Omar is Wilpon's Guy

Bart Hubbach reported the following from Fred Wilpon in response to a question from The Post's Mike Puma: "Am I going to bring Omar [Minaya] back next year? Absolutely. That's a fact."

Oh boy.

Let's look at some of Omar's memorable moves, both good and bad...as you look through the list you will see some real doozies, including the trade for Bartolo Colon in exchange for Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff Lee that might be, in my opinion, the worst trade of all time!

As GM of the Expos

• March 25, 2002: Traded outfield Jason Bay and Jim Serrano to the New York Mets for infielder Lou Collier
• April 5, 2002: Traded pitcher Scott Strickland and others to the New York Mets for pitcher Bruce Chen and others.
• July 11, 2002: Traded pitchers Carl Pavano, Graeme Lloyd, infielder Mike Mordecai, and minor leaguers Justin Wayne and Donald Levinski to the Florida Marlins for outfielder Cliff Floyd, utility player Wilton Guerrero, and pitcher Claudio Vargas.
• July 28, 2002: Traded first baseman Lee Stevens, SS Brandon Phillips, pitcher Cliff Lee, and outfielder Grady Sizemore to the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.
• March 24, 2003: Traded pitcher Jim Brower to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Livan Hernandez and catcher Edward Guzman
• December 4, 2003: Traded pitcher Javier Vazquez to the New York Yankees for first baseman Nick Johnson, outfielder Juan Rivera, and pitcher Randy Choate.
• January 5, 2004: Traded pitcher Scott Stewart to the Cleveland Indians for infielder Maicer Izturis and outfielder Ryan Church
• March 25, 2004: Traded Randy Choate to the Arizona Diamondbacks for John Patterson
• July 18, 2004: Traded Carl Everett and cash to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Jon Rauch and Gary Majewski
• July 21, 2004: In a four-team deal, acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez, Brendan Harris, and minor league pitcher Francis Beltran from the Chicago Cubs, while sending shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. Also involved were the Minnesota Twins.

As GM of the Mets

• November 30, 2004: Re-signed Kris Benson to a three year, $22.5 million deal, plus $7.5 million club option
• December 3, 2004: In his first trade as Mets GM, Minaya traded pitcher Mike Stanton and cash to the New York Yankees for Felix Heredia
• December 13, 2004: Selected Henry Owens from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Minor League Rule V Draft
• December 15, 2004: Signed free agent catcher Ramon Castro
• December 17, 2004: Signed free agent pitcher Pedro Martinez to a four year, $53 million deal
• January 6, 2005: Traded catcher Vance Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Anderson Hernandez
• January 13, 2005: Signed free agent centerfielder Carlos Beltran to a seven year, $119 million deal
• January 17, 2005: Signed free agent pitcher Roberto Hernandez
• January 27, 2005: Traded minor league first baseman Ian Bladergroen to the Boston Red Sox for Doug Mientkiewicz
• June 7, 2005: Selected Mike Pelfrey with the 9th overall pick in the amateur free agent draft
• November 18, 2005: Traded outfielder Mike Cameron to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Xavier Nady
• November 24, 2005: Traded first baseman Mike Jacobs and pitchers Yusmeiro Petit and Grant Psomas to the Florida Marlins for Carlos Delgado and cash.
• November 29, 2005: Signed free agent pitcher Billy Wagner to a four year, $43 million deal, plus an $8 clup option
• December 27, 2005: Signed free agent pitcher Chad Bradford to a one year, $1.4 million contract
• January 4, 2006: Traded pitchers Jae Weong Seo and Tim Hamulack to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll
• January 22, 2006: Traded pitcher Kris Benson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine
• May 24, 2006: Traded pitcher Jorge Julio to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Orlando Hernandez
• July 19, 2006: Traded infielder Jeff Keppinger to the Kansas City Royals for infielder Ruben Gotay
• July 31, 2006: Traded outfielder for Xavier Nady to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitchers Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez
• August 22, 2006: Traded Evan MacLane to the Arizona Diamondbacks for outfielder Shawn Green and cash.
• November 15, 2006: Traded pitchers Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson
• November 20, 2006: Traded pitchers Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom to the Florida Marlins for Adam Bostick and Jason Vargas
• November 21, 2006: Signed free agent outfielder Moises Alou
• December 6, 2006: Traded pitcher Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Ambiorix Burgos
• December 7, 2006: Re-signed pitcher Guillermo Mota to a two year, $5 million deal.
• January 16, 2007: Signed free agent pitcher Scott Schoeneweis three year, $10.8 million contract
• July 30, 2007: Traded minor leaguers Drew Butera and Dustin Martin to the Minnesota Twins for Luis Castillo
• November 30, 2007: Traded outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider
• January 29, 2008: Traded outfielder Carlos Gomez, pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Johan Santana.

The noise Omar made in 2009 was primarily to throw some money around--he did this to acquire Frankie Rodriguez and to re-sign Ollie Perez. He also went cheap on the 5th starter, signing Tim Redding and Livan Hernandez. I liked the pickup of Alex Cora for the bench and the trade of Scott Shoeneweis.

The "big trade" of 2009 was an Omar creation--and I did like the trade at the time though I wish we had managed to hold on to Mike Carp, long a favorite of mine--The New York Mets sent Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, and Mike Carp to the Mariners and Joe Smith to the Indians in return for JJ Putz(closer), Sean Green(RP), and Jeremy Reed(OF). The Mets also dealt 3 other minor leaguers, including Jason Vargas.

The trade itself has actually failed for each team--Jason Vargas is 3-6 with a high ERA for Seattle--Endy Chavez went down for the season with an ACL--Joe Smith had a poor first half, and he is pitching well now--Aaron Heilman's been a huge disappointment. Franklin Gutierrez has been the best value of the whole deal--he's having a very good season for Seattle.

For the Mets the trade was supposed to be addition by subtraction, but it really hasn't worked out at all.

JJ Putz cost money for very little return, and his future is in doubt following surgery. Jeremy Reed is a dime a dozen player. Sean Green has flashed hot and cold.

The in-season trade of note was swapping Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur--by all accounts this looks like a good move for both teams.

Bottom line is that Omar is from a GM school that is somewhat old fashioned--he likes to spend money--he likes older veterans--I believe he undervalues prospects and needs to learn to draft out of slot. I also think he fails when it comes to measuring players using newer, more advanced stats--something that is so commonplace these days.

The thing with Omar is it's not just the moves he makes--and again, he has made some good ones--but he has drafted poorly.

Remember, this is the guy who, in 2002, passed over Cole Hamels, Prince Fielder, Zach Grienke, James Loney, Jeremy Guthrie, Nick Swisher, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Cain, Joe Blanton and Scott Kazmir in order to take Clint Everts 5th overall.

So if we're to believe the Wilpon's it looks like the Mets will have Minaya at the helm for a few more years--that's unfortunate.

A Mets Memory...

I've been thinking about the upcoming season and starting to believe.

There is magic in 2009.

Who's with me?

Good Morning Mets Fans!

They sure do make it exciting at times, don't they?

Yesterday the Mets won another extra-inning thriller on the strength of a Carlos Beltran homerun, some incredible bullpen pitching, just a bit of timely late game hitting, and the best fielding game they've had all season.

It started with, well, the starter. In this case Jon Niese, the Mets prized 21-year old lefty.

Niese didn't pitch well, in fact, he looked downright overmatched and very shaky at the start of the game--you could see the pressure on his face.

“I get nervous for him, no question,” Jerry Manuel said before the game. “He feels some nerves. He has to. I just hope he gets through it, and gets it behind him as quick as possible.”

It was admittedly a crapshoot with Niese. Earlier in the week we heard our first warning sign when Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said he, "would rather not have Niese make his debut against the Brewers righthanded lineup." Ummmmm, gulp anyone? We have a pennant race here!

Without getting into every dirty detail of his effort, Niese gave up a leadoff homerun, settled down to get out of the first inning jam, had an OK curve in the 2nd and 3rd but was not beating anyone with a very average fastball, and then the Brewers exploded for 4 runs in the 4th.

“That fourth inning kind of got away from me,” Niese said. “I didn’t command my fastball as well as I wanted to, and they were sitting on my off-speed stuff. That’s what they were looking for.”

"It's the first one," Manuel said. "You almost have to kind of throw that one out for him. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was obviously a tremendous experience for him. The fact that we end up winning the game is the most important thing."

Niese entered the 4th with a 5-1 lead thanks to the ultra red hot Carlos Beltran, who shook off the bruised knee he suffered in the previous game and blasted a 3-run bomb off of Brewers starter Manny Parra.

Beltran is 14 for his last 36 with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs. During that stretch he's scored 11 runs...he looks ready to put the team on his back for the stretch run.

In addition to his homerun, Beltran was part of a Mets team that had a spectacular night in the field.

• Carlos threw out a runner at home to save a run
• Endy Chavez threw out a runner at second to kill a rally
• Nick Evans caught two balls in deep leftfield that could have easily gone for extra bases if not for his jump and concentration at the wall
• David Wright made a spectacular play at third and an amazing throw to gun down Corey Hart late
  
• Robinson Cancel did a terrific job blocking the plate on Beltran's throw home
• Damion Easley had a great "quick tag" and sell job to the ump for the out at second

It all adds up to the best and most complete fielding game of the year for the Mets....each one of those plays was a potential run and game saver, none more than the Beltran-Cancel effort and Nick Evan's second catch.

But the real story of the game was the bullpen--the much maligned bullpen.

Five relievers combined for 7 innings of shutout ball. Nelson Figueroa came on in early relief of Niese and limited the damage by only allowing one inherited run, even though he came on with men on base and no outs against the toughest part of their lineup.

Duaner Sanchez pitched a scoreless frame. Brian Stokes followed him with two brilliant innings and flashed a fastball that topped out at 97 mph. Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith "lefty-righty'd" a scoreless 9th, and Luis Ayala notched a save in the 10th.

Jerry Manuel is loving what he's seen of late from his bullpen and the 18-pitcher armada the Mets have with the addition of the callups.

"When you have a number of pitchers like we have, and we have put most of them in somewhat stressful situations, you're not afraid now to call them in those times," manager Jerry Manuel said. "And you figure if you keep them short, keep them having some success, then the next time they go out there, they feel very confident about themselves. That's the plan. Sometimes it goes well. Sometimes it doesn't."

To get the save the Mets needed a run, and Daniel Murphy gave them one with a very focused pinch hit--this kid is something very special and is a very disciplined hitter. He hits like a 30-year old.

On the next play Jose Reyes laid down a sac bunt to move Murphy over, and the Brewers gave the Mets a gift. Jason Kendall's throw moved up the line a bit, and Rickie Weeks couldn't hold the ball. Murphy moved to third on the play.

"It was a really, really tough play," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "Reyes is one of the fastest players in the league, so Kendall had to rush the throw. And it's one of the toughest plays for a second baseman to make covering first. Kendall had to hurry and he just threw it on the foul side of the base."

Endy stepped in and confidently stroked a sac fly to right--a professional at bat.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play and make something happen," Chavez said.

Another great win for a Mets team that has won 16 of their last 21 games and 19 of the last 26. It kept the team two games up on the Phils, and it just keeps getting more and more exciting with each game.

Ya gotta love a pennant race!

Enjoy your coffee!

Who is Luis Aguayo (and Why is He Crushing Our Hopes and Dreams?)

A small stirring from deep in the recesses of my brain began to emerge after Happy Endy was thrown out at the plate for the second time in the game.

The camera caught a closeup of Mets third-base coach Luis Aguayo and it hit me like a ton of bricks....I knew this guy!

Oh sure, the signature beard was gone and the uniform looked different, but the disguise wasn't fooling me!

It was 1987, just a year after the 1986 Mets made history and brought Mets fans the "joy of Joys" during the greatest year of baseball any Mets fan could remember.

Yes, 1987...we thought the dynasty would live on, how could it not?

I will tell you how: Luis Aguayo!

Luis Aguayo was a journeyman utility infielder who could barely hit his weight. He spent the majority of his career with the Phillies, yes Mets fans, the Phillies.

Before 1987 he had amassed just 18 homeruns in parts of 7 seasons. And then it happened--Luis Aguayo found his inner Kingman and started hitting homeruns.

It didn't last long my friends, oh no, it only lasted a season. Somehow, someway little Luis Aguayo hit 12 homeruns in 209 at-bats for those damn Phillies in 1987.

And now for the clincher--his last homerun of the year, on Sep 30th in the 10th inning off Jesse Orosco, eliminated the Mets from the pennant.

Done, gone, sayonara, hasta lasagna, finito, go home. The Mets finished second that year, and Luis Aguayo sent us packing.

Cut to last night. "Our" third base coach, and former Philly, once again crushed our hopes and dreams, albeit only for one game, by sending Happy Endy to the plate twice from third with almost no chance of success...no outs and the cleanup hitter due up.

Did I mention Luis Aguayo also played for the Yankees?

You'll fool me longer Mr Luis Aguayo...Met Nation is on to you!

All kidding aside, let's get them tonight my friends...one game at a time.

Good Morning Mike Pelfrey (Mets) Fans!

Big, strong, tough, and all of 24 years old. Mike Pelfrey bested another 24-year old, some kid by the name of "Tim Lincecum", last night in a battle of the young guns.

How good has Mike Pelfrey been?

How about 5-0 in his last 8 starts? In fact, he hasn't lost a game since May 26th.

How about 51 2/3 innings, 36 Ks, 19 Walks, 15 Earned Runs, and a 1.31 WHIP during that stretch?

This is Big Pelf! Don't fear him, just stand in awe as he mows down the opposition....all kidding aside, how nice is it to see this young man living up to his potential? If this is the type of production we can expect from our 5th starter, then watch out....he may just never lose. As an FYI, he threw 73 of his 113 pitches for strikes....that is pitching the right way.

And the Mets keep hitting....this time is was Carlos Beltran's turn to deliver the big blow--a 3-run BELLY BOMB that gave the Mets the lead...and they never looked back.

Jose Reyes chipped in two hits--he now has 113 on the year. Were you aware that Jose Reyes is not an All-Star? Scrubby now sports a .301 average.

Carlos Delgado launched his 16th homerun of the season...he now has a tidy 50 Rib-Eye steaks on the season and continues to rake. Delgado is 12 for 31 in July, and his overall numbers are rounding nicely into shape.

A few days ago I wrote that Delgado would finish with 30+ homeruns and over 100 RBIs. Delgado looks confident, he isn't flailing (as much), and his timing is so much better right now. A hot Delgado makes a world of difference in this lineup....we need him.

Fernando "Senor Titties" Tatis hit a blast over the center field wall....he really looks like he's starting to find his power stroke.

All in all a great night....Scott Schoeneweis and Joe Smith each tossed a scoreless frame, and it was much joy in Metville once again.

The most impressive feat was that the Mets did not "take a mental day off" after the intense 4-game set in Philly. In fact, they looked positively relaxed, loose, supportive of each other, and had a nice bit of pep in the step.

The one bit of downer news, of course, is that Ryan Church was placed on the 15 day DL, which gets him back next Saturday, after the All-Star break. Will this last bit of precaution be enough to keep Ryan in rightfield for the remainder of the year? We'll see.

I asked you yesterday, and I will ask you again today....are you an optimist or a pessimist in 2008?

I know my answer.

Enjoy your coffee!

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose B. Reyes, SS	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	.301
Endy Chavez, RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	3	.268
David Wright, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	1	3	.288
Carlos Beltran, CF	4	1	3	4	0	0	0	.269
Damion Easley, 2B	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.294
Carlos Delgado, 1B	3	1	2	1	1	1	2	.243
Fernando Tatis, LF	4	1	2	1	0	1	2	.297
Brian Schneider, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250
Mike Pelfrey, SP	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.097
a-Argenis Reyes, PH-2B	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	.167
Totals	35	7	14	7	2	6	14
a-Singled for M Pelfrey in the 7th.
BATTING
HR - C Beltran (14); C Delgado (16); F Tatis (3)
RBI - C Beltran 4 (62); D Easley (22); C Delgado (50); F Tatis (14)
BASERUNNING
CS - J Reyes (10)

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mike Pelfrey (W,7-6)	7.0	3	0	0	0	5	0	3.93
Scott Schoeneweis	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.80
Joe Smith	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.13

I can see Big Pelf going 15-9 or so on the year....his stuff is really that good.