Wednesday, September 24, 2008

This Couldn't Have Waited Five Days?

The Mets are apparently giving Omar Minaya a four-year extension:

Omar Minaya will receive a four-year extension to continue as general manager of
the New York Mets, sources said on Tuesday. The deal is all but done, but it is
not known when the extension will be formally announced.

The Wilpons are aware that the Mets stand a decent chance of cratering for the second year in a row, right? That if they do, the fans are going to freakin' plotz? That they'll demand someone's head, and that head might very well be Omar's?

This is not to suggest that Minaya is responsible for the collapses or that he shouldn't necessarily be extended (like every GM, Omar has made some good moves and some bad ones, and I can't say at the moment whether it tips decidedly in one direction or the other). But this timing strikes me as profoundly tone deaf with respect to the fan base. Mets' fans are a little distracted and disturbed at the moment, and to throw this out there now sends a business-as-usual signal that, even if arguably wise for some business reason, is extremely unlikely to be appreciated.

9 comments:

EricInBoston said...

if delgado didnt find 200 points of OPS in the 2nd half do you think this happens?

Anonymous said...

At the risk of sounding overly crass, has the Mets organization displayed much competence in the Timing Department, this year?

Anonymous said...

Really though, if you were going to extend him anyway, and you point out that there are reasons to do so, then you certainly want to get it out of the way before it's seen as a reaction to another failed playoff run.

Anonymous said...

Craig - you misused the word "plotz"; it means "praise or brag effusively." The word you're looking for is "kvetch", meaning "gripe or complain."

Craig Calcaterra said...

Hurm. As a casual abuser of Yiddish slang, this is a most distressing development.

[time passes while I Google]

I don't know that you're right, aleskel. According to a couple of Yiddish slang sites, "plotz" means "To burst, to explode" or "To be aggravated beyond bearing."

Urban Dictionary has it as "to fall down from extreme excitememnt or abhorance . . . collapse or faint, as from surprise, excitement, or exhaustion."

YourDictionary.com has it as "to be overcome with emotion; give way to excitement, anger, delight, etc." or "to burst or explode."

I'll take argument and references to the contrary, but for now I'm feeling pretty comfortable with plotz here.

Anonymous said...

hmmm ... maybe you're right. I've mostly heard it in the context of "I'm so happy I could ____" or "she was ____ing about her son's SAT scores." I've never heard it in a negative connotation, but I guess it exists. Sorry for the mistake, you're a mensch.

Craig Calcaterra said...

That beats being a meshugeneh!

Nick Nightingale said...

What bothers me about this extension is that one of the Mets higher ups (the Wilpons) decided the following sometime very recently:

"Hey, you know what needs to be done RIGHT NOW!? Giving Omar Minaya a 4 year contract extension. Forget the players, forget the pennant race, forget the collapse part deux. Drop everything boys, let's hammer this deal out!"

Jason @ IIATMS said...

Hey Wilpons, how do you like your eggs (on your face)?