By Connor Adams Sheets
On Monday, the day after the New York Mets ended the 2010 season with a 79-83 record despite spending $136 million on payroll, the organization officially announced that Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel will not be returning next spring.
Minaya was relieved of his duties as executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager, and the club will not exercise its option on Jerry Manuel’s contract as manager, the team said in a statement.
“The buck stops here, so I take responsibility for all the failures on the field,” Mets CEO and owner Fred Wilpon said at a news conference held Monday afternoon at Citi Field. “We’re going to hire a new general manager, and he will hire a new manager.”
Assistant General Manager John Ricco will run the team’s baseball operations department while the team searches for a new general manager. The new general manager will work with the team’s ownership to identify and hire a new manager.
“We are extremely disappointed in this year’s results and the failures of the past four seasons,” Jeff Wilpon, Mets chief operating officer, said in a statement. “We need to hire a new general manager with a fresh perspective who will transform this club into a winner that we want and our fans deserve.”
Fred Wilpon said that it is “unacceptable” for a New York sports team to do anything other than win, so he and his son Jeff had to make the tough decision to shed Minaya and Manuel.
“I very much look forward to 2011 and beyond,” he said. “I look forward to the challenges. We will try to get to where the management wants to be, where this organization wants to be, and most importantly where the fans want to be.”
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
