It is several hours till the trading deadline. The Mets will likely not be big players. This season has been like no other in recent years. The team has been decimated by injuries which has knocked the playoff train off the rails. And this week, the general manager embarrassed the entire franchise and the fan base with his misguided attempt to blame Adam Rubin for the firing of Tony Bernazard.

As August descends on the baseball season, the Mets find themselves 6.5 games back of the wild card and with hopes of catching the Phillies for the division an unrealistic fantasy. Although the Mets have been playing better lately, and there are signs the big players will be back sooner than later, realistically, hope of making the playoffs is a long shot.

Bob Klapish has written an excellent piece in the Bergen Record. In the article Klapish reports on the chances of Omar Minaya continuing to be the Mets GM beyond this season.

There was one line in the article I found most intriguing. It was a quote from COO Jeff Wilpon, son of CEO Fred, who said the Mets have been going “in the wrong direction” for years. Specifically, the Mets have been going in the wrong direction since a curveball broke over the plate freezing Carlos Beltran ending the Mets 2006 season.

The fact that Jeff Wilpon feels this way speaks volumes. Through much of the last three seasons, Omar Minaya has been the voice, as inarticulate as it is, of the franchise. The owners behind the scenes have been relatively quiet. Recently, the only time you heard from Fred was when he was waxing poetic about the days of going to Ebbets Field with his Dad as Citi Field was preparing to open. Jeff was a bit more available but not much, not until this week that is.

After Omar’s meltdown on Monday when every Mets fan must have thought the rudder had come completely off the ship, it was Jeff Wilpon who came out before game time and apologized to the media. Unlike Omar, Jeff appeared to understand immediately what fire control was needed. It must have been interesting behind the scenes as the first press conference unfolded. I could just imagine the cringing in Jeff’s office as Omar opened his mouth to change feet.

The impression one gets reading Klapish’s article is that Minaya is not safe. He likely will not return as Mets GM regardless of his contract extension. While many feel the Mets can’t eat his contract, they can move him to another less volatile position within the organization.

Many Mets fans have implied that Jeff Wilpon is just the spoiled son of billionaire Fred. That is a gross mischaracterization.  Jeff has worked in the family real estate development business for over 25 years and had a huge hand in the development, design, and construction of Citi Field. Now that Fred is older, Jeff has more responsibilities in the day to day operation of the baseball team and realistically is the owner of the franchise.

The good news for Mets fans is that he may be more like us than we think. His comment in regards to the Mets heading in the wrong direction may hint that he is as frustrated with the club as we are. But of course he can do something about it while we cannot. We don’t know what kind of owner Jeff will be but he grew up as a Mets fan. There were no Brooklyn Dodgers when Jeff was born. His focus may be much more Mets centric than Fred’s ever was. Time will tell but at least it is something positive to consider during a season filled with so much frustration and disappointment.

July 31, 1969

Shea Stadium - This day was to have been a day off but the rainout back on May 9th forced the Mets into action on this date.

After giving up 27 runs in two games the previous day, it was a welcome sight to see Tom Seaver on the mound. And true to form Seaver pitched well giving up just two runs in seven innings work. Unfortunately for the Mets, Astros pitchers gave up none. The Astros swept the three game set from the Mets winning the finale 2-0. With the Cubs pummeling the Giants 12-2, the Mets fell to 6 games back in the division as the month of July came to an end.

Record 55-44, second place 6.0 games back. Seaver's record fell to 15-6 for the season.

With the non-waiver trade deadline only 24 hours away, here is a list of Mets trades made at or just prior to the July 31 trade deadline for the last 10 years. After reviewing these deals you can see that the deadline is rarely as exciting as it is cracked up to be.

2008 - No deadline deals

2007—

7/30 Mets trade catcher Drew Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin to Twins for second baseman Luis Castillo.

2006—

7/31 Mets traded outfielder Xavier Nady to Pirates for right handed pitcher Roberto Hernandez and left handed pitcher Oliver Perez.

2005 – No deadline trades

2004—

7/30 Mets trade left handed pitcher Scott Kasmir and right handed pitcher Joselo Diaz to Tampa Bay for right handed pitchers Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato. Mets also traded infielder Ty Wigginton, outfielder Jose Bautista, and right handed pitcher Matt Peterson to the Pirates in exchange for right handed pitcher Kris Benson and second baseman Jeff Keppinger

7/31 Mets trade right handed pitcher Scott Erickson to the Rangers for Josh Hoffpauir.

2003—

7/28 Mets trade left handed pitcher Graeme Lloyd to the Royals for right handed pitcher Jeremy Hill.

7/29 Mets trade shortstop Rey Sanchez to the Mariners for outfielder Kenny Kelly.

There was a flurry of trades made earlier in July ’03 that included sending Armando Benitez to the Yankees, Jeromy Burnitz to the Dodgers, and Roberto Alomar to the White Sox.

2002—

7/31 Mets trade left handed pitcher Bobby M. Jones, outfielder Jason Bay, and right handed pitcher Josh Reynolds to the Padres for right handed pitchers Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed. Mets also traded right handed pitcher Mark Corey, and outfielders Jay Payton and Robert Stratton to the Rockies for right handed pitcher John Thompson and outfielder Mark Little.

2001—

7/30 Mets trade right handed pitcher Rick Read to the Twins for outfielder Matt Lawton.

7/27 Mets trade right handed pitcher Turk Wendell and left handed pitcher Dennis Cook to the Phillies for left handed pitchers Bruce Chen and Adam Walker. A few days earlier catcher and 1999 NLDS hero Todd Pratt was traded to the Phillies for Gary Bennett.

2000—

7/28 Mets trade shortstop Melvin Mora, utility player Mike Kinkade, and right handed pitchers Lesli Brea and Pat Gorman to the Orioles for shortstop Mike Bordick. The Mets also traded right handed pitcher Paul Wilson and outfielder Jason Tyner to the Devil Rays for outfielder Bubba Trammell and right handed pitcher Rick White.

1999—

7/31 Mets traded utility player Craig Paquette to the Cardinals for outfielder Shawon Dunston.  The Mets also traded right handed pitchers Jason Isringhausen and Greg McMichael to the A’s for right handed pitcher Billy Taylor. A third trade on this date also saw outfielders Brian McRae and Tom Johnson, plus left handed pitcher Rigo Beltran go to the Rockies for outfielder Darryl Hamilton and left handed pitcher Chuck McElroy.

7/25 Mets trade outfielder Terrance Long and pitcher Leonor Vasquez to the A’s for left handed pitcher Kenny Rogers.

As you can see, there really were no block busters on the trade deadline. Mike Piazza was acquired in May of 1998, two months before the deadline. The worst trade at the deadline in recent history has to be the Kazmir disaster of 2004. In 06’ the Mets acquisition of Oliver Perez proved to be an excellent deal even though it cost them Xavier Nady. Without Perez, the Mets would not have reached as deep into the playoffs as they did that season.

The best trade at the deadline in Mets history had to be in 1983 when the Mets acquired first baseman Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. The worst trade was undoubtedly 6 years earlier when the Mets sent the Franchise, Tom Seaver to the Reds for pitcher Pat Zachery, second baseman Doug Flynn, and outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. Both trades occurred on June 15 which was the trading deadline back then.

So if you think the Mets will make a blockbuster deal before the trade deadline expires at 4:00PM Eastern on Friday, history shows the odds are against it.

July 30, 1969

Shea Stadium - The Astros were leading the Mets by a score of 5-3 heading into the top of the ninth inning of the first game of a doubleheader to make up for Tuesday's rainout. Jerry Koosman had started and was on the short end of the ledger. Cal Koonce, who had pitched a scoreless eighth started the ninth. I'm sure manager Gil Hodges had hoped that Koonce could pitch a scoreless ninth so the Mets would have a chance to rally in the bottom of the inning. The best laid plans...Koonce and Ron Taylor were pummeled for a season high eleven runs in one inning. The inning was highlighted by two grand slam home runs, one by shortstop Denis Menke and the other by Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan. The Astros took the first game of the twin bill by a score of 16-3.

The Mets were pretty good in doubleheaders in 1969 so hopefully they could bounce back in game two. Rookie Gary Gentry started the second game. It was scoreless heading into the third but as Yogi Berra once said, it was Deja-Vu all over again. The Astros took Gentry apart in the third scoring ten runs, eight charged to Gentry. After catcher Johnny Edwards doubled, Gil Hodges walked out to left field to talk to Cleon Jones. After a minute, the two walked back to the dugout. Ron Swoboda replaced Jones in left. Even though the Mets were getting trounced 8-0 at the time, Gil Hodges was stewing at the way Cleon Jones went after Edwards' double and then lackadaisically threw back to the infield. Hodges made his point. The next batter, pitcher Larry Dierker, homered making it 10-0.  The Mets scored five runs in the game but it wasn't enough as the Mets were swept in the doubleheader.

Record 55-43, second place 5 games back of Chicago. The Mets were surprising the baseball world day in and day out in 1969. But their sister expansion team, the Astros, were one tough nut for the Mets to crack that year having won only one game so far in the season's series.

July 29, 1969

The Mets were rained out in New York 40 years ago today. After game action on this date the Mets were 5 games back in second place. The Mets were scheduled to play Houston at Shea. The game will be made up on the next day as a twi-night doubleheader.

Fans are calling for Omar Minaya to be fired after his embarrassing performance at yesterday’s press conference to announce the firing of Tony Bernazard. Some fans are saying that it’s Jeff Wilpon’s fault and while he runs the team, there will always be problems.  So even if he fires Omar, the next GM will have his hands just as tied.

Let’s take a tablespoon of reality. All organizations are dysfunctional to a certain degree. That and winning have very little to do with each other. What team was more screwed up from a front office perspective than the Yankees of the late 1970s? It did not stop them from winning a couple of World Series.

I’m not downplaying what happened yesterday. As a Mets fan, I was completely embarrassed by Omar’s accusatorial remarks in regard to Adam Rubin. It was a childish display. Minaya looked like a school boy about to throw a tantrum having had to fire is abusive buddy. At the moment, the Mets are the silliest looking organization in baseball. But please try to understand something. The Mets are not fighting for their lives because of any of this off field nonsense. They are 6.5 games back of the wild card, four games under .500 because they have lost a multitude of star players to injuries that have kept them out of action for an excruciating amount of time.

Yes, the farm system could be better. Sure, the bench could have been better. But let’s be fair, from a baseball perspective, no one was criticizing Omar when he dumped Aaron Heilman, Luis Ayala, and other s from the bullpen that cost the Mets a playoff spot last season. Everyone cheered when he brought in Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, and Sean Green and to a lesser extent Alex Cora and others on the bench.

Should Omar have gotten Raul Ibanez and any pitcher other than Oliver Perez? Yes but perhaps his hands were tied because of money. That we just don’t know.

The point is baseball goes on regardless of what happens in the front office. And if the Mets make a change when the season ends, it’s no guarantee things get better. In fact, things could get worse. I hear Mets fans cry all the time for the Wilpons to sell the team. Who do you want to buy the Mets? How about Charles Dolan? Wouldn’t you love to have the man who helped destroy the Knicks running the Mets? I read somewhere that Nelson Doubleday laughed when he sold his shares to Fred Wilpon, that the fans would see who the better owner was. Yeah, I remember all those World Series the Mets won when Doubleday was in charge. Doubleday wanted to keep Shea Stadium thinking it only needed a bit of sprucing up. There is some forward thinking.

So be careful for what you wish for. Remember the old saying coined by Leo Durocher.  Nice guys finish last. Well one thing is for sure. The guys running the Mets aren’t nice guys. Maybe that’s a good thing.

July 28, 1969

The Mets played an exhibition game against their AAA Tidewater club. After game action on this date, the Mets were in second place 5 games behind.

Well just when you thought if couldn't get any crazier than it all ready is at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 126th street, it did.

While attempting to douse the flames on one controversy, the Mets began a new one with Omar Minaya in the center ring. While attempting to explain why he wanted to have a full investigation, Omar stuck his foot in his mouth when he more or less (mostly more) accused Adam Rubin of creating the story about Tony Bernazard because Rubin had wanted a job in the Mets player development department.

It was really one of the most embarrassing moments in Mets history, perhaps even more embarrassing than anything that happened in 1962. This event far outweighed Ryan Church missing the bag in Los Angeles or Luis Castillo dropping Alex Rodriguez's pop up.

If the Mets were run by a functional group, Omar would likely have been fired right after the press conference. But later, Jeff Wilpon and Omar attempted to do some damage control by admitting what Omar did was simply stupid. Although, Omar did not retract what he said, just where he said it.

There is no excuse for Omar's petty behavior today. He declared war on the media and it's a war the Mets can't win. The Mets would likely win the World Series before they could defeat the media.

Now I always try to be fair. There are always two sides of the story. Nothing is as plain as it seems. In terms of Adam Rubin, I have nothing but respect for his writing and his professionalism. His reports are never biased. He calls it like it is. That's what you want from a beat reporter. That's what Rubin did in the story of Tony Bernazard tongue lashing the AA squad and threatening to fight them for staying out late and drinking.

You cannot fault Bernazard and the message he was trying to get across to his players but how he did so is the problem. And of course many other stories have come out about Bernazard's temper and short fuse that often erupted into arguments with co workers and club house attendants. And who can forget how Bernazard’s name popped up when Willie Randolph was in the process of being ousted. And one unnamed veteran referred to Bernazard as a cancer in the clubhouse.

It's hard to know if the report Rubin wrote was 100 percent accurate. But apparently, and according to Minaya, an investigation was already underway by the Mets HR department (funny the Mets have an HR department but the fewest home runs in the Majors. Sorry I couldn’t resist). If that's true, then it makes the press conference that much more bizarre.

So why did Omar do it? I think it’s very clear. He likes Tony Bernazard and did not want to fire him. But because of the reports in the Daily News, Minaya had no choice. It’s plain and simple.

I’m sure the pressure has been building. Injuries have derailed the Mets chances of a post season this year. Once the Mets started to lose, the press descended on them like a pack of wolves on a fallen doe. That is the nature of the media these days. Gone are the days of protecting a Jack Kennedy as he snuck in and out of the White House with a starlet or two as the press winked to each other as if they were in some sort of fraternity. Just ask Bill Clinton. Or ask A-Rod who can’t even sun bathe in Central Park without him being on the front page of the New York Post.

Once the Mets started to lose, all the cracks were exposed and it became fair game for the media. If it wasn’t the bench players who could not perform then it was the minor league system that could not deliver a prospect or two to come close to the production of Beltran or Delgado. 

When the Bernazard story broke, that may have been the last straw. I’m sure Omar wasn’t too pleased with an article Rubin wrote in regards to his performance as GM a couple of weeks back either. So today was the day that Minaya decided to get even. He showed a temper today, so angry that he risked his own position as head of baseball operations.

Are Omar’s feelings understandable? Yes, to a point. Is Omar justified for his actions in regards to Rubin? Absolutely not. Omar appeared so paranoid, that I would have not been surprised if he had asked those in attendance if they had taken the strawberries out of the food locker while he rolled marbles in his hand.

What I find so disturbing is that Omar’s anger indicates he was forced to fire a friend that Human Resources reported his actions were not inline with the values of the organization. In other words, had the article not come out, Minaya would have turned the other cheek allowing the abuse of many within the organization to continue. That’s what I find so distasteful and why I think Minaya should be let go.

Jeff Wilpon will keep Minaya though. They owe him for three years and aren’t going to eat that contract. Wilpon probably is angry at the media too and although he said the right things before the game, he probably agrees with Omar.

This has been one of the strangest Mets seasons ever in all aspects. It has been so strange that you wonder if the Mets just might pull off something incredible this year. While everything points to that not happening, I say watch out. When things as weird as today happen, I leave all possibilities on the table.

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News is calling for a complete house cleaning at Citi Field. In Saturday’s article, he calls for the Wilpons to fire General Manager Omar Minaya, Tony Bernazard, and Ramon Pena who he concludes are “so-called talent evaluators”.  Madden makes a lot of excellent points in terms of Omar having no plan. But is he completely accurate?

One of Madden’s claims is that the Mets farm has a dearth of talent.  Well, I guess that’s true if you assume that the Mets should have been able to bring up MLB ready players to take over and produce exactly like Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado. You might also assume so since they were unable to replace J.J. Putz or Oliver Perez with pitchers ready to come up and win the Rookie of the Year award.  But the question I ask is what organization can do that?

I have been critical of the Mets brass too but I always like to look at both sides of the argument.  To say the Mets farm system is dearth of talent is unfair. Do the Mets have one of the best farms in baseball? No. Do they have one of the worst? No to that also.

What makes the Mets farm system look so bad this year is their collective minor league record. It is dreadful. But that does not mean they have no prospects. It just means they don’t have enough prospects or their prospects are not blossoming as fast as anticipated.  Baseball America rates the Mets system as 17th overall, not great but not horrible either.

Jonathan Neise is a young Mets prospect who has pitched in the majors on and off since last year. Recently, he pitched so well at Buffalo, the Mets called him up to pitch at Houston where he threw seven solid innings giving up just one run. Bobby Parnell has contributed at the major league level too, another Mets prospect with a bright future who has hit the radar gun at 100mph. Daniel Murphy has struggled this year when compared to what he did last season. But he has shown signs of getting his hitting stoke back and has fielded better than anticipated at first.  And didn’t the Mets obtain ace pitcher Johan Santana by dealing four prospects to Minnesota? Plus the Mets currently still have Fernando Martinez, Josh Thole, Ike Davie, Tobi Stoner, Nick Evans, and others.

I’m not trying to protect Minaya, Bernazard, and Pena. I kind of agree with Madden. But I’m simply trying to be fair and point out that while the Mets have suffered unbelievable injuries this season, everything else is being overly scrutinized as a result.

Madden points out many bad trades Minaya has made. Omar brought in Luis Castillo for a four year 25 million dollar contract when they did not need to offer him so many years. But in fairness, Castillo has played remarkably well this season and is now hitting over .300. We all can’t forget the dropped pop up in Yankee Stadium but other than that he has been as solid a second baseman as there is in baseball.

Madden cites Julio Franco, Orlando Hernandez, and Moises Alou as terrible signings. I agree except for El-Duque who produced at least for a while. And if you are going to criticize these signings, you have to applaud the signings of Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez (he did have a good year and a half and everyone knew he was a gamble), Billy Wagner, Paul LoDuca, and Francisco Rodriguez. And on the trade front, he brought in Xavier Nady who netted Oliver Perez (regardless of what you think now, Perez pitched great in the 2006 playoffs). He traded for John Maine, Carlos Delgado, J.J Putz and the above mentioned Santana. And so far, the Jeff Francoeur deal is looking good but it’s still too early to tell.

So is Omar really the worst GM in baseball? No. Is he somewhat of a pretender? Perhaps at times. I do agree with Madden in that the Mets really do not seem to have a plan. Madden points out that Omar should have obtained Jason Marquis, who they could have acquired for next to nothing and wanted to come to the Mets. Marquis currently leads the NL in wins. He also points out the Mets could have really used Raul Ibanez’s bat too. You will get no argument from me on both fronts. Even lefty Randy Wolf, who is pitching well with the Dodgers, would have been a better signing then Perez last winter.

Another problem for the Mets is that they are a big market team in New York. They are expected to go out and sign the big free agent which they do and they are also expected to have one of the best farms in baseball. You must realize that when a team signs a type A free agent, they forfeit draft picks in the first round the following draft season. If the Mets kept their draft picks and built their farm more quickly, then everyone would complain they are too cheap to sign free agents. It’s hard to play both sides of this record.

As I mentioned the other day, the big fault with the Wilpons is their dedication to their employees. Normally I would consider that an attribute. But if they are not able to tell if their employees are doing the job or not, that’s a problem.  The problem with the Mets currently is there are too many chefs.  It does not seem clear that Omar is really in charge with all the allegations that Tony Bernazard has the Wilpons’ ear.  That scares me because all reports indicate that Bernazard is a bit of a hot head with an attitude, even if the Binghamton story was blown out of proportion.

Ultimately, I think Omar is safe because he has a three year extension and I don’t think Fred and Jeff want to pay him to stay home. It’s unclear what the Mets will do in regards to Bernazard and Pena. I doubt they will lose their jobs though. The best we can hope is the Mets get healthy and make a run at the wild card this year. At least it will put all these side bar stories to rest for a while.

July 27, 1969

Shea Stadium - It was another tough outing for veteran Don Cardwell as he gave up three runs before the Mets came to bat. The big blow was another Tony Perez homer with a man on. Two more runs in the fourth by the Reds knocked out Cardwell. The Mets got two back in the sixth then traded single runs in the eighth. The Reds defeated the Mets 6-3 to gain a split of the four game series.

Record 55-41, second place 4.5 games back. Cleon Jones and Donn Clendenon both went two for three with an RBI.