NEW YORK — They have batter music clips. Why not owner clips? Or son-of-the-owner clips? When Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon stepped in front of the dugout Tuesday, Britney Spears’ “Circus” should have played.
These aren’t the Amazin’ Mets. They are the Amazin’ Mess. With each passing day, they are starting to make the L.A. Galaxy and Washington Redskins look like model franchises.
For those scoring at home: Monday, Mets general manager Omar Minaya fired good friend and assistant GM Tony Bernazard. Rather than explain why — there were about 150 reasons to can arguably the most disliked man in baseball — Minaya attacked the reporter whose stories led to Bernazard’s ouster.
Minaya, in a live news conference, said New York Daily News beat reporter Adam Rubin had lobbied for a job in player development. Minaya suggested that had motivated Rubin’s coverage of Bernazard. So Rubin held a presser, saying he had asked how someone gets a job in player development.
If Rubin talked specifics, he crossed the line, but Wilpon said Tuesday, “In terms of what Adam did with me, he did nothing wrong.” More on that later.
Minaya held a second news conference Monday to apologize — not for what he said but the forum in which he said it.
He made Nixon look like he was on a sedative during his interviews with David Frost. Minaya was clumsy, spiteful, acting more like a guy who lost his best friend than a GM.
The Mets run their organization based on the whims of public opinion. They deplore bad publicity. Yet, their GM, presented with a chance to clean up the Bernazard mess, stepped into another one with both feet.
Still, you figured, the Mets would hold firm. They would show Rubin.
And yet, there was Wilpon on Tuesday apologizing to Rubin, saying that Minaya would soon be apologizing to Rubin, acknowledging that his GM “made a large mistake.”
Then Wilpon gave Minaya a vote of confidence. So, in essence, he was there to announce that Minaya would remain his GM.
A news conference to say there’s no news? Anywhere else, that would be strange. For the Mets, it was just another sideshow in the circus.
