The Omar Minaya Era: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As baseball fans know the Omar Minaya era has came to an end in New York after six years.  Though the Mets had one of the highest payrolls when Minaya was in office the team never really established themselves other than in 2006. 

As a Mets fan, I must say Omar did bring us some good times but he definitely brought us some bad times.  Minaya brought in the likes of Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran but on the other end he also brought in the likes of Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. 

So let's all take a look at the Minaya era in New York—the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good: Johan Santana

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SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 18: Johan Santana #57 of the New York Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on July 18, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Minaya acquired Johan in 2008 in a trade with the Minnesota Twins that sent Carlos Gomez, Phillip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra to the Twins. 

Santana signed a six-year contract with the Mets after the trade.

In his first three seasons with the Mets, Santana has gone 40-25 with an ERA of 2.85 with one All-Star game appearance.  Santana recently suffered a season-ending injury to his rotator cuff.  He has been injured at least once in all of his seasons with the Mets, but even after that he has still been the only starter that the Mets could count on every time he went out there.  

Santana is, who I believe to be, Minaya's greatest acquisition in office for the Mets.

The Good: Carlos Beltran and Delgado

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NEW YORK - OCTOBER 13: Carlos Delgado #21 and Carlos Beltran #15 of the New York Mets celebrate Delgado's two-run home run in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game two of the NLCS at Shea Stadium on October 13, 2006 in the Flushing

These two choices for good could be argued about.  Both these men were acquired by the Mets in Minaya's first year with the Mets. 

Beltran was signed through free agency while Delgado was acquired in a trade.

Beltran is still a member of the Mets while Delgado is now a member of the Red Sox organization. Beltran has been injured a lot during his tenure with the Mets, while Delgado was injured near the end of his Mets tenure. 

Beltran has appeared in four All-Star game since coming to the Mets and has hit .279 with 134 home runs and 493 RBIs. 

Delgado had two good seasons with the Mets in 2006 and in 2008 where he finished in the top 15 of MVP votes.  Minaya gets a round of applause from me for both of these acquisitions even though the two suffered injuries.

The Good: Pedro Martinez

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SAN DIEGO - JUNE 08: Pitcher Pedro Martinez #45 of the New York Mets throws a pitch against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park June 8, 2008 in San Diego, California. The Padres won 8-6. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

This was my most difficult choice of all.  Martinez could have gone into the bad section or the good section.  Martinez is in the good section because when healthy he pitched pretty well for the Mets.

Martinez was signed by the Mets in 2005, the same year they acquired Beltran and Delgado. 

In four seasons with the Mets, Martinez went 32-23 with a 3.88 ERA.  Martinez also appeared in two All-Star games as a member of the Mets. 

In Martinez's Mets career, he was frequently injured and missed a lot of games, the most being in 2007 when he only pitched in five games. Minaya did a solid job here in signing Martinez.

The Bad: Jason Bay

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 25: Jason Bay #44 of the New York Mets bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 25, 2010 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 1-0. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

This was a tough decision due to the fact that it has only been one year since his signing but due to his rough season he deserves a spot on the list.

The Mets signed Bay last off-season after an All-Star season with the Red Sox.  Bay was signed to a four-year deal with a fifth-year option. 

Bay hit .259 this season with six home runs and 47 RBIs.  I'm going to be optimistic in saying that in the future Bay could be moved to the good section after an All-Star type season next year.

The Bad: Luis Castillo

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ATLANTA - AUGUST 31: Luis Castillo #1 of the New York Mets against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on August 31, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Mets acquired Castillo in a deal halfway through the season in 2007 with the Twins.  If not for the long contract the Mets signed him to after the deal he would not even be featured on this list because the trade was actually a good deal.

Castillo's career stats as a Met include an average of .274 with 55 stolen bases and 105 RBIs.  One of the hardest moments in recent years for the Mets was that botched catch by Castillo against the Yankees that would lead to a walk-off win for the Yankees. 

Though Castillo's play has been solid in his Mets career, he gets a spot in the bad section of the list because Minaya signed him to a big contract towards the end of his career.

The Ugly: Francisco Rodriguez

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NEW YORK - AUGUST 14: Francisco Rodriguez #75 of the New York Mets enters the game in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 14, 2010 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Phillies de

Though Rodriguez had an All-Star first season with the Mets his life-changing season this year has put him into the ugly section of this list.

Rodriguez went 3-6 with a 3.71 ERA with 35 saves in 2009.  His play was greatly improving this season until a locker room altercation with his girlfriend's father. 

Rodriguez was arrested for the altercation and charged with third-degree assault.  Rodriguez apparently suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb during this altercation which would cause him to miss the rest of this season. 

I hope K-Rod can get his act back together because the all-time saves leader in a season is quite a closer.

The Ugly: Oliver Perez

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NEW YORK - MAY 09: Oliver Perez #46 of the New York Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field on May 9, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Perez was originally acquired by the Mets in 2006 in a trade with the Pirates that also sent Roberto Hernandez to the Mets and Xavier Nady to the Pirates.  In 2009, Perez was signed to a three-year, 36 million dollar deal.

Perez had had two solid seasons with the Mets prior to the past two seasons. 

In both seasons after his big deal, Perez has pitched subpar even going winless this season.  In the past two seasons his ERA averages at 6.81. 

With these rough seasons I believe Minaya's worst deal during his tenure as Mets GM goes to his 2009, 36 million dollar deal with Oliver Perez.