Chasing Carlos

[Guest Edgy DC]

I was just re-reading an old New York Times Jack Curry article about the press conference introducing Carlos Beltran and a few things jumped at me.

The Flanking Maneuver:

]When the Mets arranged to meet Beltran earlier this month, Boras suggested they get together in Miami. But Minaya pushed to meet in Beltran's native Puerto Rico because he wanted to separate the Mets from the Yankees and the Astros, who had met Beltran in Florida.

Obviously, we learned that one can overplay the homeboy card in the Delgado negotiations, but it may have helped here.

The Reverse Psychology Play:

]During the meeting, Beltran was surprised that Fred Wilpon, the principal owner, gave him advice and options instead of just aggressively recruiting him. Wilpon told Beltran he should stay in Houston if he was happy. But if Beltran wanted a different challenge in a larger city, Wilpon told him that he should play for the Mets or the Yankees. Yes, Wilpon recommended the Yankees, too. Beltran said Wilpon's positive tone in touting the Yankees shocked him, but it also showed character.

High risk, high reward play, Fred!

Deeply Commited, or Just Plain Psycho:

]Boras said representatives from the Mets called him 31 straight days while they were chasing Beltran. So the Mets had picked up the telephone every day for a month to remind Beltran of their interest, to gauge his interest and to get to yesterday. The day, Beltran said, when the new Mets were born.

[metirish]

Fred's hight risk , high reward play worked that time but failed with Bernie Madoff.

I recall thinking at the time that Minaya was a breath of fresh air and just what the club needed.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Apologies if this comes off as dumb, Irish... but your opinion's changed... ?

[metirish]

Not changed but downgraded somewhat. It is a different time and my expectation for the team is different now than it was before Minaya. Of course he is one of the main reasons why those expectations have changed.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Fair enough-- same here. My major concern these days is that all the ML-level moves seem targeted at solving yesterday's problems, with little apparent thought to long-term planning... or even anticipating potential problems that haven't already occurred once before (like offensive depth).