July 28, 2009, Omar Minaya firing Tony Bernazard story for Metro NY Newspaper
Minaya the maniac
Mets fire team exec.; GM loses control, calls out reporter
Here are a few ways Omar Minaya can get this story to go away:
1 Trade for Roy Halladay: Give the fans something bigger to talk about.
2 Ask his team to start winning: A crazy and foreign concept for the Mets.
3 Go shirtless: That seems to be the dress code.
From Bernazard to the bizarre. A season that has been an unmitigated disappointment took a turn for the worse yesterday.
The Mets finally fired vice president of player development Tony Bernazard, who had reportedly showcased some outlandish behavior as of late. Mets general manager Omar Minaya, who made the announcement before the team's 7-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, was just getting started.
Minaya then dropped a bombshell allegation against Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin. Minaya implied that Rubin, who broke the story of Bernazard’s tirade with minor league players, wrote the story so Bernazard would be fired and he could take his job.
“You have to understand this. Adam has, for the past couple of years, has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself, he has lobbied Tony. So when these things came out, I had to think about it,” Minaya said.
“Over the years he said a number of times that he would like to work in the front office.”
Rubin, who has covered the team since 2003, denied any wrongdoing.
“I’m floored. I don’t know how I’m going to cover the team,” Rubin said. “I would ask him how you would go about pursuing a job in baseball. But that was the extent of it. It’s so deplorable that he would dreg that up like that.”
It’s now Bernazard’s turn to pursue a new job in baseball. Stories surfaced about Bernazard’s behavior during the Mets’ 13-day road trip following the All-Star break. He reportedly ripped off his shirt and challenged the Double-A Binghamton Mets to a fight in the clubhouse after a game.
Another report said he had to be separated from closer Francisco Rodriguez on the team bus while the two exchanged angry words.
“There were issues that were interpersonal value issues,” Minaya said.
The GM said that the organization was going to fill the opening internally. Bernazard had an unusual amount of freedom within the organization. He was close to COO Jeff Wilpon and was often in the clubhouse. Minaya implied that the next VP of player development would not have the same access. The GM noted that he was disappointed as to the investigation’s findings, but that he did not lament hiring Bernazard as he was a “big part of (the Mets’) success.” Minaya hinted that there were other incidents uncovered in the investigation, but would not go into specifics.
“Based upon what I saw in the report, there were issues there were issues, interpersonal value issues with our staff (and) some (incidents) outside the organization,” Minaya said. “It was a difficult decision to make. That being said, I felt that for this organization (being) where we are today that I had to let Tony Bernazard go.” Later, Minaya emphatically stated that it was his “decision to let Tony Bernazard go.”
Heated words
Minaya and Rubin had a tense exchange during the news conference. Rubin asked the GM if he was “alleging that (Rubin) was trying to tear Tony down to take his job, is that what you’re saying?” Minaya said, “No, no. I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is that when you wrote the report, that in the past you have lobbied for a job.”
In response, Rubin asked, “If I were interested in working in player development somewhere in the major leagues at some point in my life, how did it impact this situation at all?” A stammering Minaya replied, “I said because when the reports came out, I said ‘Who is writing these reports?’ But in the back of my mind, you have told me and you have told other people in the front office that you want to work in player development.”
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 3:25 PM
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