I mentioned earlier that I think he is now the worst GM. Someone disagreed. But as the weeks have gone on, I am convinced Omar is the worst currently. He has not even done the little things to shore up the team. I guess he plans to shop the leftovers in late January.
Um, because everybody loves him? 
But you’re right, he’s managing a friggin’ NEW YORK team like it’s a small-market franchise.
At least Boston has a chance to get Bay back at this rate. I’m not complaining.
Well, I disagreed, but mostly because I thought he was like 27th rather than 30th. You don’t quite as much attention to the inner workings of the Royals as me ;0
That said, I don’t think there is a whole lot that I wish Minaya would have done this offseason that he hasn’t. We didn’t have the prospects to get Halliday and I don’t think Atl or Phil would trade their aces in division. So unless you wanted to give Lackey nearly $100 million to outbid the Red Sox, there just aren’t many pitchers out there worth signing (though I hold out hope for Sheets). I can’t say I’d be happier if we were giving 7 million + a year to a 4th starter. The hitters available weren’t much better. The Mets have enough holes that adding a flawed player or two like Bay and Molina isn’t going to make the difference. I’d rather the Mets not sign anyone than worry about how to dump Bay’s contract in 3 years.
As for Vasquez, I find it to be a terrible deal for Atlanta and a failure to understand that revenue in baseball is not linear. Before the deal Atlanta might have been the best team in nl, and now I don’t think they are a playoff team. They gave up their ace for a 4th outfielder (maybe 2nd division starter), a loogy, and a 19 year lottery ticket. If you were that concerned about money than don’t sign Wagner and Saito to throw a combined 90 innings if your lucky. More importantly realize the boost between making the playoffs and not is substantial, even in Atlanta, and larger than Vasquez’s current salary. If you are concerned you have too much starting pitching well than you are crazy, as you can never have too much of that.
The Yankees conversely made a great trade getting a very good pitcher for mostly spare parts. Of course the fact that they add 20 million in payroll between Vasquez and Granderson isn’t a small factor. Vasquez has been unlucky for years, and I’d say 2009 is a better showing of his skill level than the prior few years. His ERA will bounce back up in the AL, but I expect it will stay under 4. He is a better pitcher than Burnett.
I agree with most everything Hawkeyeop said, except that the Braves were the best team in the NL as of last week. Better than the Phillies, Cardinals or Rockies? But yeah - they’re currently in danger of finishing last in their division with the way the Nationals are making acquisitions right now.
And Minaya has to do a whole lot more to take the title of Worst GM Ever from Dayton Moore.
But Minaya is local and has wasted far more money than Moore.
Hawkeye, good breakdown on the trade.
Atlanta won 86 games last year, but their pyth record had them at 91. Phillies were at 92, Cardinals 91, and Rockies 90, which means the Braves started in the ballpark (Dodgers for the record were 99) For much of the season the Braves outfield was the worst in the majors. This season they will have Mcclouth in center, who is at least league average, Diaz and company in left, and Heyward, the best hitting prospect in the game in right. Simply upgrading from Anderson to Heyward is worth 3-4 wins. Their starting pitching is right up their with SF for best in the NL. They will get full season from both outstanding rookies and from Hudson who only made a brief cameo last year. I don’t know if Atl was the best team in the NL before the trade, but they were in the discussion. Now they aren’t.
Minaya’s organization can afford to waste money. Dayton also has the added strike against him because he specifically came out a few years ago with a public plan, and most of the deals that have been done since then completely contradict that plan.
**Munch **you are persuasive.
OK, but with all due deference to your level of baseball knowledge - which is considerable - you don’t get paid millions of dollars a year to figure out ways to improve the Mets, so the fact that you can’t think of a way Omar could have improved the team this offseason doesn’t mean that ways don’t exist. Look at Jack Zduriencik. In basically a year, he turned a laughingstock into potentially the favorite in the AL West. The deals he made, I’m not sure any Seattle fan knew they were out there to be made until he made them. Do you think the average Mariners fan knew that Seattle could leverage a couple of prospects into Cliff Lee? Or deal worthless J.J. Putz and get as part of the return a pretty good young outfielder who might be one of the better defensive players in the league? Or get Milton Bradley for the decaying corpse of Carlos Silva?
That’s the problem with Omar - he seems to know only two kinds of move: (1) sign the most obvious free agent at a position of need, paying at least a 20% premium over what anyone else offers; and (2) trade for the player that’s obviously and publicly being shopped. He has no creativity, no ability to find solutions that aren’t evident to you and to me.
Don’t forget acquire random latinos.
Okay let me rephrase. Of the things Minaya is capable of doing, he hasn’t done anything too terrible yet.
I think it is the lack of creativity. He never seems to pull off a good deal. As the Mets were falling apart last year but before it was a catastrophe, he did nothing to shore up the team in little ways. Cashman and the Epstein made more small trades to shore up their teams than Minaya who had greater need. Now I admit by Late July it was clear the Mets were going down but earlier they failed to act when it might have helped.
Remember I am a Yankees fan, but not a Mets hater. I hate seeing what this bozo is doing across the river. He is terrible, maybe not the worst, but terrible.
Yeah. Minaya is good at the big things and terrible at the little things. The Mets have enough big things and a total lack of little things, which means Minaya is a pretty terrible fit for the current team.
Looks like Minaya got off his ass and got Jason Bay. ESPN article.
Now if they could scrounge up a healthy starter they can at least give Met fans hope.
Well, then, they must. It’s not a proper season unless the Mets fans’ hopes are raised.
Then crushed horribly in the last ten games or so.
Exactly.
I found the news that Rick Ankiel just signed a 1 year $2.75M contract with the Royals pretty surprising. I always thought the guy had a ton of talent and was just scratching the surface of his ability as a hitter. He was hurt last year and took a step back, but I’d have guessed that he’d turn it around. As a Cubs fan I’m thrilled that he’ll no longer be with the Cards and might leave a gaping hole in their outfield in order to save a paltry $2.75M but I also wish the Cubs would have laid out that cash for the guy as a potential 4th outfielder and lefty bat.
The Royals!? Really?
I’d say the Royals are the perfect team for Ankiel. It seems to be their thing to pick up terrible players and pay them good money for no reason.
I believe Ankiel’s precisely the opposite of your description; he’s a hitter of very limited skill whose best year is behind him. He’ll turn 31 in July and has all the hallmarks of a player who won’t last long - he doesn’t control the strike zone well, isn’t fast, and was really bad last year.
He’ll probably play very, very badly in Kansas City, and St. Louis will not miss him. You can pick up guys off the waiver wire who can put up numbers like Ankiel did last year.
Well, we never really expected him to stay with the Cardinals: since they’re expecting great things from Colby Rasmus in center field (and Holliday in left and Ludwick in right).
But speaking of a potential 4th outfielder and lefty bat, did you hear that Jim Edmonds wants to come back and play for the Cardinals, or at least for somebody, and is willing to do so for the league minimum?
That is a bit harsh. Ankiel situation is unique enough that I don’t think you can expect him to follow a normal age path. And the power is massive enough to give him value even with a poor batting eye. He certainly is more likely to be useful than Podsednik or Kendall.
Note to the Mets: If a team is willing to eat 21.5 out of 23 million on a player, he probably isn’t very good. On the hand, I’m excited the Mets might get Sheets. A healthy Sheets and Santana would provide a top 2 that would rival any in the game.