FLUSHING, NY – It was only fitting that the Mets came home right after Paul McCartney vacated Citi Field, because the message they wanted to send was “it’s getting better all the time” but it came out as “it can’t get much worse.”
Yes the Mets botched another firing today when Jeffrey Wilpon’s gang who couldn’t shoot straight not only took out Tony Bernazard, but also Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin, who broke the stories on Mini-Zeke in the last week.
Minaya said the investigation started well before Rubin’s reports, but they were sped up after the Daily News broke the story. So to pay back the reporter, Minaya decided to out a possible conflict of interest.
“You got to understand this: Adam for the past couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony,” he said.
That flabbergasted Rubin, who held his own mini-presser in the lobby of Citi Field. Although he didn’t deny that he inquired on how to get into the business, he did say that he never lobbied for a job.
“I never asked Omar directly for a job,” Rubin said. “I don’t know how I’m going to cover the team now. I’m absolutely floored. I asked, ‘How do you get a job in baseball?’ That’s it.”
And even the Daily News stood by their man, as Editor-in-Chief Martin Dunn issued this statement: “This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it’s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand.
“We stand by Adam 1,000%.”
As well they should. The Mets tried to wag the dog here, and in turn they made lemons out of lemonade. By making Rubin the spotlight, Minaya looks inept and also lost any credibility he had with the media. No one will trust him anymore and why should they? If the Mets don’t like what a reporter writes, they will just smear him to his peers.
If Minaya acted alone, then fine, he must go. It’s the only way the Wilpons can purge themselves of the cancer that has been brewing. Bernazard was just one tumor, but Minaya’s front office is apparently the entire disease.
But if Wilpon was the one calling the shots, then something more is brewing here. This Nixonian way of doing things will not fly, especially in New York, and frankly it won’t help the Mets when it comes to recruiting the Minaya’s replacement. Do you think any smart GM would want to work in the new Nixon White House, full of mistrust? Would Pat Gillick come here? Would Billy Beane? Heck Brian Cashman’s lifestyle looks absolutely sane compared to the stench coming from Queens.
That’s the problem with this organization. No one ever takes blame. It didn’t happen in 2007. It didn’t happen last season. And now when there is someone accountable, let’s kill the messenger at the same time.
Almost four years after the Carlos Beltran proclaimed these are the “New Mets,” it’s clear that this is the same old club doing the same mistakes which got Minaya hired in the first place. With the season pretty much in the toilet, now the Mets have to take stock to look at where this organization is going.
Are they going forward?
Or are they longing for yesterday?
About the Author
