Omar Minaya
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Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sanchez (born November 10, 1958), best known as Omar Minaya, is a baseball executive who is currently the general manager of the New York Mets. The first Hispanic to hold a general manager position in Major League Baseball, Minaya is known for aggressive management of player trades and free agent signings.
Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to Elmhurst, in Queens, New York City at the age of eight.[1] A star baseball player at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Minaya had a short-lived career in the minor leagues as well as stints in leagues in both the Dominican Republic and Italy. After injuries ended his playing career, Minaya joined the Texas Rangers' scouting team in 1985, where he helped in the signing of players such as Sammy Sosa and Juan González.
In the mid-1990s, Minaya left Texas and returned home to join the staff of the New York Mets, working his way to Assistant General Manager behind Steve Phillips and being partly responsible for that team's late-1990s success. Minaya would leave the Mets in early 2002 when he joined the Montréal Expos as manager and General manager positions.
[edit] Montréal Expos
At the time of Minaya's arrival in Montreal, the Expos were jointly owned by the 29 other teams of Major League Baseball. This unusual ownership arrangement was reached after a period of contraction rumors and the purchase of the Florida Marlins by former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria. With the fanbase rapidly declining and speculation that the team would be relocated, Minaya was forced to work with limited financial resources. Despite these limitations, Minaya was aggressive in his attempt to make the Expos a contender, adding Bartolo Colón and Cliff Floyd in a pair of mid-season trades. These moves helped the 2002 Expos to an 83-79 record and second place in the National League East.
After another 83-79 record and the departure of star Vladimir Guerrero in 2003, the Expos went 67-95 in 2004 amid reports that their future in Montréal would soon end. When it was announced that the Expos would relocate to Washington, DC for the 2005 season, Minaya learned that with the move would come a new front office and coaching position.
[edit] New York Mets
After the Mets continued to struggle at the conclusion of the 2004 season, Mets owner Fred Wilpon asked Minaya to become the team's general manager. In Minaya's first offseason he made two significant free agent signings, adding pitcher Pedro Martínez and outfielder Carlos Beltran. Signing Martinez helped raise the awareness of the Mets in Latin America, leading Minaya to remark that Martinez was "a guy that makes the brand."[2] Under new manager Willie Randolph, the Mets improved from 71 wins in 2004 to 83 wins in 2005, staying in the hunt for the postseason until the last week of the season.
Minaya's work in the 2005 offseason would further shape the franchise, adding closer Billy Wagner, first baseman Carlos Delgado and veteran catcher Paul Lo Duca. He also strengthened the bench by adding utility infielder José Valentín, first baseman Julio Franco and outfielder Endy Chavez. Bullpen acquisitions included Chad Bradford, Jorge Julio, and Duaner Sanchez. Despite the veteran additions, Minaya was able to limit payroll by trading Mike Cameron to the San Diego Padres for Xavier Nady and Kris Benson to the Baltimore Orioles for Jorge Julio and John Maine.
The benefits of Minaya's work became immediately apparent in 2006 as the Mets won the National League East by 12 games, finishing first with a National-League-best and Major League-tied 97 wins. During the season, Minaya fortified the team by making additional trades, acquiring Orlando Hernández (for Jorge Julio) and Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez (for Xavier Nady) and trading away second baseman Kazuo Matsui.
However, his tendency for deals with primarily Latino talent brought him major criticism from Mets fans following the 2007 season. Moises Alou signed a lucritive deal with the Mets as a free agent prior to the 2007 season, and only managed to play 87 games due to injury. Orlando Hernandez missed starts due to injury. Pedro Martinez, meanwhile, managed only 5 starts all season.
In November 2006, Minaya sent Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the Padres for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins. A few days later, he sent hard-throwing relievers Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom to the Florida Marlins for lefties Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick. The following month, he traded starting pitcher Brian Bannister (son of former major league pitcher Floyd Bannister) to the Kansas City Royals for a live bullpen arm in Ambiorix Burgos.
In hindsight, these deals cost the 2007 Mets their opportunity for post season play as it was a lack of starting pitching and bullpen depth that brought about their monumental collapse that September. Burgos pitched only 23.2 innings for the Mets that season. Meanwhile, Bannister started 29 games for the Royals, and compiled a 12 - 9 record with a 3.87 ERA in 165 innings. Adkins appeared in one game, and pitched one inning for the Mets in 2007. Bell pitched 93.2 innings for the San Diego Padres, and compiled a 2.02 ERA as Trevor Hoffman's set up man. Ring compiled a 3.60 ERA in 15 games for the Padres before being shipped off to the Atlanta Braves. Vargas was 0 - 1 with a 12.19 ERA in 2 starts for the Mets. Bostick never appeared with the Mets in 2007, and only compiled a 6 - 7 record with a 5.66 ERA in 20 starts for the Mets triple A New Orleans Zephyrs squad. Matt Lindstrom compiled a 3.09 ERA in 67 innings, and Owens compiled a 1.96 ERA in 22 games (23 innings) for the Marlins. Ben Johnson managed only a .185 batting average in 9 games with the 2007 Mets.
Minaya's biggest acquisition came on January 29, 2008 when he reached a tentative deal with the Minnesota Twins for ace pitcher Johan Santana. The trade was official after Santana was signed to a contract extension and passed a physical. The Mets sent Carlos Gómez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra to the Twins in return for Santana.
Minaya and his team were featured in the Sports Illustrated cover story for the June 18, 2007 issue.[3] The article focused on Minaya's upbringing in the Dominican Republic and Queens, as well as his brief minor league playing career, his two years playing professional baseball in Tuscany, and time as an international scout in the Rangers' organization.
[edit] References
- ^ Berkow, Ira. "BASEBALL; Amid Some Uncertainty, The Expos Play to Win", The New York Times, June 18, 2002. Accessed October 22, 2007. "Minaya, born in the Dominican Republic but raised since age 8 in Elmhurst, Queens, was the assistant general manager with the Mets when Selig called last winter and offered him the job with the Expos."
- ^ Mahler, Jonathan. "Building the Béisbol Brand." New York Times Magazine. 31 July 2005.
- ^ Smith, Gary (June 18, 2007), Sports Illustrated 106 (25), <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/06/12/minaya0618/>.
| Preceded by Larry Beinfest |
Montreal Expos General Manager 2002-2004 |
Succeeded by Team Moved |
| Preceded by Jim Duquette |
New York Mets General Manager 2005-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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