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Wilpons Admit Mets Have Been A Disappointing Failure
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 5, 2010
Modified Oct 5, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 5, 2010
Modified Oct 5, 2010
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Yesterday, Mets CEO Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff (the Mets COO), officially announced what everyone knew last week and had been suspecting for a while: That manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya were fired. Wilpon emphasized his love for the team and said, "Our family has owned the New York Mets for a very long time. We've had a lot of good years, and too many poor years. That's painful. But I must say that the last four years have been the most painful to me and probably the most disappointing in what is over 30 years.
The Mets haven't made the playoffs since 2006, and the Mets' payroll is one of the league's highest—this season, it was $130 million (for a 79-83 season!). Jeff Wilpon added, "We failed ...Today, we let our GM and manager go. We are all responsible here. Ownership is responsible. Our general manager and manager are responsible.... Right now we're a little beaten down. Losing grates on everybody, and it's certainly disappointing to all the staff and the fan base. I think we've got to change that culture, in terms of getting it to a winning culture, and getting ourselves where everybody wants us to be. We have a lot of fans out there; we just have to bring them back."
There's a long list of potential candidates for the GM position: The NY Times says, "The overall list includes older, more experienced, baseball executives like Sandy Alderson and Terry Ryan; general managers who have recently been replaced, like Josh Byrnes and Jerry DiPoto; and young executives like Rick Hahn, the assistant general manager of the Chicago White Sox and who, like Fred Wilpon, attended the University of Michigan. Hahn is considered a bright baseball man, and the college link — Fred Wilpon is an avid Michigan alumnus — certainly will not hurt."
Fred Wilpon also said, "The bottom line is winning. It's more painful when you lose with two very good people -- very good, high-character men. It's more painful. But the bottom line is, you have to win in this town, and that's what we have to do in 2011 and beyond."
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baseball
fred wilpon
jeff wilpon
Jerry Manuel
mets
Omar Minaya
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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