Omar Pretty Much Has to Be Fired, Doesn't He?

[Guest Edgy DC]

]�Can you believe this is really happening?� moment.

As in, Can you believe the story we're getting out of this?

[ashie62]

="Edgy DC"] ]�Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. As in, Can you believe the story we're getting out of this?

Really..What a pissing contest..."Take that Rubin ya basterd, I had sex with your mother last night!" Omar, whispers Jeff, "his mother is dead"

Only in NY and again, fear and consumption drive all media

[nymr83]

="Edgy DC":2oqf2z4n]I don't think an Ari Fleischer should replace Minaya as GM, but it might be best if one conducted most of the press conferences. [/quote:2oqf2z4n] We have one, his name is Jay Horowitz and he does just fine infront of the media. Maybe he should be in charge of all press conferences?

Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 08:21 AM

="Nymr83":2m5n4mhf] ="Edgy DC":2m5n4mhf]I don't think an Ari Fleischer should replace Minaya as GM, but it might be best if one conducted most of the press conferences. [/quote:2m5n4mhf] We have one, his name is Jay Horowitz and he does just fine infront of the media. Maybe he should be in charge of all press conferences?[/quote:2m5n4mhf] Perfect PiggiesTomatoes Jul 28 2009 08:40 AM Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. BTW...other than working for his dad, what has Jeff Wilpon ever done or run to warrant having such a role in a nearly billion dollar endeavor? Not that it's the bee all and end all but any formal schooling beyond high school? Any tangible business experience before being handed these responsibilities? That's where the problem is. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 08:51 AM ="PiggiesTomatoes":nxv6ctzt]The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy.[/quote:nxv6ctzt] I wouldn't conclude that. Fman99 Jul 28 2009 08:58 AM ="PiggiesTomatoes":3a8q8lm6]Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. [/quote:3a8q8lm6] It's a good question, though. One that I was wondering about. Why not just issue a press release? Given Tony B's recent escapades, they could've issued a one paragraph blurb and they wouldn't have been met with more than a bunch of "yup's" and head nodding. Why even have the press conference, unless someone had it in mind to get into this Rubin thing? duan Jul 28 2009 09:04 AM the press conference was definitely intended to clear the air and explain why they took a few weeks to deal with this. It was supposed to be a "Look we're open and transparent" (although they've actually no need to be really). The stuff that's stupidest about the Rubin thing is the CLEAR implication of it was that if had been (say) BEN SHPIGEL from the NY Times that made the allegations it wouldn't have taken them so long to deem them true and therefore they'd have sacked him quicker. That's the biggest insult to the journalist right there. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 09:28 AM I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions. A Boy Named Seo Jul 28 2009 09:47 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 09:54 AM Oh I remember. I didn't think it was that bad, it was that Phillips and the Wilpons looked embarrassed when it happened was all. duan Jul 28 2009 10:03 AM ="Edgy DC":304opwj9]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:304opwj9] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible. metirish Jul 28 2009 10:09 AM ="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit. It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 10:15 AM ="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[ashie62]

="Nymr83":2m5n4mhf] ="Edgy DC":2m5n4mhf]I don't think an Ari Fleischer should replace Minaya as GM, but it might be best if one conducted most of the press conferences. [/quote:2m5n4mhf] We have one, his name is Jay Horowitz and he does just fine infront of the media. Maybe he should be in charge of all press conferences?[/quote:2m5n4mhf] Perfect PiggiesTomatoes Jul 28 2009 08:40 AM Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. BTW...other than working for his dad, what has Jeff Wilpon ever done or run to warrant having such a role in a nearly billion dollar endeavor? Not that it's the bee all and end all but any formal schooling beyond high school? Any tangible business experience before being handed these responsibilities? That's where the problem is. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 08:51 AM ="PiggiesTomatoes":nxv6ctzt]The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy.[/quote:nxv6ctzt] I wouldn't conclude that. Fman99 Jul 28 2009 08:58 AM ="PiggiesTomatoes":3a8q8lm6]Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. [/quote:3a8q8lm6] It's a good question, though. One that I was wondering about. Why not just issue a press release? Given Tony B's recent escapades, they could've issued a one paragraph blurb and they wouldn't have been met with more than a bunch of "yup's" and head nodding. Why even have the press conference, unless someone had it in mind to get into this Rubin thing? duan Jul 28 2009 09:04 AM the press conference was definitely intended to clear the air and explain why they took a few weeks to deal with this. It was supposed to be a "Look we're open and transparent" (although they've actually no need to be really). The stuff that's stupidest about the Rubin thing is the CLEAR implication of it was that if had been (say) BEN SHPIGEL from the NY Times that made the allegations it wouldn't have taken them so long to deem them true and therefore they'd have sacked him quicker. That's the biggest insult to the journalist right there. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 09:28 AM I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions. A Boy Named Seo Jul 28 2009 09:47 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 09:54 AM Oh I remember. I didn't think it was that bad, it was that Phillips and the Wilpons looked embarrassed when it happened was all. duan Jul 28 2009 10:03 AM ="Edgy DC":304opwj9]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:304opwj9] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible. metirish Jul 28 2009 10:09 AM ="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit. It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 10:15 AM ="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[Piggiestomatoes]

Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff.

BTW...other than working for his dad, what has Jeff Wilpon ever done or run to warrant having such a role in a nearly billion dollar endeavor?

Not that it's the bee all and end all but any formal schooling beyond high school? Any tangible business experience before being handed these responsibilities?

That's where the problem is.

[Guest Edgy DC]

="PiggiesTomatoes":nxv6ctzt]The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy.[/quote:nxv6ctzt] I wouldn't conclude that.

Fman99 Jul 28 2009 08:58 AM

="PiggiesTomatoes":3a8q8lm6]Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. [/quote:3a8q8lm6] It's a good question, though. One that I was wondering about. Why not just issue a press release? Given Tony B's recent escapades, they could've issued a one paragraph blurb and they wouldn't have been met with more than a bunch of "yup's" and head nodding. Why even have the press conference, unless someone had it in mind to get into this Rubin thing? duan Jul 28 2009 09:04 AM the press conference was definitely intended to clear the air and explain why they took a few weeks to deal with this. It was supposed to be a "Look we're open and transparent" (although they've actually no need to be really). The stuff that's stupidest about the Rubin thing is the CLEAR implication of it was that if had been (say) BEN SHPIGEL from the NY Times that made the allegations it wouldn't have taken them so long to deem them true and therefore they'd have sacked him quicker. That's the biggest insult to the journalist right there. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 09:28 AM I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions. A Boy Named Seo Jul 28 2009 09:47 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 09:54 AM Oh I remember. I didn't think it was that bad, it was that Phillips and the Wilpons looked embarrassed when it happened was all. duan Jul 28 2009 10:03 AM ="Edgy DC":304opwj9]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:304opwj9] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible. metirish Jul 28 2009 10:09 AM ="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit. It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 10:15 AM ="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[Fman99]

="PiggiesTomatoes":3a8q8lm6]Why was there even a press conference? Your player development guy gets canned. One or two paragraph press release and move on. The ultimate decision to have the press conference would have rested with sonny boy. Whether Omar went rogue with his comments or the organization miscalculated the response to rediculous statements by the GM, it never should have happened. That rests with Jeff. [/quote:3a8q8lm6] It's a good question, though. One that I was wondering about. Why not just issue a press release? Given Tony B's recent escapades, they could've issued a one paragraph blurb and they wouldn't have been met with more than a bunch of "yup's" and head nodding. Why even have the press conference, unless someone had it in mind to get into this Rubin thing?

duan Jul 28 2009 09:04 AM

the press conference was definitely intended to clear the air and explain why they took a few weeks to deal with this. It was supposed to be a "Look we're open and transparent" (although they've actually no need to be really). The stuff that's stupidest about the Rubin thing is the CLEAR implication of it was that if had been (say) BEN SHPIGEL from the NY Times that made the allegations it wouldn't have taken them so long to deem them true and therefore they'd have sacked him quicker. That's the biggest insult to the journalist right there.

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 09:28 AM

I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.

A Boy Named Seo Jul 28 2009 09:47 AM

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 09:54 AM

Oh I remember. I didn't think it was that bad, it was that Phillips and the Wilpons looked embarrassed when it happened was all.

duan Jul 28 2009 10:03 AM

="Edgy DC":304opwj9]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:304opwj9] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible. metirish Jul 28 2009 10:09 AM ="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit. It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 10:15 AM ="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[duan]

the press conference was definitely intended to clear the air and explain why they took a few weeks to deal with this. It was supposed to be a "Look we're open and transparent" (although they've actually no need to be really).
The stuff that's stupidest about the Rubin thing is the CLEAR implication of it was that if had been (say) BEN SHPIGEL from the NY Times that made the allegations it wouldn't have taken them so long to deem them true and therefore they'd have sacked him quicker.

That's the biggest insult to the journalist right there.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.

[A Boy Named Seo]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season.

I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Oh I remember. I didn't think it was that bad, it was that Phillips and the Wilpons looked embarrassed when it happened was all.

[duan]

="Edgy DC":304opwj9]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:304opwj9] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.

metirish Jul 28 2009 10:09 AM

="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys? It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit. It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 10:15 AM

="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[metirish]

="A Boy Named Seo"] ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Snoozeday's David Lennon seems to think Omar was on script, and that the Mets typically miscalculated how it would play. ]Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya: What happens now? 39 m ago By David Lennon So what happens now? How do the Mets start picking up the pieces after yesterday�s news conference went nuclear? And what effect will Omar Minaya�s bizarre accusations ultimately have on the careers of both him and Adam Rubin? I�ve covered baseball in New York since 1995, both the Yankees and Mets, and I�ve never been part of a news conference like that before. That was an all-timer. In terms of a media circus, that probably surpassed the infamous �Valentine-Stoner� event from 2003, after Newsday�s own report about recreational drug use on the Mets. To sum it up, Valentine acted as if he were batting while high, as both Wilpons and GM Steve Phillips watched in horror. Valentine was fired at the end of that season, more for the team�s woeful performance than his behavior at that news conference, as Phillips won that battle of wills. In this case, yesterday�s attack on Rubin is not going to cost Minaya his job. Not immediately anyway. And here�s why: I don�t believe COO Jeff Wilpon was upset with Minaya for what he said yesterday and I don�t believe that was a spontaneous assault on Rubin. The Mets� decision-makers certainly huddled at length before Minaya sat behind the microphone yesterday and rarely do team officials veer off the script. The GM also walked in that room with a full page of notes, so there were definitely items to cross off his agenda. It wouldn�t surprise me at all if Rubin was among those items. It�s never fun for a reporter to become the story, as Rubin was yesterday. As much as people might think it�s great to get that kind of attention, or that beat writers crave to be in the middle of that spotlight, that�s not really the case. Once we become the story, and have a personal stake in the outcome, it�s very difficult to do the job. We�re supposed to report on such conflicts, and when we become targets, it�s hard to defend yourself and also report objectively on people trying to damage our reputations. So why did Minaya take that shot at Rubin? Clearly, the GM was angry he had to fire a friend in Tony Bernazard, and Jeff Wilpon also was not thrilled by it. Both were close to Bernazard � they each admitted as much yesterday � and I think Minaya�s attack on Rubin was meant as revenge, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a blockhead move, but Minaya only half-apologized. He did not regret what he said about Rubin � only that he said it during the news conference. But again, I believe that was part of the plan. The Mets probably didn�t realize how bad it would come off � and it made them look ridiculous, broadcast live, on their own TV network. After getting battered in the media for a couple of hours, Minaya appeared with Wilpon in the back of the press box for yet another briefing, this time for the half-hearted apology. It was more spin, with Wilpon going as far to say that Rubin did ask him for career advice, adding that there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so, however, Wilpon actually pulled more at the threads that Rubin had provided earlier during his own news conference, when he talked about trying to gather information about getting into the baseball business on the development level. These things usually blow over in time, but yesterday was a fascinating � if extremely awkward � meltdown on a very public stage. Even in New York, that doesn�t happen very often. Sitting in that room yesterday, I can say the media members were stunned. It was a bona fide �Can you believe this is really happening?� moment. For the Mets� sake, they better hope there�s not any more this season. I don't remember that Valentine press conference. Any of you guys?

It was classic Bobby , up at the podium head shaking , eyes wide open ,arms flailing about imitating a stoned player trying to get in the hitters box and hit.

It was the Grant Roberts incident that brought it on IIRC

[Guest Edgy DC]

="duan":2hggzf4z] ="Edgy DC":2hggzf4z]I'm not sure there was anything clear in Omar's constructions.[/quote:2hggzf4z] not in his bumbling sentences, but to me it was clear what he meant by "who's writing these reports" god listening to it again it's just horrible.[/quote:2hggzf4z] Yeah, but marathon has a valid alternative motivation to character assasination here, and that's that "this is one of the things we needed to check out." His bumbling attempt to bring Rubin into it was lame, but I'm not sure how to infer a clear meaning that the Times reporter never would have come up. It does seem like Omar is immediately backpedaling as soon as he's challenged. I agree that (1) they should have written a press release, (2) Rubin's name should never have come up, and (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 11:29 AM ="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy? In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge. Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:41 AM ="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served. metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth. Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd. metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM "I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM ]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no? metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad. John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM "Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy." Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM How hot is that next chatroom going to get? Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM." Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM ="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

="Frayed Knot"]And you think Jeff Wilpon orchestrated this because there's actually evidence that points to it or because heaping all the blame on the owner's son is fun and easy?

In the humble opinion of my lone recent Mets connection (ex-Media Relations middle-management), on the off-off-off-off-chance that this was a calculated (if not well-calculated) move from above, it's Jeff. Of the two, Jeff's far more likely to hold a grudge.

Just watched another clip. As G-FAFIF points out in today's post, the garbled-talking-points-like repeated use of "lobby" is disturbing. It's difficult to watch in a few dozen ways.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

="Edgy DC":4j6lyoh5][ (3) most press conferences should be handled by a spokesperson.[/quote:4j6lyoh5] Hell no!!! You, as a fan -- and me as a reporter -- don't want to hear from Jay Horowitz in something like that. You want the spokesman to give you the stat sheet you're looking for and the game notes from last week that you can't find, or to call the Cyclones manager to set up the interview you want to do later. But you ALWAYS want to hear directly from the people in the leadership positions in a situation such as this. Doesn't mean the spokesman can't coach the snot out of the decision-maker before he goes before the cameras. But you want someone there who can answer the questions, not someone who can say, "I'll have to talk to Omar and get back to you on that point." I deal with this kind of thing a lot. You can't let them hide behind the mouthpiece.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 11:49 AM

Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ...... ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S By Murray Chass July 28, 2009 The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that. But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism. Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday. The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first instance, wrong in the second. But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout. The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets� superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed. What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake - was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference. Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last week, did not have completely clean hands in his report. At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player development department. �When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell myself wow.� �Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were suspicious about what he was trying to do?� �No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and others in the organization for a position in player development.� �Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out about this.� Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated interest in player development. �When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.� The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports. In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of scenario in any other organization he worked for. At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?� �No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that you want to work in the front office.� �Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.� Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.� When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had. Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began, then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was always my intention and nothing more than that.� Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in front of him. Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he said was �There is no conflict of interest.� But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong for not understanding it. I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply. Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief, Martin Dunn. �This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.� The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard. But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no further reply. In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said. I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was paying attention any longer? A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest.

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 11:52 AM

As a reporter, you're right. You want the story. As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served.

metirish Jul 28 2009 12:00 PM

I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this.

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:03 PM

Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth.

Gwreck Jul 28 2009 12:10 PM

They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 28 2009 12:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:39 PM

"I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. " I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged. Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray. I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line. And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 28 2009 12:33 PM

]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.� Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no?

metirish Jul 28 2009 12:37 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 12:43 PM

I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy. I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 28 2009 12:42 PM

"Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was. Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy."

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 12:45 PM

How hot is that next chatroom going to get?

Ashie62 Jul 28 2009 03:38 PM

ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays

bmfc1 Jul 28 2009 03:56 PM

Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets! NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM."

Mex17 Jul 28 2009 04:13 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 28 2009 06:51 PM

="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin. Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down. TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Chass says better what I was trying to say yesterday ... which is why he's at the New York Times and I'm ......


ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR THE METS � SOMEONE ELSE�S
By Murray Chass
July 28, 2009

The newspaper industry is dying quickly; we all know and acknowledge that.
But can�t it at least die with dignity? Of course, to die with dignity you
have to have lived with dignity, and not all newspapers and reporters have
done that. Many certainly have acted with an absence of professionalism.

Believe it or not, these thoughts in my head stem from baseball. As bad as
things have gone for the Mets this season, with more injuries than a rehab
center and fewer hits than Tiny Tim, they got worse on Monday.

The Mets fired Tony Bernazard as their executive in charge of player
development and bungled their way through a related episode. General manager
Omar Minaya raised a serious, relevant issue involving a reporter for the
New York Daily News at the Bernazard news conference, then reconvened
reporters in the rear of the CitiField press box and apologized for bringing
up the issue in the context in which he did. He was right in the first
instance, wrong in the second.

But in the second instance, Minaya was accompanied by Jeff Wilpon, the
owner�s son and chief operating officer, which helped explain his turnabout.

The Mets obviously concluded that Bernazard�s bad acts, among them
challenging minor league players to a fight and screaming at the Mets�
superstar closer on the team bus, compelled them to jettison the former
second baseman. Minaya, following an in-house investigation, made the
decision and passed on his recommendation to the Wilpons, who agreed.

What Minaya didn�t mention to the Wilpons, though - and this was his mistake
- was that he planned to bring up a related issue at the news conference.
Adam Rubin, the Daily News reporter, who wrote the Bernazard story last
week, did not have completely clean hands in his report.

At the news conference Minaya disclosed that in past years Rubin had lobbied
him, Bernazard and others in the Mets� organization for a job in the player
development department.

�When the report came it was by Adam Rubin,� Minaya said. �I had to tell
myself wow.�

�Are you saying,� Minaya was asked, �when he wrote the stories you were
suspicious about what he was trying to do?�

�No,� Minaya replied, �I�m saying I had to scuffle a lot when I made the
decision because I knew the person writing this has been lobbying myself and
others in the organization for a position in player development.�

�Coming from Adam Rubin,� Minaya added a minute later, �you have to
understand that Adam for the last couple of years has lobbied for a player
development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when
these things came up I had to think about it. I said we have to find out
about this.�

Minaya reached that conclusion even though he was aware of Rubin�s stated
interest in player development.

�When the stories came out,� Minaya said, �I had to look at the stories and
say look, I know who�s writing the stories, but I owe it to the organization
to make an even more thorough investigation and expedite the investigation.�
The Mets� human resources department, the general manager said, had begun
looking into Bernazard�s behavior even before the Daily News reports.

In response to a question, Minaya said he had never come across this sort of
scenario in any other organization he worked for.

At one point, Rubin, who was at the news conference, asked, �Are you
alleging that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job?�

�No, I�m not saying that,� Minaya said. �All I�m saying is that in the past
you have lobbied for a job. You have told people in the front office that
you want to work in the front office.�

�Over the years,� Minaya added, �he said he would like to work in the front
office, in my front office, not only me but he has asked others.�

Again Rubin asked if Minaya was saying that he had a �personal stake� in
what he wrote about Bernazard, and Minaya said, �I am not suggesting that.�

When the news conference ended, reporters surrounded Rubin, who suggested
that perhaps Bernazard had given Minaya the idea to say what he had.

Is Omar lying, I asked Rubin. Anybody who says he was asking for a job is
lying, Rubin said. �The most forward I think I have ever been,� Rubin began,
then stopped and began again, �There may be some e-mail somewhere that they
dig up, but my intention was always how do you go about doing this? That was
always my intention and nothing more than that.�

Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said,
�The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35
years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in
the past how do you get into that.�

Rubin said he had asked people from all 30 teams how one gets into the
baseball business, but someone who has covered baseball for more than five
years, as Rubin has, should not have to ask how. It has all been there in
front of him.

Much of what Rubin said sounded like good old spin. The saddest thing he
said was �There is no conflict of interest.�

But of course there�s a conflict of interest. I�m not suggesting that Rubin
wrote the stories to undermine Bernazard, but whatever his intention was in
speaking to Mets� officials about working in baseball Rubin created a
situation that raised questions about his motives. That�s certainly how
Minaya saw it, and he was justified in thinking that way. Rubin was wrong
for not understanding it.

I sent an e-mail to Leon Carter, the Daily News sports editor, asking if he
thought Rubin was guilty of a conflict of interest. He did not reply.
Instead I received the newspaper�s statement from the editor-in-chief,
Martin Dunn.

�This was a well-reported, well-researched, exclusive story, and it�s a
shame that the Mets deemed fit to cast aspersions on our reporter instead of
dealing with the issues at hand. We stand by Adam 1,000%.�

The Mets, of course, did deal with the issues at hand. They fired Bernazard.
But the Daily News editor-in-chief did not deal with the conflict of
interest so I sent another e-mail on the conflict question but got no
further reply.

In the meantime, Minaya and Jeff Wilpon came to the press box for news
conference Part II. Minaya apologized not for what he said but for when he
said it. �That was not a proper forum for me to raise those issues,� he said.

I disagree. That was the absolutely right forum. When else? When no one was
paying attention any longer?

A few years ago I defended and supported Rubin when a few of his colleagues
on the Mets� beat attacked him for what they considered a soft interview
with Art Howe, the team�s manager whom the other writers didn�t like. They
were wrong because it was a legitimate interview. In this instance, all of
the other writers and columnists are virtually certain to side with Rubin
against the Mets because the way most reporters think the writer is always
right and the team wrong. In my view, though, Rubin was wrong because yes, Adam, it was a conflict of interest.

[Guest Edgy DC]

As a reporter, you're right. You want the story.

As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy.

I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points.

The man would have been smarter to keep suspicions about Rubin to himself and now the organziation has been ill-served.

[metirish]

I do find it interesting to read what Chass and other journalists like PGIM have to say on this.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Chass certainly makes Minaya's statements a lot clearer than they came out his mouth.

[Gwreck]

They're also accepted as face-value true, which I found odd.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

"I've got a brilliant president here that we all respect, but we wince painfully when he goes off talking points. "

I understand your point. But we LIKE when they go off the talking points because you get a better picture of what a person -- politician or baseball executive -- is really like as opposed to how he's being packaged.

Omar should have known better than to have brought Rubin into it, and it was unprofessional. And Rubin should have known better than to have entered the fray.

I didn't have a problem with him asking Omar to clarify what he was actually trying to accuse him of, because goodness knows it was a jumbled mess. But when Rubin tossed out the "despicable" line, he crossed the line.

And that's a shame, because I think he's the best Mets beat reporter our there. He can let his opinion people use that line instead.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

]Explaining his desire to find out about working in baseball, Rubin said, �The way newspapers are going we all need to look out for ourselves. I�m 35 years old. I�m thinking about the next 30 years of my life. I�ve asked in the past how do you get into that.�

Kinda the dirty little secret of the sports press these days-- with major papers slouching toward obsolescence, EVERYONE who's at all savvy has to be asking themselves this, no?

[metirish]

I for one have lost respect for Rubin . I do dread a Jon Harper taking over the beat if it came to that, or a Bondy.

I like Lennon more anyway but Newsday the paper is a mess to read and the website just as bad.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

"Dig up an email" doesn't sound too good. Crazy for Omar to be trying to put 2 and 2 together but I suppose Rubin did open the door for this kind of speculation as off-base and poorly-timed as it was.

Here's what Marty Noble told me about Jeff Wilpon by the way. "You don't have to be his friend but you wouldn't want to be his enemy."

[Guest Edgy DC]

How hot is that next chatroom going to get?

[ashie62]

ESPN'S PTI Kornheiser-Minaya goes Wilbon-he stays

[bmfc1]

Tweets from CF say that Jeff Wilpon apologized on behalf of the organization. So that's 2X the Mets have convened the press to discuss what they said. Well done Mets!

NYPost_MetsJeff Wilpon spoke to reporters again today to give yet another Omar Minaya confidence vote: "Omar is our GM. He's going to be our GM."

[Mex17]

="Edgy DC":2irgauv7]As a fan, I want the organziation I support to be representing itself with it's best face. And a guy who got his job by climbing up the talent evalutation ranks but seems indifferently educated outside of baseball may not be that guy. [/quote:2irgauv7] Both of the Boston assistants that I have been touting the past few days have Master's degrees. Just sayin.

Edgy DC Jul 28 2009 05:58 PM

They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down.

TheOldMole Jul 28 2009 07:40 PM

Omar seems to fairly inept at firing people gracefully. This is not the worst flaw to have.

[Guest Edgy DC]

They may consider a press secretary job with the Mets --- greater team though they may be --- a step down.