On Tuesday, the Mets inexplicably gave their GM, Omar Minaya, a four year contract extension despite not having won anything. Some would suggest that this was the Wilpon's way of telling Minaya he was doing a good job and we want stability during this crucial time in the season. Others suggest that the players would feel a sense of security knowing that Minaya would be their GM for the foreseeable future. Then there are others, such as myself, who see this as a ridiculous move. One that suggests that the Wipons are satisfied with mediocrity as long as the turnstiles keep turning at the Stadium.

How do you reward a GM who hasn't won anything yet? The Mets have made the playoffs one year while under Minaya, and they'll be lucky to make it two years if they can stave off the Brewers. Even if they do make the playoffs, that is a success rate of 50%. The players could care less about the security of their GM other than those washed up veterans that Minaya signed because they were Latino and no one else wanted them.

I did find it rather ironic that the Wipons borrowed a page from Minaya's book, and signed him to a four year extension, similar to what Minaya did when he signed Castillo for four years...and we all know how well that has turned out. And as for the argument that the Mets may have extended Minaya so he doesn't mortgage the future by trying to "win now" next season, a one year extension added to his existing one remaining year would have sufficed.

So Minaya has been rewarded for signing washed up players like John Rodriguez, Jose Lima, Aaron Sele, Sandy Alomar Jr., et al. He's been rewarded for leaving the minor league system bare (as he did in Montreal). He's been rewarded for signing a washed up Luis Castillo to a four year deal. He's been rewarded for relying on aging veterans such as Moises Alou and El Duque Hernandez, and Jose Valentin, and Julio Franco (all of whom are receiving paychecks from the Wilpons). He botched the Randolph firing...never mind the fact that he fired Willie while he was in his pajamas, but the fact that it took as long as it did was disgraceful. Minaya has been rewarded for putting together a dreadful bullpen. In fact, it was terrible last year, and he actually succeeded in making it worse this season.

Sure he acquired Johan Santana. I won't go so far as to say that all of his moves were awful...I'll simply say that most of his moves were awful. Bringing in Pedro and Beltran was a good thing, but Minaya was able to pull those moves off because of his heritage, not because of his skills as a GM. If you'll recall, Carlos Delgado signed with the Marlins instead of the Mets because he accused Minaya of using his heritage as a way of trying to sign him.

The Mets have been over .500 since Minaya took over, but part of that is because they play in a division where the Marlins don't spend money, the Nationals are still trying to recover from being the Expos, who were foolishly run by MLB itself, and the Braves after all of those winning seasons, are in a rebuilding mode. The Mets have been good, but not good enough to find their way into the World Series. Oh, and there's the matter of that little collapse that happened last season under Omar Minaya...perhaps you heard about it. Way to go Mr. Wilpon...you just rewarded your GM for doing a mediocre job. Even more ironic...the man who does deserve an extension, Jerry Manuel, is still on the fence.


Court Adjourned!