The team and its deals are Jeff Wilpon's--not Omar Minaya's

"It was nearing 5 p.m. on Friday, when the Mets’ 72-hour window to sign the star left-hander Johan Santana was to expire, and they had improved what had been their take-it-or-leave-it proposal. But that was not good enough for Santana, and he said so — in person. At the Mets’ request, he had flown to New York from his home in Florida,

• and he was sitting in a room with his agent, Peter Greenberg, and the

• Mets’ senior executive vice president, Jeff Wilpon, when he rejected it."

From NY Times article by Ben Shpigel, "Santana Deal Took Intense Negotiating," 2/3/08

• It had been earlier reported that Jeff Wilpon was "leading" the negotiations, and this is obviously further evidence. Someone should correct the people on sports talk radio, callers and hosts, who constantly refer to Omar Minaya getting deals done, etc. It's just not accurate. Fred Wilpon has chosen his pathetic son to drive the franchise into the ground:

MORE ON JEFF WILPON, FROM Newsday:

• "his son Jeff, who is James Dolan without the guitar.

• (It was Jeff Wilpon, de facto GM, who uttered the most infamous line in the recent history of the Mets: "Can somebody tell me why I shouldn't trade this guy?" The guy was Scott Kazmir.)"

From Newsday article by Wallace Matthews, 1/25/08, "Mets have done nothing to improve since collapse."

• From NY Post, 2/3/08:

"Minaya said. "Really, Jeff and Peter really found a way and willed a way to get a deal done."

• And in a nod to the BBWAA:

"His vesting option for 2014 is based on incentives such as innings pitched and placement in the Cy Young voting and is worth $25 million."

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