In Rick, Omar Trusts

By John Coppinger
Posted Friday, March 2, 2007

Remember the days when players would come to the Mets with impeccable credentials, and then drop off the face of the earth? Remember the George Fosters, the Dave Kingmans, the Bobby Bonillas of the world? I for one can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say: “How come all of these guys come to the Mets and immediately become useless?”

We, as Mets fans, are experiencing a unique time in our history. We are experiencing, for the first time, the opposite effect; when players come here with almost no credentials, or they come with credentials that have long since past, and they are immediately ....... successful. And it’s no accident.

It’s easy to say “In Omar We Trust”. And it’s true, because Omar Minaya is the guy that’s acquiring guys like Marlon Anderson (.237 in 2004 to .264 in 2005), Roberto Hernandez (4.76 ERA in 2004 to 2.58 in 2005), Chris Woodward (.235 in 2004 to .283 in 2005), Chad Bradford (3.86 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP in an injury plagued 2005 to 2.90 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP in 2006), Jose Valentin (.271 in 2006, his highest batting average since 2000), and Darren Oliver (3.44 ERA in 2006, his lowest full season ERA under 4 since 1994).

But if we trust Omar, who does Omar trust? One could surmise that the reason that Omar Minaya is so successful is that he knows he has the personnel on the bench that can turn players like this around. Mets fans have had to witness Leo Mazzone make magic for years with Atlanta. Now that Mazzone is with the Orioles, the mad genius of the division resides in New York.

Sure, who doesn’t make fun of Rick Peterson’s jacket, or his wavy locks, or his strange analogies? But give Peterson this: Whatever he’s doing, it’s working. One only needs to look at the Bradfords and the Olivers of the world to understand what Rick Peterson can do. But also look at what he’s doing with John Maine and Oliver Perez (Wednesday’s outing against the Tigers notwithstanding). Maine and Perez were throw-ins in their respective trades, and most likely they’re going to enter your season (oh, I’m sorry…I was over taken by the Mets marketing strategy I mean, the 2007 season) as two fifths of the starting rotation. It’s due in no small part to Rick Peterson making chicken salad out of chicken soup. Or something like that.

Perhaps this is why Minaya was a little more willing to let a guy like Chad Bradford go and take chances on pitchers like Ambiorix Burgos and Jon Adkins. There are still guys like Alay Soler (who looked strong on Wednesday) who Peterson is still working with in hopes of having yet another option if Maine and or Perez falter. Also, don’t forget Juan Padilla (who missed 2006 with an injury to his throwing elbow) and sidearmers such as Joe Smith (he of the wicked slider) and Steve Schmoll (he of the…well he’s a sidearmer). And who knows what Peterson can do with a guy like Jorge Sosa, who had his best season under the tutelage of one Leo Mazzone. (Sosa didn’t look half bad on Thursday, giving up one windblown HR and one bomb to Soul Patch Spiezio).

But here’s the best part: Peterson will have his tentacles on the right arms of Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber. Sure, it’s nice to know that you could throw just about anybody towards Peterson and he could fix him - although not in ten minutes (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist) - but projects are work while prospects are fun ..... and possibly the most fruitful. When you think of what Peterson did with the big three of Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson in Oakland the mind starts dancing with thoughts of what he could do with Mike Pelfrey’s fastball and Phil Humber’s curve. Thankfully it will be Peterson nurturing these guys and not Dallas Green (you remember what he did with Generation K, right?)

And that’s the point. It used to be that the Mets, especially in the early 90’s, were more concerned with the roster than with the people teaching them. In other words, they were lazy. Nowadays, the Mets are paying attention to all of the details, and it shows in their record. It shows in the statistics of most of the players that come here and Rick Peterson, who went from almost being fired after the 2005 season to getting a three year contract extension last month, deserves a lion’s share of the credit.

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To read my fictional (some say self-medicated) conversation with Peterson,
check out my blog at http://metstradamus.blogspot.com.