The MLB Twilight Zone: Minaya vs. Rubin

The GSF | July 28, 2009 | no comments

Yesterday afternoon, Mets GM Omar Minaya held a press conference to fire Tony Bernazard as VP of player development. No big deal, right? Wrong — this is the Mets we’re talking about. Not only the most disappointing team in baseball, but also the proud home of the most bizarre front office in all of sports.

In what should have been a simple announcement that the Mets were putting their front office problems behind them, Minaya succeeded in opening yet another can of worms. Evidently, the reporter who broke the story about Tony B ripping off his shirt and challenging the Binghamton Mets to a brawl had an ulterior motive: he wanted Tony’s job.

Think about it for a second: you’re a young sportswriter for the Daily News, and you want nothing more than to work for the Mets, the pride of New York. How do you achieve your dream? Make up a story about a crazed executive parading shirtless around a Double-A clubhouse. It’s a flawless plan…until the GM goes public with the fact that you “lobby” (yes, that’s past tense) again and again for the VP job.

We don’t know what’s worse — Omar picking a fight with a reporter from a fringe newspaper, or the fact that the GM who controls the pursestrings of one of the richest teams in baseball doesn’t know how to say “lobby” in the past tense.