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 "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.
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