Delgado + Sloane = Crazy McCrazypants

by Eric Simon on Mar 6, 2005 11:45 AM EST

While quietly wishing all of this postgame commentary by Carlos Delgado and David Sloane would just go away, Bob Klapisch pens a great article in the Record today about just how nonsensical it all is. My favorite part:

Delgado, who ultimately picked the Marlins, now says the Mets treated him as a Latino instead of as a man - whatever that means. But the Mets' two top Latino stars, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, leapt to Minaya's defense Saturday and wondered out loud how Delgado could be so offended.

Pedro, in fact, refused to believe Delgado would even make such an assertion. That's how illogical it all seemed. What else was Minaya, a native of the Dominican Republic, supposed to do when courting Delgado, a Puerto Rican? Speak French? Delgado's postmortem pronouncements are being delivered by his publicity-addicted agent, David Sloane, who's having trouble recognizing that his client is signed and (presumably) happy as a Marlin, and needs to get on with his life, assuming he has one.

You should really read the rest of the article, as it's good for a few laughs and a little bit of enlightenment.

Klap makes a great point, though, RE: Delgado is already signed, is he not? The game has been over for six weeks now, and Delgado and Sloane are carrying on with their unprovoked mudslinging campaign against the Mets for reasons I can't seem to figure out. How classless can you be?

Whether these comments are coming from Delgado or Sloane or both is beside the point. I get the feeling that if they were coming strictly from David Sloane without Delgado's knowledge, Delgado would have different representation by now. Delgado is purportedly a very dignified, respectful man, who would not have his name attached to these rants if they didn't actually represent his own feelings. This whole charade is tiresome and amateurish, and I applaud the Mets for consistently taking the high road throughout this colossal waste of time.

The good news is that Andrew from Chuck 'n' Duck got his hands on one of the e-mails David Sloane sent to the media, so you can get the scoop straight from the horse's mouth. Or is it horse's ass? You be the judge.

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Seems like we have different takes on this story. I agree that it's utter silliness for Delgado's agent to keep pushing this story - it's only hurtful now.

But I feel that there's another angle to this: Did Minaya actually mishandle the courtship of Delgado? There's no way to know, of course - even if Minaya had done everything to Delgado's liking, he may still have gone to the Marlins. But if there's any truth at all to what Delgado is saying (and I think the "treated as an afterthought" issue is much more important that the "pushed the Hispanic connection too hard" issue), then does this raise any questions about Minaya's management?

by DavidNYC on Mar 6, 2005 6:47 PM EST reply actions

RE: Take

I have trouble holding against Omar Minaya the fact that he's not a mindreader. His "Latino connection" approach that apparently worked successfully in recruiting bigger stars Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, was certainly a reasonable approach in trying to convince Carlos Delgado to sign with the Mets as well.

Without being in the room with them, but knowing that Minaya is a very intelligent man and baseball person, I find it difficult to believe that if his Spanish-language apprach was going badly that Minaya would push the issue. I have to believe that he's tactful enough to switch gears if one course of action is failing.

Regarding the "afterthought" issue, if I recall correctly, Minaya & Co. were in Puerto Rico for the Carlos Beltran press conference and Delgado did not want to meet with them without his agent present. They met with him in a personal, non-business setting, so how Delgado considered that get-together an afterthought when he insisted they wait is also confusing.

I'm not saying that the Mets are faultless in the failure to sign Delgado, but considering his past success with big-name free agents this offseason, and the fact that the Mets are seemingly baffled by Sloane's & Delgado's grade-school antics, I'm throwing my support behind Minaya in this one-sided pissing match.

by Eric Simon on Mar 6, 2005 10:04 PM EST reply actions