resigned Ollie Perez, giving him 36 million, not recognizing they had likely gotten all they could have from the left handed enigma.

A bigger problem with Omar was what the handling of Tony Bernazard revealed. Attempting to blame New York Daily News writer Adam Rubin for having to fire his crony was completely out of line, immature, and totally unprofessional. I say that with the notion that some of the Bernazard flap was blown out of proportion.  Bernazard was trying to teach his AA players that abusing alcohol would not be tolerated.  Regardless, Minaya handled the situation poorly.  Bernazard was a loose cannon who thrived on intimidating minor league players and other organization underlings. Why didn’t Minaya handle the situation sooner avoiding much embarrassment to the organization?  The fact is Minaya would have kept Bernazard, enabling an apparent abusing employee, than to do the right thing. I find that more troubling than any negative trade or signing he has made.

Could some of this communication breakdown be going on with trainers and doctors too? You have got to wonder if some of the Mets injury issues are partly due to less than adequate training personnel whose friendships, like Bernazard, Omar is protecting.  What damage will this do for acquiring other Major League players who may be targeted by the Mets in the off season? Carlos Beltran and agent Scott Boras, so distrusting of the Mets medical staff, sought their own opinion when Beltran’s knee became so problematic. No other team, regardless of record, has suffered the amount of injuries the Mets have this season. Is it completely a coincidence?

2009 is hard to completely blame on Minaya. The injuries to the Mets are like something I have never witnessed while following the Mets for so many years. The other two seasons that come to mind in regards to injury are 1972 and 1987 but even they do not compare to the disaster of this season.

Wilpon says Minaya will be back. However, as pointed out by Ed Coleman, he didn’t say as GM. Omar is under contract for three more years. That means the Mets could move him to a less volatile position.  We’ll see.

A general manager usually gets five years to put a plan into action. When Omar Minaya took the job as the Mets GM, I recall him talking about such a plan. We heard of how the Mets would be aggressive in signing quality free agents, how trades would be another avenue for success, and how he and his staff would work hard to build a top of the line farm system.

In 2005, things started out great. Minaya lived up to his word and signed premier center fielder Carlos Beltran to a 117 million dollar contract. He also gave over 50 million to Pedro Martinez. Minaya hired the first African American manager in New York baseball history when he brought Willie Randolph aboard. The Mets were a competitive team heading in the right direction finishing in third place with a better than .500 record for the first time since 2001.

In 2006 Minaya added closer Billy Wagner via free agency and outfielder Xavier Nady. He traded for Carlos Delgado and catcher Paul LoDuca, brought in relievers Chad Bradford, Dauner Sanchez, and Darren Oliver. Minaya also traded for starters John Maine, Orlando Hernandez and when Sanchez went down, Minaya quickly re-acquired reliever Roberto Hernandez and starter Oliver Perez. It seemed every move that Omar made turned to gold.

The Mets cruised to their first division title in 18 years easily out pacing the rest of the division in ‘06. They swept the Dodgers in convincing fashion in the NLDS and reached game seven of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. In that game, another great Minaya find, outfielder Endy Chavez made one of the greatest catches in post season history robbing a home run that would have given the Cardinals the lead. Eventually, the Cardinals did take the lead when Aaron Heilman gave up a two run homer to Yadier Molina in the top of the ninth. The Mets rallied in the last of the ninth but fell short when Carlos Beltran was frozen by a curve ball straight from hell from reliever Adam Wainwright.

…and the Mets have not been the same since.

Up to that point, everything appeared to be headed in the right direction. The 2006 club was a perfect blend of youth, veterans, and roll players. Willie Randolph could make you scratch your head at times but really did a fine job in guiding the Mets to the playoffs. But following the 2006 season, the wheels started coming off the bus for the Mets.

Chad Bradford, who pitched so well in ’06 was not resigned over a dispute between giving him the two years he wanted vs. the one the Mets wanted to sign him for. Darren Oliver, who was as steady a lefty as any reliever in the pen, was not resigned. He went to Los Angeles of Anaheim where he still is pitching well. Minaya traded current San Diego closer Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the Padres for outfielder Ben Johnson and pitcher Jon Adkins. He sent power arms Matt Lindstrom and Henry Owens to Florida for Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick. Starter and farm hand Brian Banister, who showed promise but was injured and missed most of the 2006 season, was sent to the Royals for Ambiorix Burgos who required Tommy John surgery, was convicted of beating his girl friend, and then committed double vehicular manslaughter in the Dominican Republic. All of a sudden, Minaya was making some very questionable deals.

Never the less, the 2007 Mets got off to another good start. At the end of May the Mets were in first place leading the pack by 4.5 games looking to take off like they did in ’06. But in June the Mets struggled. At one point the Mets lost eight of nine. It was the worst stretch in two years. It appeared the Mets had lost the killer instinct they showed so much of the season before. Maybe part of it was due to the division being better as a whole in ’07. But some claimed and perhaps rightly so, the players were not playing as intense. One of the reasons the Mets ran away with the NL east in ’06 was because the rest of the division was not very good. Did Minaya, Randolph, and the rest of the club not recognize that?

However, not playing with the same intensity of a year before, the Mets still continued to lead the division through the rest of the summer. On September 12, after having defeated the Braves 4-3, the Mets held a seven game lead with only 17 games left in the season. For the first time in franchise history, the Mets were poised to win back to back division titles. But instead, the Mets authored the worst collapse in regular season baseball history. On the last day of the season, a day after John Maine pitched the best game of his career to get the Mets back even with the Phillies on top of the division, Tom Glavine got no one out in the top of the first as the lowly Marlins sent the Mets home for the winter. A stunned Shea Stadium crowd sat with hands over faces, tears rolling down some cheeks, in shock over what had happened.

The phone calls on talk radio echoed the frustration and anger from the Mets fan base for weeks. It wasn’t until Omar acquired Johan Santana in February of 2008 did the fans begin to think positive about the team again. But in 2008, the Mets did not own first place like they did for the majority of the previous two seasons.

Even with ace Johan Santana the Mets struggled. In June, Willie Randolph was fired in a strange turn of events. Prior to leaving for a west coast swing, Willie was assured his job was safe. A day later, after flying all night, Omar Minaya fired Randolph. There were rumors that vice president of player development Tony Bernazard had a lot to do with getting Randolph fired.

However clumsy the firing was, the Mets did respond to new manager Jerry Manuel. At the All Star break, the Mets were a half game back of the Phillies, seven games over .500. The Mets finally reached first place at the end of July but could not shake Philadelphia. Through August, a three team race ensued including the Phillies and Marlins but the Mets held a slim margin through the end of the month providing hope to the fan base that atonement for ’07 might be in the works. 

But with 17 left to play and the Mets holding a three game lead, it was déjà vu all over again. In surreal fashion, the Mets season ended much like the year before. This time, the bullpen was the culprit. So poorly built by Minaya and so overused because of starting pitchers' inability to pitch six or more innings, the relief core blew game after game. The Mets needed to win two of three for a playoff spot in the final series against the Marlins. After losing the opener, Johan Santana pitched the game of his short Mets career in the penultimate game much like Maine did the year before. But in the final game, Shea’s final game, a game where a grand closing ceremony was planned, the Mets lost to the Marlins again denying a post season berth on the last day of the season for the second consecutive year. 2008 might have been considered a decent year if it weren’t for the fact the Mets had collapsed so badly the season before.

And as the current season continues to unfold, there will be no similar end like ’07 and ’08. By the end of this season, the Mets will be totally irrelevant. Major injuries, a farm system without major league ready talent, and perhaps the lack of a plan have doomed the Mets to a less than .500 team. This was not the way ownership wanted to inaugurate their beautiful new home.

2009 marks the end of five years that Omar Minaya was given the keys to the franchise. Regardless of a contract extension and his best intentions, could anyone blame the Wilpons if they let Minaya go at the end of the season?

You can’t say that Omar was not capable of making good deals. He did and plenty of them. His staff also has drafted good players too like Fernando Martinez, Jonathan Neise, and Mike Pelfrey. They currently have five or six gems in the minor league system but accept for Fernando Martinez, who is injured again, no one is ready for the majors. Omar has made bad trades and bad free agent signings too. Getting rid of Bell, Bradford, Oliver, Lindstrom, and Owens, when the Mets needed a bullpen most was key to the Mets failures of 2007 and 2008. Although Luis Castillo has had a bounce back year, the four year deal Minaya gave to the second baseman was unnecessary and excessive. And it appears that the deal awarded Oliver Perez was ill conceived, perhaps a reflection of not being able to determine when a player no longer can be productive.

In fairness, Omar turned the Mets into a competitive team and made them relevant again. As bad as things have become the last three seasons, they are far better than they were under Jim Duquette and Art Howe. But that only goes so far.

The bottom line is that in a market where you are expected to win and ownership has paid out the highest salary in the National League, plus having to play in the shadow of the Yankees, Omar Minaya and his staff have not delivered. His plan peaked in 2006 and has taken a step back each year. Add on to that the bizarre and embarrassing way in which he handled the Tony Bernazard affair.

The question the Wilpons must ask themselves is this: can they continue to let Minaya make the baseball decisions in light of what has happened since 2006? The Mets fan base is likely the angriest of the 30 major league clubs and they have a right to be. Citi Field’s ticket prices are astronomical compared to most other clubs. Fans who bought season tickets assuming they could resell many through ticket brokers for a profit will think twice before purchasing next season. You know the Wilpons, Saul Katz, and David Howard have to be concerned.

From a baseball perspective, the Phillies will continue to be a top rated club with a young core and a fine system for a number of years. The Marlins have a new stadium coming on line in three years, an excellent farm system, and will not need to sell off their top players as they have done so in the past. The Braves are slowly making their way back into an elite team and even the Washington Nationals have good young players on the farm and will likely be able to select 16 year old sensation Bryce Harper in next year’s amateur draft.

The Mets still have a good core group and some fine players on the horizon but management is going to have to make a decision after this season. Jeff Wilpon’s recent candid remark to writer Bob Klapish “The team has been headed in the wrong direction for years” is telling. What message will Jeff send Mets fans to give them hope through the winter ahead? Unless a miracle of all Mets miracles occurs between now and October 4th, regardless of recent words backing the GM, the Mets will likely make sweeping changes within baseball operations and they will be justified in doing so.