Omar Minaya, New York Mets and the Most Inept Franchises in Sports
At the end of another season of Major League Baseball there are many of the same old winners and losers. The Yankees and Phillies are on top. Guess who's on the bottom: familiar faces.
Whether its baseball, football, basketball or hockey, some franchises just seem to make the wrong decision every year.
Here is the ranking of professional sports' biggest culprits.
No. 10: Cleveland Browns
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The Browns haven’t been totally inept since their return to the NFL in 1999. They did manage to make the playoffs in 2002.
But the woeful inconsistencies in the front office have led to a slew of personnel mishaps. They’ve changed leadership so often, and not just head coaches. From Dwight Clark to Butch Davis to Phil Savage and George Kokinis and now the Tom Heckert/Mike Holmgren team.
That instability is a main reason why practically none of their top draft choices lasted. Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, Gerard Warren, William Green, and Kameron Wimbley were all busts while Brady Quinn, Kellen Winslow Jr., and Braylon Edwards were shipped out of town before they could deliver anything substantial.
And there would figure to be another front office shakeup on the horizon: How long can Eric Mangini and Mike Holmgren really coexist?
No. 9: Florida Panthers
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After their improbable run to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1995-96 the Panthers have reached the playoffs just twice. And in those two series losses (‘96-‘97 and ‘99-‘00) they managed to win just one game.
Worse yet, they went the entire decade of the 2000s without a playoff appearance. Head coach Peter DeBoer has done a respectable job since taking over in 2008, as the team’s record is over .500.
But without another playoff trip soon, Florida might be looking for its seventh coach since 2000.
No. 8: Seattle Mariners
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Back in the early part of the last decade, the Mariners appeared to be the model franchise. In 2000, to keep from paying his huge salary, they traded away the franchise’s centerpiece, Ken Griffey Jr., then posted a team-record 91 wins to qualify for the wild card.
A year later, Alex Rodriguez left for his $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers and they set a league record by winning 116 games. Pulling Ichiro Suzuki out of Japan was a brilliant move by general manger Pat Gillick.
But since then, mistakes like signing free-agent busts Adrian Beltre and Jarrod Washburn, along with the renting of Cliff Lee for half a season, were only outdone by their terrible record since their incredible 2001 season. They have yet to return to the postseason and after a minor resurgence in 2009, when they won 85 games, they slipped back to 100-loss territory in 2010.
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No. 7: Los Angeles Clippers
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The only think keeping owner Donald Sterling from presiding over the worst franchise in sports is that 2005-06 playoff appearance. Aside from that the Clippers have been an embarrassment since, well, forever.
Elgin Baylor doesn’t deserve the rap for this one. Yes, during his 22 years, the Clippers won exactly one playoff series and lost 500 more games than they won. But how often did they rush out to sign big time free agents.
Although he is the one who drafted Michael Olowokandi first overall in 1998.
No. 6: Cleveland Indians
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Like the Mariners, the Indians have fallen hard since their late 1990s, early 2000s mini-dynasty. They were great at moving around parts and re-inventing themselves year after year. 2001 was the best example: they lost Manny Ramirez, they brought in Juan Gonzalez and reached the postseason.
And after a few near misses, they returned to the playoffs in 2007, behind the strength of a fantastic rotation. But it’s been all downhill from there as they’ve neared 100 losses the past two seasons.
Their rough patch hasn’t been nearly as long as most other franchises. But the fact that, in consecutive seasons, they were forced to trade away Cy Young Award winners C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, proves that someone is making some bad decisions.
Like most of the downtrodden franchises, it’s all about saving money, which leads directly to an inept product on the field.
No. 5: Dallas Cowboys
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The Cowboys win, yes. They’ve even qualified for the playoffs in three of the last four years.
But for all the money they spend and for all recent talk about the Cowboys being “the most talented team in the NFL” there’s something grossly inept about a team that celebrates the fact that they finally won a playoff game for the first time in more than a decade.
Jerry Jones, the owner, moonlighting as the general manager in this day and age of NFL specialization, is one of the more absurd facts in professional sports. And the perennial “will he fire Wade Philips?” debate is getting terribly old.
No. 4: New York Mets
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Like the Cowboys, the Mets seem to think spending money brings about a championship. As the Florida Marlins proved twice from 1997-2003, that isn’t necessarily the case. (Although the Yankees and Red Sox are an argument for high priced salaries).
It’s not that the Mets spend too much money, it’s that they spend it on the wrong players.
First there was the Mo Vaughn fiasco. Then Carlos Beltran has not become the player they hoped. Johan Santana hasn’t been nearly as dominant with the Mets as he was in Minnesota. And K-Rod has caused more headaches for the front office than he has for opposing batters.
And aren’t they still paying Bobby Bonilla’s contract?
No. 3: Buffalo Bills (Tie)
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It’s sad what happened to arguably the most well run franchise in the NFL during the 1990s. After completely revamping their team following the early 1990s dynasty, they were crushed by the “Music City Miracle” in January 2000.
Since then, they really haven’t competed at all for the AFC East or even a Wild Card. Their coaching instability is part of the problem: Neither Wade Philips, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, nor Dick Jauron proved to be the right choice.
Just the fact that a move to Toronto has ever been mentioned is a testament to the Bills' woes. Whether it’s their own fault or just bad luck, the Bills were far and away the worst franchise in the AFC for the entire decade of the 2000s. And giving Rob Johnson $25 million because he played one good game with the Jaguars defines insanity.
Despite a few good efforts early this season, Chan Gailey’s team is 0-4 and staring at the first pick in the draft.
No. 3: Detroit Lions (Tie)
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Lions fans should have prepared for a nightmarish decade when Barry Sanders announced his (premature) retirement prior to the 1999 season.
It only got worse when the Ford family brought in Matt Millen the next year to run the franchise. His first season, the team showed promise, finishing 9-7 and just missing out on the postseason.
But when the Marty Mornhinweg era began a year later it was all down hill. Along with the 0-12 there was Mornhinweg's brilliant decision to elect to kick off at the start of overtime. No coach who followed—especially Rod Marinelli, captain of the 0-16 regular season in 2008—did any better. And the Lions won just 42 games the entire decade.
But by far the greatest display of ineptitude was the repeated mistakes on draft day. Charles Rodgers was a wide receiver bust, so they drafted Roy Williams, who (at least in Detroit) was a bust. And when Williams didn't work out, they drafted another Williams to play wide receiver: USC's Mike Williams, who was an even bigger disappointment than Roy.
Not every draft choice by Millen and company was wrong: they finally got it right with Calvin Johnson at wide receiver. And with Millen having been dismissed in 2008, the future has certainly become brighter. Matthew Stafford, Jahvid Best and Ndamukong Suh might be future All-Pros.
But for the entire decade of the 2000s, the Lions were a laughingstock.
No. 2: New York Knicks
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Since 2004, it seems that every decision made by owner James Dolan and GM Donnie Walsh has been wrong. The Knicks have not reached the playoffs, they’ve endured the disastrous Isaiah Thomas era, the disastrous Larry Brown era, and they have very little on the horizon today.
Mike D’Antoni was a good acqusition for the club, as was the blockbuster addition of Amar'e Stoudemire. But Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, and Penny Hardaway didn’t exactly work out either.
No one really thought LeBron would choose to go to Madison Square Garden.
No. 1: Pittsburgh Pirates
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The longest consecutive losing team in sports. The Pirates have not broken .500 since their heartbreaking loss to the Braves in the 1992 NLCS. Not only that, they haven’t even been close. Since 1993, they’ve lost 90-plus games nine times.
(Author’s Note): The Kansas City Royals have gone even longer without a trip to the postseason. But at least they’ve had a few winning seasons since they won the Series in 1985. They haven’t suffered the same type of free agent disasters as the Mariners or Mets. And they haven’t routinely dealt away All-Star talent the way the Cleveland Indians have. In today’s era of revenue-sharing, the Royals are content with being a second-tier club. That may piss off their fans, but it’s not because of ineptitude.)
And as far as a managerial instability, the Pirates take the cake. Jim Leyland left in 1996 (and, of course won a World Series two years later with the equally, small-market Florida Marlins) and since then, four other Pirates managers have been hired and fired. This offseason they will look for John Russell’s replacement.
Pittsburgh has not been without talented players. Jason Kendall, Brian Giles, Jason Bay, and Freddy Sanchez have each been All-Stars. Naturally, they were shipped out of town for very little in return.
It’s the pitching conundrums that have been most maddening. Kris Benson was a complete bust, despite being a No. 1 overall pick. And after a great rookie year in 2005, Zach Duke has regressed every year.
At least Pittsburgh sports fans have the Steelers and Penguins to keep them happy.
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