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Wallace Matthews says Omar is staying because of Madoff

metsguyinmichigan Jul 29 2009 02:01 PM

I post this with the disclaimer that it will send you screaming at your computer monitor. Mets haven't fired Minaya? Blame it on Madoff By Wallace Matthews Newsday.com July 28, 2009 The Mets have now held three news conferences in 24 hours, the first one Monday afternoon to fire a guy, the second Monday night to say they were sorry to another guy and the third yesterday to say they were really, really sorry for the whole thing. I still have no idea precisely why they fired the guy, what exactly they were sorry for, and why they felt the need to do it all over again before last night's Mets-Rockies game, which, incidentally, became the Mets' fourth straight victory, their best run since May. But those questions, truly, are inconsequential compared with the big hanging curveball they left floating over Flushing: Why, exactly, is Omar Minaya still their general manager? "He's this close to being out of baseball," Jeff Wilpon told me, holding his thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart. So why is he still in the Mets' front office? Whatever their actual reason, the Mets had to can Tony Bernazard after a five-year reign of terror that extended from Flushing to Binghamton and back, and whether they were sincere or not, they had no choice but to apologize to Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter who exposed the Pandora's box that was Bernazard's human resources file. The Omar thing, I can't figure out at all. I could have sworn I watched him commit professional suicide in the Mets' auditorium Monday afternoon, and again in the press box Monday evening. Yet, here we were Tuesday listening to yet another "vote of confidence" for a man who hasn't done much to inspire any lately. To sum up Wilpon's seven-minute Q&A session in the Mets' dugout last night: Omar "made a very large mistake'' Monday in impugning the integrity of Rubin. As a result, Omar "put the organization in a very bad spot here." Omar's words caused "collateral damage" to Jeff; his father, Fred Wilpon; their partner, Saul Katz, and "the organization as a whole." What Omar said "went against all of our company values." Plus, Omar's ability to function as a GM "has been compromised right now." Additionally, "ownership is not happy with the direction of this team." And, like much of the team he built, Omar is on the DL until further notice. That sounds like a pretty good termination file, right? Wrong. "Omar is our GM," Wilpon said. "Period." The only question left to ask, then, is why? Like Bernazard, it certainly can't be because of the performance of the team he was entrusted with building. As Wilpon said, "We've spent enough money, haven't we?" And it can't be because of his ability to fix this mess now, since, in the words of his boss, he's "compromised" only days before the non-waiver trading deadline. It can't be because he represents the organization so well - collateral damage, you know - or because of his silvery tongue, which the Mets fear so much they kept him locked away from the media Tuesday. "He's not going to be very good with you guys right now," Wilpon said, knowing full well he couldn't be any worse than he was Monday. Which left only one feasible answer: Bernie Madoff. More and more, it looks like Jeff Wilpon should have been allowed to deliver a victim impact statement in the sentencing of the Ponzi scammer who cost him and the Mets an estimated $700 million. To that, add the salaries paid to Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo and Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado. Plus, he's committed to Minaya through 2012. In the current state of the Mets' finances, you think he's about to pay a guy nearly $4 million not to run his ballclub? He'll hold on to this guy if it kills him, because having to pay another guy to do his job might kill him worse. Along with all the other damage the Madoff fiasco did to the Mets, add one more example: Omar Minaya. The Mets can't win with him, can't afford to let him go.

Edgy DC Jul 29 2009 02:10 PM

]I still have no idea precisely why they fired the guy... ]Whatever their actual reason, the Mets had to can Tony Bernazard after a five-year reign of terror that extended from Flushing to Binghamton and back. His paragraphs need to read each other.

G-Fafif Jul 29 2009 02:12 PM

="Edgy DC"] ]I still have no idea precisely why they fired the guy... ]Whatever their actual reason, the Mets had to can Tony Bernazard after a five-year reign of terror that extended from Flushing to Binghamton and back. His paragraphs need to read each other. I think Matthews was taking the piss in the first quote. He knows why, he just isn't impressed by the explanations given.

Edgy DC Jul 29 2009 02:18 PM

I think he's being disingenuous in order to pile on.

bmfc1 Jul 29 2009 02:21 PM

Perhaps he was looking for something explicit from Omar to the effect of "Tony Bernazard is a good baseball man, but his conduct was not up to the standards of the Mets organization. As a result, he has been fired. To everyone that was a part of these incidents, the Mets apologize and I apologize."

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 29 2009 02:23 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 29 2009 02:26 PM

]"He's this close to being out of baseball," Jeff Wilpon told me, holding his thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart. If this is true, this is kind of a thing. If this is true. I've seen this nowhere else, and Wallace Matthews has basically made hacky sport of Mets management ("Taxpayer Field," etc) for the last four years; can YOU see Jeff Wilpon giving him an exclusive quote that undermines his own PR-red-alert messaging? Irish, care to set the odds on this being completely taken out of context?

Valadius Jul 29 2009 02:25 PM

If the Wilpons have been so thoroughly financially compromised by Bernie Madoff, they really ought to sell the team. They can't let their baseball decisions be hampered and hindered by their investment in a Ponzi scheme.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 29 2009 02:27 PM

And what are the chances of Jeff telling Wally -- and only Wally, apparently -- that Omar is "this close to being out of baseball?" I call him on that. The man held two pressers, and didn't say that in either. If he did, it would be huge news.

Edgy DC Jul 29 2009 02:28 PM

="Valadius"]If the Wilpons have been so thoroughly financially compromised by Bernie Madoff, they really ought to sell the team. They can't let their baseball decisions be hampered and hindered by their investment in a Ponzi scheme. Yeah, well, with the highest payroll in the league, there's no evidence of that, and Matthews' position is baseless. ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"] ]"He's this close to being out of baseball," Jeff Wilpon told me, holding his thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart. If this is true, this is kind of a thing. If this is true. Irish, care to set the odds on this being completely taken out of context? It's in quotes. If he didn't say it, he damn well better have said something close to it. Matthews writes crap, but I doubt he makes stuff up and puts it in quotes. Really though, that quote should be the lede, and not the stupid Madoff angle.

G-Fafif Jul 29 2009 02:31 PM

Wally the Certifiable Moron notwithstanding, did Minaya or Wilpon seem all that upset with what their investigation of Bernazard unearthed? They didn't dispute Rubin the Lobbyist's findings (which were printed only after Mets HR was apparently on the ball) yet it was all "we're sorry to lose Good Baseball Man Tony," not "we really shouldn't have let this guy run amok all this time." Add Omar and Jeff to the non-apology apology Hall of Fame.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 29 2009 02:50 PM

I've been giving some thought to this and think maybe, on some level, having a graceless ballbreaker on staff isn't really against the rules in any organization, and part of what upset Omar was the propagation of the perspective that it could only be a bad thing. I mean, there was that bat-weilding New Jersey teacher who got made into a hero in another writer's pen. Really, it's only in combination with the scheming allegations from way back in the Willie Era along with the media (mis)perception that the Mets system is the worst in the game because their AAA team is bad, that made it so they had little choice but to pull the trigger. This Omar Must Go reaction was the same as mine at first (the added -- but Bernie Madoff's-scheme-won't-let-us is all Wally) but I think now that Jeff did a very good job of saying what had to be said to all parties affected by this.

G-Fafif Jul 29 2009 02:59 PM

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":38utvuo8]having a graceless ballbreaker on staff isn't really against the rules in any organization[/quote:38utvuo8] I'm surprised Omar didn't say that in his most recent star turn. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 29 2009 03:15 PM It would be a hard thing to express, especially for a guy who struggles to express himself. But let's just pretend for the sake of argument that Tony was a maniac, yes, but in the same sense that your hardest teacher in school could have been your best one, and that in the world of jocks everything is intensified. Then it might just be another case of the Mets letting a story slip out of their control. Fman99 Jul 29 2009 03:20 PM Wally's doesn't so much write as he ejaculates, buckets of creamy idiocy. G-Fafif Jul 29 2009 03:53 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]It would be a hard thing to express, especially for a guy who struggles to express himself. But let's just pretend for the sake of argument that Tony was a maniac, yes, but in the same sense that your hardest teacher in school could have been your best one, and that in the world of jocks everything is intensified. Then it might just be another case of the Mets letting a story slip out of their control. Initially, I kind of thought that (forgetting Tony B's track record of bad press). "Maybe guys take off their shirts in locker rooms all the time and challenge guys to fights." TB wasn't a coach, but jockishness is jockishness. Probably not, though. The Binghamton ep reminded me of what allegedly happened [url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/11080/index1.html]at St. John's[/url] some years back: ]Fran Fraschilla, fast-talking, tightly wrapped, lasted two years before reportedly dropping his pants during a locker-room speech, by way of suggesting that his players might be challenged in the manhood department. Sounded unseemly, particuarly with "scholar-athletes," but it's the locker room, I figured. Who the hell knows what goes on in there? Who the hell wants to know? Ashie62 Jul 29 2009 03:57 PM Matthews is an idiot..but..I feel a snowballing effect that will cost Minaya his job in the very short term Kong76 Jul 29 2009 04:03 PM It's like a whole new version of the cheap-ass Mets. Now it's not because they don't want to spend, it's because they can't? Wally is funny. Ha ha. Nymr83 Jul 29 2009 05:07 PM how many years do the lazy "journalists" get to blame every instance of the mets' perceived non-spending of any amount of money on the madoff scandal? Edgy DC Jul 29 2009 05:12 PM ="Ashie62":yzu84qpd]Matthews is an idiot..but..I feel a snowballing effect that will cost Minaya his job in the very short term[/quote:yzu84qpd] If that's the reason Minaya loses his job, well, that sort of thing can't be denounced in strong enough terms, and it behooves every one of us to denounce it. Blood sells papers. It doesn't win baseball games. MFS62 Jul 29 2009 05:26 PM I'm not sure if Matthews is a registered cretin. But he seems to be working hard for his certification. Later Valadius Jul 29 2009 05:40 PM ="Edgy DC":2wm7tm65] ="Valadius":2wm7tm65]If the Wilpons have been so thoroughly financially compromised by Bernie Madoff, they really ought to sell the team. They can't let their baseball decisions be hampered and hindered by their investment in a Ponzi scheme.[/quote:2wm7tm65] Yeah, well, with the highest payroll in the league, there's no evidence of that, and Matthews' position is baseless.[/quote:2wm7tm65] I did say "if", and I say that regardless of what anyone writes in an article. Edgy DC Jul 29 2009 08:06 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 30 2009 11:03 AM And I said "yeah." "If," then "yeah." But we're talking about a position summoned out of the air that doesn't deserve that sort of attention and consideration. I mean, yeah, if the Wilpons are insatiable flypeople raising their young from larva, they shouldn't be allowed to run the team. But just by indulging empty arguments like Matthews' and saying "yeah, if that's true, they should go" indulges his brand and culture of bloodlust and allows his ilk to control the argument. I mean, read upwards, and you see Ashie saying "I feel a snowballing effect that will cost Minaya his job in the very short term." Somehow perception is allowed to equal reality and an shallow, agenda-driven columnist has a broad control of perception and I think that's an awful influence on the ball team's success and the fanbase's culture. Ceetar Jul 29 2009 08:47 PM ="MFS62":1f4gg8ee]I'm not sure if Matthews is a registered cretin. But he seems to be working hard for his certification. Later[/quote:1f4gg8ee] Heard Michael Kay gushing about how on top of everything Matthews was and how much credit he should get for his articles on this stuff. I went back to listening to WFAN commercials in the car after that. PiggiesTomatoes Jul 29 2009 09:15 PM ="Ceetar":1vog50t3] ="MFS62":1vog50t3]I'm not sure if Matthews is a registered cretin. But he seems to be working hard for his certification. Later[/quote:1vog50t3] Heard Michael Kay gushing about how on top of everything Matthews was and how much credit he should get for his articles on this stuff.[/quote:1vog50t3] Two douches. Matthews knows boxing. That's it. Kay's a MFY cheerleader. That's it. SteveJRogers Jul 29 2009 09:41 PM ="Ceetar":2bh4yohp] ="MFS62":2bh4yohp]I'm not sure if Matthews is a registered cretin. But he seems to be working hard for his certification. Later[/quote:2bh4yohp] Heard Michael Kay gushing about how on top of everything Matthews was and how much credit he should get for his articles on this stuff. I went back to listening to WFAN commercials in the car after that.[/quote:2bh4yohp] Hmmm, unless I read everything wrong, or misremembered, could have sworn Michael and Wally were pretty much at each other's throats back when they both worked on 1050. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 29 2009 10:56 PM Deadspin big-upped the Matthews story as well. But that's probably because it fits the Omar-as-boob narrative they've been crafting over there. While there should be no impact on day-to-day operations of the Wilpons' personal losses-- and anyone who suggests so doesn't understand how the accounting works, or is willfully ignoring it to ply their hackery-- it's entirely feasible that the losses lead semi-directly to the Wilpons' selling the team. Mex17 Jul 30 2009 04:16 AM ="MFS62":3gvohqx2]Matthews knows boxing. That's it.[/quote:3gvohqx2] And boxing is a dead sport. so that is not even anything. Matthews probably cringes over the fact that Newsday's sports editor is an MMA fan (I know this for a fact). MFS62 Jul 30 2009 10:26 AM ="Mex17":1tvxjr2y] ="MFS62":1tvxjr2y]Matthews knows boxing. That's it.[/quote:1tvxjr2y] And boxing is a dead sport. so that is not even anything. Matthews probably cringes over the fact that Newsday's sports editor is an MMA fan (I know this for a fact).[/quote:1tvxjr2y] Mex, that wasn't me. It was someone else quoting me. I wouldn't give him any credit for knowing anything. If anyone should be checking out that website for a douchebag name (see other forum) it's Wally. Later