Fred Wilpon: Omar and Jerry Back in the Saddle in 2010

The Post is reporting that Fred G. Wilpon (the "G" stands for grission) had a one question press conference yesterday where he made it known throughout the land that Omar Minaya is his guy for 2010. After following up, the Post reports that Minaya remarked that Jerry is his guy.

These sorts of endorsements are of course notorious for not meaning much. I suppose this may play out any number of ways.

Perhaps the worst possibility for Mets fans is that, as others have speculated, the old man has a genuine fondness for Minaya and is simply giving him a mulligan based on this season's injuries. A slightly more cynical possibility is that the Wilpons are simply sticking with Omar because they are simply unable and/or unwilling to take on the expense of overhauling the entire operations. A truly cynical possibility is that the Wilpons want Omar out, but would rather subtly pressure him to resign on his own in order to reduce their liability for his recent contract extension. Having seen precisely this scenario play out between the Knicks and Larry Brown, where there was ambiguity about whether Brown was fired or resigned, this is hardly far-fetched. The Wilpons might leave Minaya as the titular head while undermining his decision-making authority, perhaps delegating more responsibility to Assistant GM, John Ricco. He has certainly become more public in recent months as multiple media sources have speculated that he is the heir apparent to the GM job.

For long-suffering Mets fans that last scenario should really frighten you. The biggest accidents happen in the middle of the road. That is, when organizations carelessly blend different organizational philosophies--often motivated by dreams of cost savings--you can get the worst kinds of decision-by-committee outcomes.  The chances of seeing real reform in organizational philosophy seem remote right now. So prepare yourselves to be long-suffering just a little while longer.