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Exhibit 247H-921.5.7 that the Mets organization is running beyond repair comes from Buster Olney's blog today. Buster imparted the following, in his moves,deals and decisions section:
Part of the unusual nature of the Mets' offseason has been the fact that general manager Omar Minaya has never been given a budget. As the baseball operations powers have been evaluating possible strategies, the executives haven't been able to cast these choices against the context of how much money is available. On almost all teams, the talent evaluators are given a budget and then paint within those lines, dispersing the dollars according to the needs. The Mets' front office, on the other hand, is making its recommendations to Jeff Wilpon on a case-by-case basis, without knowing whether it is yet bumping up against a financial ceiling, or knowing how to prioritize the current needs for pitching or catching. "You need to start with a budget," said one talent evaluator. "And then you work from there. This really makes it much more difficult." In many cases, Wilpon has been the lead negotiator for the Mets this offseason, and not Omar Minaya -- reinforcing the belief in some corners of the organization that Minaya is one extended losing streak removed from being fired.
Come again? In what way is managing a payroll without knowing the budget a strong financial move? So, Minaya is going to go out and say, "what the hell, let's throw... hmmm... $5 million at Francoeur today and see what the big guy says," without having a clue how close he is to Wilpon's monetary threshold. Does Minaya have to just keep trucking along, spending money until Wilpon steps in and tells him to pump the brakes?
On top of that, Omar's power within the organization must be evaporating fast if Wilpon is doing the negotiating and giving the okay for all personnel moves. That puts the Mets in a Jerry Jones type scenario where the ownership assumes control of the ship and everybody else is a figurehead. The dysfunction in the Mets organization is reaching new, before unseen bounds this year. This situation opens the door for a stranger one: Wilpon has a precise budget, he just isn't sharing it with the GM. Then he let's Omar do the dirty work and put together figures and locate players, then Wilpon chooses the course of action. Simpler, Omar crunches numbers, Wilpon gets to play with them, Omar takes the fall in the long run.
Imagine you're given a house in a sweepstakes. Hey, here's your house, we'll pay for any renovations you make up until a certain point, but we're not telling you where. What do you do then? How do you prioritize one job versus another? Putting in a new kitchen (Molina) would be fantastic, but can you really go without fixing that bathroom (Pinero), and what about the electrical issues (Filling the bench) all cracks in the foundation (farm system). Without a budget, there's no way to know where to start.
I am driving the non-Mets-fan car in the Fire Omar Minaya bandwagon and even I think he's destined to fail with such a organizational dynamic in place. Look at the example above, Bengie Molina rejected the Mets offer today (yes, the one we all thought he signed). Now the focus shifts on Joel Pinero. Omar has no idea how much money there is for Molina and Pinero; if he wants to sign one, will there be money for the other? If Buster's insight is true, then I have as much of a clue as Minaya does. That's a problem of the highest order and something we've come to expect from our Flushing rivals.
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