04/26/24
February 12, 2002
Baseball sales final, Mets lose Minaya.: Lost in the fine print of all this baseball madness is that Omar Minaya is the new general manager of Montreal. This may be the most significant off season transaction for the Mets as he, not Uncle Stevie, is the real genius behind a lot of our^H^H^H the Mets transactions. On the upside, he is Baseball's first Latino general manager and the Yankees won't have as easy a time getting Vlad the magnificent.
good GMs are statheads. they know about the value of OBP; they understand why the K/BB ratio is so important for pitchers. like billy beane, they rob you blind should you have the misfortune of calling them to inquire about a trade. the important question has yet to be answered: can minaya demonstrate he has such ability? i don't know. i do know this: sosa, when he was first in the league, he could not take many walks. gonzalez has never been able to take many walks. while gonzalez has prospered, many players unable to show their plate discipline through high numbers of base-on-balls fade into obscurity. (see: mike caruso. see: ruben sierra. see: ruben rivera.) hopefully, minaya can do well -- but don't assume he will. at least, not based on the track record given.
posted by moz at 07:52 PM on February 12, 2002
The Yankees will do just fine bringing Vlad to the Bronx once he is avalible. Which in turn will give all you haters, more to hate.
posted by jbou at 08:41 PM on February 12, 2002
I think a good GM is a little more than a geek with a bunch of Rob Neyer printouts. Would you really question the impact Gonzalez and Sosa have had on the teams they're on? They're easily 2 of the top 10 offensive forces in baseball. What's your point about Rivera? As for Vlad, he'll be a Senator before a Yank, or at least I hope so. Otherwise, why not an Oriole, or a Mariner?
posted by djacobs at 10:59 PM on February 12, 2002
sorry, djacobs: i suppose i should have explained my references. all of the players i noted (caruso et. al) were at times considered to be excellent prospects but who fizzled. all three had horrible walk/strikeout ratios. rivera was a sort of mini-sosa: slightly less power and slightly less average. and if i were a GM, of course i would question the impact gonzalez versus sosa would have on my team. after all, wouldn't that be my job?
posted by moz at 12:44 AM on February 13, 2002
i should say he was a mini-sosa of the pre-'97 version.
posted by moz at 12:49 AM on February 13, 2002
But Minaya DIDN'T discover Rivera, and he DID discover (the very teachable) Gonzalez, Sosa, et al.
posted by djacobs at 01:01 AM on February 13, 2002
moz: Good GM's build farm systems that deliver talent to the majors on a regular basis, this would also apply to Billy Beane. Gerry Hunsicker of the Astros has put better pitchers in the majors the last couple of years than anyone, I'm just guessing but I'll bet he didn't draft those guys for their K/BB ratio, but rather for their control and for the movement on their fastball.
posted by pastepotpete at 12:37 PM on February 13, 2002
you're probably right, paste. K/BB is one good indicator of control, however, for those of us who haven't seen the pitcher personally.
posted by moz at 09:25 PM on February 13, 2002
Wow! I was all ready to post a "Who the hell is Omar" comment, when I decided not to be lazy and search for myself. What did I find? Put simply, Omar Minaya is one of the best appraisers of talent in baseball today. Besides the glowing praise heaved his way in many articles, he's got a stable of finds to back him up. He's credited with discovering Sosa, Tatis, and Juan Gonzalez. Now, that's not too shabby especially considering I didn't look too much further once I found these three. My guess is that there are plenty more. The one consolation I take from this bit of bad news is that the Mets were going to lose Minaya to another team soon enough anyway. His name came up most frequently in articles about him being the runner up for recently filled GM positions all around the league. I'm glad he's getting a shot and thank DJacobs for bringing him to my attention, even if it is just as we lose him.