One week ago, Omar Minaya confidently emphasized the club’s patient approach to this off-season. Having lost the confidence of fans and the favorable press he once enjoyed, Minaya badly needs to be right. The future of the franchise is at stake.

So one week later, that patience thing better be working out.

It still could, but as the free agent talent pool shrinks the Mets self described patience meanders its way to dithering.

Gone now are players whom know how to win in Jason Marquis (Nationals), Garrett Atkins (Orioles) and Darren Oliver (Rangers). The Braves apparently are about to sign Troy Glaus to play first base. The once publically coveted Orlando Hudson is said to be talking to the Nationals as well.

As bad as it was last year, it’s hard to imagine how the last place Nationals are kicking the Mets ass so far this off-season. Nevermind the fact that they are closing the gap with Marquis, reliever Brian Burney and first ballot Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

Players are not afraid to go to the Nationals. They have alot the Mets cannot offer. The Nationals were an energetic, fun team to watch at the end of last season. They have a new manager and GM with a mandate. The Nationals offer a sense of certainty that their organization is moving in a positive direction. The Mets have nothing of the sort.

It’s being noticed, too.

Meanwhile the Mets signed journyman knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey. Most Mets’ observers went beyond a yawn to a snicker.

Minaya and the Mets are not going to be able to survive the negative perception that will come with the failure to secure the services of a Jason Bay. Unless that is they know something we don ‘t. As no one in the Mets hierchy talks to the NY print media anymore, this could easily be true.

The negotiations for Bay and Bengie Molina might simply be just business, and that in the end the Mets won’t be outbid for them. And maybe they know that the upgrades they seek in the rotation will come from a trade. See all those Cincinnati Reds rumors. Several starters remain unsigned such as Joel Pineiro and Jarod Washburn.

Right now there isn’t enough roster change that helps Jerry Manuel’s team to go into next season with any confidence. If the current perception of dithering manifests as reality, the narrative that emerges about 6 weeks from now in Port St. Lucie will not be pleasant.

Collectively, everyone will be waiting for the manager to get fired. The Wilpons will look like fools to have kept Omar Minaya around after last season while the Mets struggle to finish ahead of the Nationals in the NL East cellar.

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It’s clear that the Mets could have had Jason Marquis and at a price they might have found acceptable. Today’s report in the Daily News puzzles me:

The explanation coming from the Mets last night, via a club source, is that they are focused on offense first, as they continue negotiations with Molina and outfielder Jason Bay. As such they aren’t ready to negotiate with pitchers until they know how much it costs to add bats.

Really? You mean you don’t have salary already slotted for a starter and you cannot go after more need than once? How do you explain all your efforts to improve catching. All of those available now are going to go for about the same thing. A relaible veteran player who wants to play for the Mets should not have been dismissed so easily. If there was diagreement on Marquis, it must have been from somebody high up like Omar Minaya or Jeff Wilpon.

So the quote the John Harper got sounds like a cop out to deflect criticism. The Mets hypersensitivity toward what’s written about them in the newspaper far too often results in clearly disingenuous spin. The Mets just needed to be big boys and say that they had no interest in Marquis. Because if they were, letting him sign with the Nationals was a screw up.

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After yesterday’s take down, John Harper is protraying Omar Minaya as a shrewd operator.

One day a blade of grass, the next day a horses ass.

Now it appears Minaya is being lauded for his deliberate approach to trying to sign Jason Bay. And Harper is correct in observing that there are signs that the Mets could be bidding against themselves. The Red Sox have publically said they are moving on. Once the Mariners finish with their Cliff Lee deal, they could turn to Bay – a man who has made no secret of his desire to play in Seattle.

It might be that its just the Mets and Mariners. Bay really wants to play in Seattle, but the Mets have the best offer on the table. His agent could be using the Mets to get the best deal he came from the Mariners. It looks like Minaya senses this.

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Admittedly something has changed for me over the last week and I’ve been blogging about the Mets. And blogging alot ….and exclusively about them. I long ago lost the majority of folks who read my blog for baseball or Mets stuff when I plunged into politics. No doubt my right wing take turned many off. It was a plunge I took with my eyes wide open.

I know exactly when things changed for me. Adam Rubin’s stories about Tony Bernazard’s reign of terror throughout the organization during his tenure angered me. When Tom Romano told me two years ago about his run in with Bernazard it alerted me that things might not be going well with my old team. Willie Randolph’s demise and the whispers that came out in the media about Bernazard’s clubhouse meddling further signaled to me that this man was a dangerous force in the organization. The story of the abuse of the Binghampton club and the verbal assault on a front office colleague was my own final straw.

Bernazard was a tyrant and it was clear that he ruled by fear and intimidation. I just couldn’t believe that the Wilpons were either unaware or gave tacit approval to Bernazard’s management style. Either are unacceptable. They have some serious self assessment to do. Sadly it needs to begin with Omar Minaya’s dismissal and an overhall of baseball operations from bottom to top.

When I visited Port St. Lucie in 2006 I found myself drawn to the minor league complex and often spent most of the day there, only going back to the stadium to watch the game. Jay Horwitz had made the clubhouse off limits to me so I really couldn’t go there much. So I got to meet alot of the minor league staff and players. I realized just how much in common I had with them and how I identified with them as much as anyone. It was guys like them whom a bad actor like Bernazard would prey on.

I knew what kind of atmosphere that Bernazard must have been fostering. And yes, it did affect the major league club, too. One only need to realize that Francisco Rodriguez stood up to Bernazard in front of the whole team on the bus. Bernazard had entrenched himself in a way that it would take a player of that stature to take the bully on.

But the Wilpons and Minaya had to know how Bernazard operated and never lifted a finger until Rubin’s story broke. Maybe that’s what really behind Minaya’s shoot the messanger tact with Rubin. If Rubin hadn’t made Bernazard’s story public, he wouldn’t have had to fire him.

Worst for me is that this whole episode leaves the impression that the Mets are an organization that doesn’t treat its people well. It’s a curious combination of displeasure and desire. I can’t stand how things are going and badly want to see them do better.

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….reminds Mets fans that Omar Minaya knows talent.

I’ve always felt sorry for Pagan as the poor kid always seemed to be hurt. But tonight, Mets fans found out why scouts have always considered Pagan to be a five tool player. His 8th inning grand slam against the Diamondbacks maintgained hope for an organization badly in need of it.

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I open myself up to calls of hypocrisy as I’ve chosen to make some observations about the progress of Jose Reyes. Any criticism of me is fair as just two days ago I ripped Will Carroll for doing the same when he made some well thought comments about Carlos Beltran’s injury. Looking back, I feel that I was wrong to do so. Carroll has made it his business the last several years in researching injury trends in baseball. I’ll call this my Omar Minaya moment.

Now on to Reyes, but first an admission. I have no inside knowledge and have spoken with no person in the know. I will be making my comments based on published feedback and a simple time table.

Reyes was disabled on May 21, so by a realistic estimate Reyes has been out 8 weeks. For a hamstring injury of significance – like Reyes’ – this is not out of the ordinary. Keith Hernandez missed the same in 1988 for the same injury. After the first game back, he said he was sore. We naturally gave him the next day off.

Rehabilitaion and reconditioning techniques today are more eloborate today while having a better pool of knowledge. I’m sure Reyes’ hamstring has been MRI’d which gives the medical staff a visual of the area we would not have had available years ago. Importantly after 20 years of looking at these, we are far better at reading them. Essentially, they’ve got very good “looks” at it.

But a “look” is far different than what the patient tells you. Reyes tells the staff that he experiences tightness and that the tightness usually occurs after a few days of rehab. As running the bases for Reyes is the most important thing – different than it was for Hernandez – naturally he’s hesitant. So is the staff, as an aggravation now might doom his season.

Still, I’m confident that staff has already put through some tests which involved extreme “eccentric loading”. This is a lengthening of the muscle after shortening. In Reyes’ case its likely to have been a variety of jumping and landing drills. If the staff is attempting to get him to run the bases, Reyes has probably passed these eccentric loading tests.

To sum it up, he’s close. The next step will be for Reyes to run the bases successfully. His starts – both out of the box and on tha bases are the benchmarks that Reyes himself is gauging.

If I were involved with Reyes’ rehab, I would tell him what I would expect to see. And that is, he will find that he is able to do what he wants on the bases, albeit not at the level he desires right now. It may feel a little tight at times, but that’s to be expected as your muscles aren’t at the 110 % you want them to be. The tightness means you are working the area that needs to be worked. You will be sore tomorrow. And it will be something we expected.

I’m certain that the Mets’ staff is operating similarly.

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I was glad to see Fred Wilpon at the ballpark yesterday having a sitdown with Omar Minaya. I hope that he and his son read a Human Resources report which documented numerous incidents involving Tony Bernazard and that they realize that they have to do some serious damage control throughout the organization.

I’m not sure if I necessarily agree the negative reports which indicate there is a lack of talent in the system. But the extremely poor showing of the AA and AAA clubs is astonishing and speaks more to a culture of dysfunction. To have successful clubs at these levels isn’t entirely dependent on having alot of prospects. Clubs win championships here because they have winning players many of whom never will put on a major league uniform.

Every organization knows they need this core group of players and they are both appreciated and treated with the same respect as are prospects. It seems that under Tony Bernazard players like these were likely to have been treated contemptuously.

That’s why the Wilpons need to make sure they take a road trip around the organization to reaffirm their appreciation for everything everybody does. They should emphasize new leadership and direction. This simple gesture will create positive energy and will go a long, long way.

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For the five or six folks whom still read my drivel:

2:33: Mets win 7-0. Tim Redding finished up. Nice DP started again by Daniel Murphy. Like Gary said at the end, this can be the best day of the season if we can get tonight’s game.

2:22: To the 9th. We lead 7-0. They just showed Rockies coach Don Baylor. My own memory of Baylor come from the 1986 World Series when he almost hit me with a foul ball in the 3rd base dugout. I tripped and smashed face first into one of the polls. After I put ice on Gary Carter’s knee after the game, I held an ice bag over the right side of my face. A real big league dork moment.

2:02: Santana’s done, leaving with a 6-0 lead after 7. Bobby Parnell will relieve. That was my first look behind the scenes at Citi Field. Nice shot by SNY getting Santana walking up the runway. A Cora single and David Wright double makes it 7-0.

1:54: For those of you whom don’t already. You need to have Tim Dierkes’ MLB Trade Rumors minimized today. No other site covers it better.

1:50: Cory Sullivan’s had a nice game. Two hits – one a triple, an RBI. Three nice plays in leftfield. He can play CF, too, so their might be something to the talk that the Mets could move Jeremy Reed to the Rockies. They don’t need them both.

1:46: They’re talking about Bob Apodaca, the former Met and Rockies pitching coach. I had the proviledge of working with “Dac” in the 1983 season in Jackson AA Texas League. Great pitching coach-better person.

1:35: Gary and Ron spoke about Omar Minaya’s comments today and were disappointed that Minaya didn’t really “close the door” on the issue. And I am glad that Darling was very Mets get to 6-0 after an Angel Pagan triple.

1:30: Mets lead 5-0 after 5.

1:28: Santana just dove after a ball that got by first base and Ronnie said that when Santana is in the game “he seems to be the toughest guy on the field.” That’s high praise.

1:21: SI’s Jon Heyman reports that the Marlins are close to getting Heath Bell.

1:10: Cory Sullivan single-handedly kept the Rocks from scoring with two really good plays in left.

1:07: They’re saying how well Billy Wagner is doing well. What a great set-up guy Wagner would be for K-Rod.

1:04: Geez, I didn’t know Matt Cerrone was doing TV spots, too on SNY. What a major media star he’s becoming. Still, what an amazing rise in success from a man with a vision.

12:58: Santana’s 4th strikeout. He must be really filthy today as the Rocks are swinging and missing alot….and missing the ball by a mile.

12:53: Plug here for Gary, Ron and Keith’s web site

12:48: 5-0. Notice I had trouble decided how to spell drivel.

12:44: Ronnie talked about the squeeze play and that the hitter has to answer back. I however remembering that the Cubs during the 80′s required no such answer. They have just better get it down or the thing blew up. Plus, some clubs knew that Keith Hernandez was not only good an snuffing it out defensively, but he was good at stealing the sign from the manager in the dugout.

12:40: Cool. Five straight basehits. 4-0. Great to see Cory Sullivan and Angel Berroa get hits.

12:37: Four straight hits. Good guys lead 2-0. Ron’s complementing the offensive approach.

12:32: After running out to get a sandwich…..Murphy just doubled to lead off the 2nd…..Gary talked about the astonishing drop-off in stikeouts by Santana…..Francouer first pitch single to right…..Ron said its that there is a slight drop-off in velocity and that he’s missing inside. I wonder if its that Santana is trying to get more contact from hitters and getting deeper into the ball game.

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Good job by Jeff Wilpon yesterday by meeting a difficult issue head on. Amid all the criticism heaped upon him – including my own – he demonstrated leadership for an organization badly in need of it.
When Omar Minaya came to town, somehow he became the face of the franchise. For better or worse and whether or not it was intended it became the Mets’ reality. But while Minaya became famous for his interpersonal skills, his rock star status didn’t actually lead. The 2007 collapse, fueled by the meddling of Tony Bernazard who made Willie Randolph impotent, was the first sign that Minaya really wasn’t in charge.

An odd triumverate emerged between Minaya, Wilpon and Bernazard. Ironically not unlike the Davey Johnson coined three headed monster of Frank Cashen, Al Harazin and Joe McIlvaine of the 1980′s. Power sharing really doesn’t work – especially if no one realizes they’re actually sharing power. When everyone is in charge, no one is.

So it was an amazing 24 hours for the Mets. Bernazard’s ouster and Minaya’s meltdown forced Jeff Wilpon to take the reigns. It seemed that he did a very good job of it yesterday. At least for the time being Jeff Wilpon will need to be the face of the franchise he’s spent his entire adult life preparing to be.

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It would be easy to assume that Omar Minaya has been totally immersed in the Tony Bernazard incident and his ill-advised handling to be involved in any trade talks. But its likely that highly regraded assistant Jon Ricco has been ably making inquiries on the club’s behalf. It was Ricco whom made the inquiry with his Braves counterpart that brought Jeff Francouer to the Mets. The one time Braves phenom seemes to be retooling in a new environment with the help of Howard Johnson.

At any rate, the Mets need not be sellers unless its a player whom has no future with the club. That can easily be accomplished over the waiver wire in August. The most practical way to look at the Mets fortunes are to see that they will be acquiring some significant talent over the next few weeks. Their own. When Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner return.

No realistic assessment of the club can be made until the their talent is on the field. The removal of Tony Bernazard is a weight of significance of the shoulders off the entire organization that will be felt even at the major league level. One only need to look to the confrontation that occurred between Bernazard and K-Rod on the bus to see what kind drag Bernazard’s presence had been on the big club. My own sense is that K-Rod took on the bully for the team. It would have to be a player of his stature to do so.

I don’t think the Mets will be affected by the questionable status of Minaya. Liked and respected by players and coaches, Minaya also will not burden them with his problems. I would imagine that Minaya frequently may have had to play good cop to the volatile Bernazard with some players.

Still one club’s efforts over these next few hours are worth following as there is a match. The Tampa Bay Rays are reportedly be willing to deal Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford and Steve Kazmir to move some salary to possibly acquire Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee. Any or all three make sense and its conceivable that the Mets would get involved in a three-way deal.

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