At the start of the season I asked Omar Minaya if he wanted to see the Mets win or lose this year. The Mets, after all, had fired him as their general manager last October.
“Win, definitely win,” he replied emphatically. “Those are my guys.”
Indeed, 16 of the 25 players on the Mets’ roster this weekend were acquired by Minaya and his men during his six-year tenure. Two additional Minaya acquisitions, Ike Davis and Johan Santana, were on the disabled list.
It’s not uncommon for a team that has just changed general managers to have on its roster a lot of players left over from the previous regime, but in the case of the Mets, some might be surprised because of the widely believed view that they didn’t have any worthwhile talent in the minor leagues.
Some observers even picked the Washington Nationals to finish ahead of them, relegating the Mets to last place in the National League East. I did not concur with that view. I had long had too much respect for and confidence in Minaya’s baseball judgment to think he had squandered six years of developing a minor league system.
When the Mets collapsed two years ago under the crushing weight of a barrage of injuries to key players, critics complained that the Mets didn’t have enough depth to replace the injured. The Yankees, with their $200 million plus payroll, wouldn’t have had enough replacements to maintain a chance to win.
Two years later the Mets began spring training needing two starting pitchers, and they left Florida with the spots filled by a rookie, Jon Niese, and a veteran, R.A. Dickey, whom they had signed as a minor league free agent three months earlier.
Niese and Dickey remain fixtures in the rotation with Mike Pelfrey, who was the first player drafted in Minaya’s tenure. They have been joined by a rookie from the Minaya minor league system.
Dillon Gee, selected in the 21st round of the 2007 draft, has been nothing short of sensational. The Mets have won all nine of his starts this season, and Gee has won his last seven starts, matching a club rookie record. He has a 3.05 earned run average.
Among all pitchers who have started a season with five or more consecutive winning decisions, according to Elias Sports Bureau, Gee is only the second rookie since 2002 to start 7-0. Jered Weaver started 9-0 for the Angels in 2006.
A 21st-round draft choice is rarely memorable, but Gee has taken huge strides toward become known and remembered.
“When you draft kids in later rounds,” Minaya said, “you just hope you get someone who could help you. We didn’t know what we had, but we felt he knew how to pitch. He’s had a great ability to pitch, a good idea of how to pitch. He was smart. He pitched in Puerto Rico in the winter league as a young guy. I always believed that the good players you challenge them. They struggle, but they learn and improve.”
Gee is one of eight players on the Mets’ roster who arrived via Minaya’s drafts, the others being Pelfrey, Niese, catcher Josh Thole, the disabled first baseman Ike Davis, his replacement Daniel Murphy, outfielder Lucas Duda and reliever Bobby Parnell.
Three players were claimed on waivers last year – infielder Justin Turner, outfielder Jason Pridie and reliever Manny Acosta. The Mets, under Minaya, signed Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Bay and Ruben Tejada as free agents, and Minaya traded for Angel Pagan and Santana.
Minaya cited his scouts and others as the primary reason the Mets were able to collect those players during his time as general manager.
“It’s a product of the scouts and the development people,” he said. “The scouts had to do a good job and they did. It’s not about me; it’s about the scouts. You kept hearing there are no players in the minor leagues, but we had Davis and Tejada and others.”
I should make it clear that I am not suggesting that a roster with these players is a pennant winner. Obviously, the starting pitchers, with the exception of a healthy Santana, have to develop further to prove themselves consistent winners.
Pelfrey. Niese and Gee, however, have a chance to become winners on a contending team. Dickey is probably a better story than he will be a pitcher, a pitcher reinventing himself in his mid-30s and not only extending his major league career but also winning major league games.
Pagan is a good story, too, returning to the team that drafted him in 1999 and establishing himself as an everyday player 11 years later.
Davis should be the Mets’ power-hitting first baseman for years to come, and Tejada could become his long-time infielder mate at second. It’s too early to tell if Thole has long-lasting hitting and catching ability.
And then there is Terry Collins, the Mets’ manager new this year. He is getting credit – deserved – for the way the Mets are playing. He is also part of Minaya’s legacy. Minaya brought him into the organization last year.
I raise these personnel matters because I think Minaya’s critics – and media alike – got caught up in focusing on contracts, especially the $36 million deal he gave Oliver Perez.
Yes, that was a bad contract, but Perez fooled me, too. Like Minaya, I thought he was going to be one of those late-blooming left-handers who have long frustrated managers and pitching coaches. He just never bloomed. My good fortune was I didn’t have to pay him.
However, compared with what Fred Wilpon contributed to the Bernie Madoff charitable society, the money he owes Perez is like tip money.
By the way, if Minaya’s critics want to compare player moves, they should recall one of the first moves of the replacement regime. They selected Brad Emaus in the minor league draft and made him the starting second baseman.
Fourteen games into his major league career, the Mets released him after he had 6 hits in 37 at-bats for a .162 average.
One more point about the Minaya regime:
I have no hard evidence of it, but I strongly suspect that Jeff Wilpon’s ham-handed fingerprints were all over the operation.
Minaya has refused to talk about it, and I understand his position. the Wilpons owe him about $1.65 million for the next year and a half, and he doesn’t want to jeopardize that.
But I am certain that Jeff Wilpon, who has a terrible reputation among baseball people, interfered with Minaya and ham-strung his ability to do his job properly. Maybe the truth will come out someday.
PIRATES’ FLEETING .500 RECORD
Last Wednesday the Pittsburgh Pirates edged Arizona, 3-2, giving them as many wins, 30, as they had losses. It marked the first time since 1999, according to Elias Sports Bureau, that the Pirates did not have a losing record that late into the season. The Pirates have finished with a losing record each of the last 18 seasons, a major league record.
In 1999, when the Pirates had endured only six successive losing seasons, a season-ending three-game sweep by the Mets in New York sealed season No. 7. The last day that season that the Pirates didn’t have a losing record was Sept. 2 (67-67).
After reaching .500 last week, these Pirates promptly lost a game to the Diamondbacks and one to the Mets before edging the Mets, 3-2, Saturday night.
A.J. SETS SIGHTS ON SIGH REPEAT
Not that he’s trying to successfully defend his award, but A.J. Burnett, the New York Yankees’ own enigma, has made a strong start toward winning another Sigh Young award. I gave Burnett the award that I created last year, and last week, in a start against the high-flying Boston Red Sox, he served notice to would-be poachers to back off.
I never imagined that such a silly thing would mean so much to him that he would want to win it again. But there he was last Wednesday night in position to cool off the hot Sox (winners of four straight), and he gave up 7 runs in 5 2/3 innings. That was not a quality start, no matter how it is defined.
The Yankees’ bullpen could have used a night off, but Burnett didn’t grant it. The Yankees could have stayed in first place ahead of the Red Sox, but Burnett didn’t give them a chance. He gave up a home run to David Ortiz for the second and third runs of the first inning.
The outcome might have disappointed the Yankees, but it didn’t surprise them. In eight starts against the Red Sox in his three seasons with the Yankees, Burnett has a 0-4 record and an 8.86 e.r.a. For this, the Yankees pay Burnett $16.5 million a year.