Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel - Press conference
Omar Minaya Press conference notes:
- Omar Minaya said that he hadn't made the final decision to drop the axe (my words, not his) until Monday night and took full responsibility for the decision, emphasizing Willie was his hire, and this made it all the more difficult to fire him. He continued to underscore that this was his decision, seemingly distancing the Wilpons from this entirely.
- He could not have made the decision on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, because he hadn't made the final decision until sleeping on it Sunday night.
- The decision was made because the team is underperforming and has been since last season.
- During the meeting on Sunday night between Omar and Willie at Shea Stadium, Omar told him he was going to come to a decision sometime during the road trip whether to retain him for the year, or fire him. He came to that final decision Monday morning after sleeping on it, and decided to meet the team in Anaheim to deliver the news personally.
- Omar took full responsibility for the leaks that came out prior to the weekend detailing the plan of who would be fired, who would get promoted, etc. Minaya felt that those stories were also causing more distractions in the clubhouse and had created an unfair environment for all.
- Omar explained that he never wanted to say "Willie is going to be our manager for the rest of the year" because if the Mets had lost 15 in a row, then what? (you can still fire him, dummy.)
- Jerry Manuel will definitively be the manager for the rest of the 2008 season. Omar said that Jerry Manuel was the best person available to take over the team. Omar also reviewed Jerry's history as a manager with the White Sox, and winning Manager of the Year in 2000.
- Omar fired pitching coach Rick Peterson and 1st-base coach Tom Nieto because he didn't want Willie to take 100% of the fall. Other people he felt, were accountable for the team's poor performance. There was a need to change more than just the manager.
- Logistics prevented Omar Minaya from getting to Anaheim prior to the team getting to the ballpark. Omar felt it would be extremely disrespectful to Willie if he had been fired in uniform. He felt it was much more respectful to do it face-to-face in private, outside the confines of a baseball stadium. This is why he wasn't fired prior to the game.
- A reporter asked Omar about the reaction from the media and fans that this was handled very poorly and how people continue to view what happened through their own glasses, as opposed to the facts. One example is the constant references to 3am East Coast time, as opposed to 11pm Pacific Time when the firing actually took place. Omar said people have been making their assessments of the situation without having all the facts (which is exactly what I have been saying). Once the facts are out there, then you can decide to believe what you want.
- At the end of 2007, Omar Minaya was given the choice by the Wilpons whether to fire him or not. He chose not to and was supported in his decision by the Wilpons. Omar said this has always been his call and he has autonomy from the Wilpons, per their agreement in 2004, to make all baseball decisions without ownership interference.
- Is this change enough to turn the team around? He doesn't know, but he does not regret the decision to keep Willie Randolph at the end of last season, as he could not make that call based on the last 3 weeks of the team's performance in 2007.
- Omar said after the 4-game sweep at San Diego, that was one of several times he thought about firing Willie. The September collapse last season was another time he thought about it.
- Omar believes that everyone on the team has been working hard, but for whatever reason, things weren't working. One stat that Omar noted was the team's inability to come from behind to win games.
- I couldn't hear the reporter's question too well, but Omar's response seemed to indicate that it was in reference to Minaya hugging Manny Acta at Shea Stadium in full view when the Nationals came to play the Mets. He noted that people always perceive the things they want to perceive, or read into things that aren't there. Omar is a hugger, and Manny is a friend, so he hugs his friend, the end.
- The racial remarks that Willie made a month ago to Ian O'Connor, even though he apologized for them, had increased the tension regarding the situation.
- Willie Randolph did not know that Omar Minaya was coming out to Anaheim. Omar did not want Willie to hear the news from any 3rd-party source. "Standard procedure" was followed in letting him go at 11pm at night.
- In response to those who say it should have been done in New York, that wasn't possible since the final decision had not been made.
Jerry Manuel then answered questions from the media:
- Willie Randolph and he have become very good friends during their time together in New York. He spoke with Willie on Tuesday morning.
- The team is underperforming, so the first thing that needs to happen is to freshen up the everyday players. But that's difficult to do when you have an urgency to win. The ability to rest Beltran yesterday and have him DH instead of play OF was helpful, and Manuel plans to do the same with David Wright tonight. He will DH but not play the field.
- How much did the 2007 collapse impact the team this year? Manuel says it weighed on him all winter and they all felt the urgency to get off to a good start this year. They will carry the weight of that collapse until they get on track this year.
- What was Manuel's job as bench coach? To spill his heart and guts to Willie as to what he would do in certain situations. Jerry Manuel said Willie wanted to put the collapse behind them, but Jerry felt it was important to remind the team of it at times in order to motivate them.
- Does Jerry Manuel have a better relationship with some of the players than Willie did? Jerry says that's one of the advantages of being a coach because you have a slightly different relationship with the players than the manager does. Now that he has moved into the manager's role, he feels those player-coach relationships will help him with the team.
- Sandy Alomar Sr. will now be the team's bench coach. Ken Oberkfell will be the 1st-base coach, Luis Aguayo will be 3rd-base coach, and Dan Warthen will be the pitching coach. Manuel says he expects all of them to want to manage at this level and is looking forward to them being with the club.
- Jerry Manuel had spoken with Willie Randolph about the ongoing drama regarding his job over the course of the season, saying he was one of the very few who could truly understand what Willie was going through, as Manuel experienced it in Chicago.
- Jerry believes that the team is capable of playing much better and wouldn't have taken the job if he felt otherwise.
- Jerry explained that every manager says the same thing about "hit and run" and do this and that more when they come into a new job. He feels it's more important to teach the players when the times are right to do certain things as opposed to running for the sake of running.
- Jerry said that there's a fine line between creating an environment where players can have career years, and having career years on a team that can win championships. Often they can go hand-in-hand.
- Jerry joked that since Omar won't fire anyone while they're in uniform, he'll be staying in his at the end of the season no matter what happens.
- Jerry believes the team does have leaders, and some may not have stepped into those roles yet. But first, Jerry is going to do that, and then it will trickle down to certain players who should be in those leadership positions.
- Jerry wants bullpen roles to be more clearly identified and will work with Dan Warthen on that.
- It sounded like someone asked about pitch count, and Jerry thinks that while baseball as a whole has gotten too obsessed with pitch counts, it's going to take some time to change the mindsets of people in order to slowly move away from it. At the same time, he wants to be careful and not have his pitchers get injured/fatigued. He would prefer to remove a starter once the game is over, but realizes that's not going to happen very often.
- Jerry Manuel says that lineup changes will be occurring over time. Sometimes your cleanup hitter won't be your cleanup hitter.
- David Wright has joked to Jerry that now we have a "gangsta" running the team.
Thus ends the press conference.
