New York Mess, er Mets: Minaya accuses beat writer of trying to get VP of Player Development fired

[TooLiveBrew]

I have no idea what to say.

 

In short, the Mets' VP of Player Development Tony Bernazard was fired today, after several ugly incidents, and with seemingly every player in the organization -- minors to majors -- happy to see him leave.

 

Mets VP for player development Tony Bernazard has been fired. Mets GM Omar Minaya made the move official at a press conference at Citi Field Monday afternoon.

The Daily News broke the story this past week of the 52-year-old Bernazard's over-the-top antics, which included a July 1 incident where Bernazard removed his shirt and challenged the Binghamton Mets to a fight while using a slang term for a part of a woman's anatomy to single out players.

On a recent homestand, Bernazard also ripped into the team's baseball operations manager, Adam Fisher, with a profanity-laced tirade after Fisher suggested to Bernazard that he wait until the end of a half-inning to take a seat occupied by an Arizona Diamondbacks scout.

Bernazard also nearly came to blows with closer Francisco Rodriguez on the team bus after an 11-0 loss in Atlanta.

Minor-league players described Bernazard's tactics as semi-tyranical, with Bernazard constantly reminding staff and players he had the power to fire them.

 

But that's not the strange part (honestly). During the press conference announcing the decision, Minaya accused beat writer Adam Rubin of submarining Bernazard in order to get his job. You can almost see on Minaya's face his own realization that, 'Yeah, I guess I'm actually going to say this & make this allegation.' Absolutely unbelievable, and I for one would be shocked if Minaya keeps his job through the end of the 2009 season.

 

I apologize, as I can't figure out how to embed the video clips in this post. I'd ask any moderator to do so if possible, or any other user to just post them if possible.

 

SNY.tv multimedia page

-- Watch at least these two clips, and in this order: 1) "Minaya on Bernazard firing" ... 2) "Rubin responds to Omar's accusation"

 

 

EDIT: Deadspin's take, "Minaya Calls Out Daily News Reporter; Mets' Season Descends Further Into Farce"

[jwill535]

Omar and Tony are BFFs, which is why he was so mad.

[Oldcity]

Minaya won't be fired. This is the organization that extended him during last season, before yet another collapse. He seemingly can't do anything to get fired.

[TooLiveBrew]

Good points, Stevo... I guess if there's anything he could do (short of punching the Wilpons in the faces) to get fired, this is it.

[Eileen Wright]

I saw Minaya on the MLB Network tonight. Does he dye his hair (it looked blonde to me), and if so, what rational man his age does this?

[JoeHova]

Minaya won't be fired. This is the organization that extended him during last season, before yet another collapse. He seemingly can't do anything to get fired.

Another way to look at it is that he assembled a team that should have made the playoffs in 3 consecutive seasons.

[endaround]

Yeah but they didn't and whats left after this year looks to be really bad. Minaya could be looking to get fired before his contract expires so he doesn't have the collapse on his record

[JoeHova]

Yeah but they didn't and whats left after this year looks to be really bad.

I somewhat disagree. They still have Wright, Beltran, Reyes, Johan, and K-Rod. The rebuilding shouldn't take too long. They don't have many bad contracts (only Oliver Perez) and they have the ability to field an enormous payroll. Their minor league system is not as good as it could be but it's not barren either (Sickels has it about average).