Since both GMs have been under fire by the fans but has gotten extensions, who is worse? This isn't a Yankee/Met thing, it is the disappointing delusion that the ownership of these two teams are in
Omar Minaya has got to be the biggest idiot I ever seen run a team. I can't believe you guys gave that moron an extension. To be fair, Cashman isn't all that great either.
I think Cashman is a good GM, so it's not him. I also think Minaya isn't terrible. Maybe not the best, but he's not the worst. Both teams' results are products of diva glam. As GMs in the richest city in the nation, you're going to spend large amounts of money to get the "best" players. You'll also trade away young talent to get to the big dance "right now". I know it's hard for fans to look realistically at their teams right now, given both should be playing right now. However, you really have to look around and see where the blame really belongs. It is on the shoulders of the 40+ players who put on caps with the letters NY on them this year. Both teams had a plethora of talent, they just failed the execution. I find it hard to blame a GM for that. If you forced me to choose one or the other, I'd pick Minaya as the worse of the two. Given a legitimate choice though, I'd pick neither.
Did you see the Mets bullpen this year? Granted it isn't his fault that Wagner got hurt but it is his fault that he didn't have a viable replacement anywhere in the organization. Really the only good Minaya has done for this team was overpaying for Pedro and Beltran(I still consider Pedro a good move even though it is very debateable) and being patient enough to steal Santana. I think Cashman is a good GM and I would take him in a heartbeat over Minaya.
The Mets' bullpen was clearly a problem, there's no getting around that. However, can the entire season's outcome truly be blamed solely on the bullpen? (Perhaps it can. I don't watch much of the Mets. It is a team game though, and losing 73 games takes effort on more than one position's part.) I just think both guys are given more than their fair share of crap for the teams' failures. Are they free of any guilt? Not by any means. However, pointing at them as the sole reason these two teams failed is silly, IMO. (And I'm not saying anyone here is squarely blaming these guys, but a lot of fans of both teams are.) Would I take Cashman over Minaya? Yes. That's not biased, that's honest. The reason being, all of the inflated contracts he's issued have been a result of front-office mandate. Minaya is willing to throw cash at anyone simply because he has the access to the checkbook. If Cashman has more control over who he brings in, he's arguably one of the best GMs in the sport.
It's not only the bullpen. Minaya is responsible for the black holes in the lineup at second base and catcher, and is also responsible for the adventures in LF (since he was foolish enough to count on having Alou with no backup plan). He deserves credit for signing Reyes and Wright at reasonable prices, and he probably underpaid (in terms of players) for Santana, but it's difficult to find any other acquisitions that were not terrible or obvious and the result of overpaying (I don't have any particular objection to overpaying - signing Pedro and Beltran were definitely the right things to do - but it is not inherently the sign of a good GM).
That's definitely fair. I'm not saying the guy is amazing or anything, but I don't think he's the worst either. The Mets should definitely have won at least another 10-15 games with the roster they had. Same for the Yankees. That is really my point. The GM gets a lot of blame, but at some point, some blame has to be on the players who take the field every night. I think both rosters have sort of received a free pass because of people like the managers and GMs. I just think there's more blame to go around.
About the only thing I can say in favor of Omar is that the Mets ownership is so stupid I would be worried that his replacement would be even worse then he is. I mean, is there a bigger joke in sports then the Wilpons? From the way the Willie thing was handled, to the idiotic scheduling of the Shea goodbye to the 2nd straight year of failing the last couple of weeks with no one held accountable yet again.
It's got to be Omar..... Hmm lets see 13 Division titles 6 AL Pennants 4 World Series vs 1 Division Championship and 2 epic failures, oh and firing Willie at 3 AM following a win in California.......... No Brainer
