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Kudos to SNY


By Howard Megdal ~ July 28th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.

Whatever else can be said about the Mets’ handling of the Tony Bernazard scenario, one thing was certain: they let the revolution be televised.

I’ve heard it said that it seems odd the Mets would hold a press conference to discuss the firing of Tony Bernazard. I think the team would have come under tremendous criticism for doing this without answering questions from the press. Moreover, I am in favor of anything that sheds more light on the working of the baseball team for the fans.

Now, obviously, I think Minaya’s decision to attack Adam Rubin was at best, classless, and at worst, legally actionable. But as the press conference clearly took a terrible turn for the Mets, PR-wise, SNY did not turn away from the spectacle. When the conference was over, Kevin Burkhardt spoke his mind, as did Bob Ojeda and Jon Heyman.

Within the half-hour, Adam Rubin was on the air to explain his side of a dispute that pitted him against the highest levels of the Mets organization- an organization owned by the Wilpons, along with 70 percent of SNY.

SNY was, as it has been, an independent news organization. Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling all spoke critically of the Mets. Kevin Burkhardt, a tremendous reporter, spoke critically of the Mets. These people aren’t making character assassinations; they are engaging in thoughtful reporting and analysis.

Even Julie Alexandria, the host of Mets Weekly, got into the act, making light of the press conference on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. (Julie’s wit deserves more time on SNY- she is a rising star of the network, as is Burkhardt).

Even as we speak, SNY is re-broadcasting last night’s Mets game, filled with negative responses to the series of events; and, thankfully, Fernando Tatis’s grand slam.

Full disclosure is the new black, so I should make it clear that I write a weekly column for SNY. But as I can tell you, and as is clear from the coverage of yesterday’s tumultuous events, I am free to write what I see. And happily, I was able to be proud of SNY yesterday, even as the actions taken by Omar Minaya made it difficult to be proud of the New York Mets.

Howard Megdal is the Editor-in-Chief of The Perpetual Post. He covers baseball, basketball and soccer for Capital New York, MLBTradeRumors.com, New York Baseball Digest and has written for ESPN.com as well as numerous other publications. He is the Poet Laureate for SBNation New York. His book about Jewish baseball players, “The Baseball Talmud,” is available for purchase on Amazon.com and wherever books are sold. His next book, "Taking The Field", is available for pre-order on Amazon.com and will publish in May 2011.
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11 Responses to Kudos to SNY

  1. Ceetar
    July 28th, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Full disclosure is what Omar revealed. It’s two-sided, and not even close to actionable, as all he did was voice his opinion.

  2. pete
    July 28th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    if omar was smart he would have fed the ny post the story about rubin applying for jobs, etc the past week and savaged him in the shadows

  3. Scott
    July 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

    Ceetar,I have to disagree with you. Omar is entitled to his opinion but his opinion was wrong. What he said(and didn’t say) was an embarrasment to himself and the organization. Even Jeff Wilpon admitted that Adam Rubin did nothing to suggest his motivation was anything but reporting the facts. Omar obviously knew that Adam’s reports were correct,which is why Tony Bernazard was fired. Was Adam supposed to bury the story?

    What Omar said could be actionable as slander. He has cost someone the ability to do their job because he did his job too well.

  4. Since68
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Scott, I have to disagree with you. Omar did not state opinion. He stated that Rubin solicited a job with the Mets. So far, this appears to be a fact.

    But, what Rubin reported about what happend at AA with Bernazard is very much in question. The only other report, which has quotes from 3 Met AA players, says Rubin’s reporting was inaccurate.

  5. Vinny
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

    I agree with Scott. The actions by Omar were definitely meant to defame Rubin and bring him down. Obviously, his suggestion was that Rubin had ulterior motives and a conflict of interest in writing those stories on Bernazard. If that is not his purpose in bringing it up, why do it? Omar isn’t the best communicator in a press conference but he’s not that stupid. He knew what he was doing.

    And so far, no one has really contradicted the essential elements of Rubin’s Binghamton story. Some on that team have merely said it was overblown. But that’s simply a subjective opinion.

  6. Vinny
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    One more thing. Rubin has disputed he actually solicited a job with the Mets. He said he merely asked in general terms how one would get into the business. Which is different.

  7. Mike Silva
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:48 pm

    I can tell you that, in addition to Alex Merricks, I just spoke with another Mets farmhand that confirmed the Binghamton Mets story. He also gave me some tidbits on conversations he had with members of the big league roster. This is still very much an organization that needs to heal and fix a clubhouse that is still very much 25 men/25 cabs

  8. Ceetar
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    The report is mostly irrelevant at this point. Bernazard is gone. It was probably overblown a bit to sell papers, but whatever. The point isn’t that he wrote a story, it’s that Omar felt he couldn’t trust Rubin at face value, based on information he had about Rubin’s inquiries in the front office. Who knows to what extend that it’s truth, I’m sure Omar worded it to make it sound bad, just like Rubin responded to make it seem innocent. It’d be shortsighted of the Daily News not to investigate.

  9. AstoriaMetsFan
    July 28th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

    Omar framed the issue as ‘lobbying’ for a job. Defining that word could be somewhat subjective, but to me ‘lobbying’ implies repeated self promotion over a period of time for a specific job. I assume that would imply there is some sort of paper trail as resumes and e-mails at the least which Minaya and the front office would have in its possession. If so, why did the organization never raise the issue with the Daily News and question Rubin’s professisonal and ethical obligations to the paper as well as the organization until now and in a live press conference. This stinks to high heaven.

    There is a plausible argument to be made – Minaya intentionally and knowingly distorted the truth in order to punish and impune Rubin’s character and damage his reputation as a journalist with real, day to day implications for Rubin. If that is the case then there is quite possibly a defamation claim Rubin could make.

    2 back to back collapses, millions of dollars sitting on the DL, a sparse farm system and now this and a potential lawsuit down the road? I think we may be seeing Minaya’s last 8 weeks as the Mets GM.

  10. Vinny
    July 29th, 2009 at 10:19 am

    If Omar felt he couldn’t trust Rubin’s story at face value, which is obviously the case, then you have your HR department investigate it. Which is what happened by all accounts.

    Result? Bernazard fired, and not one bit of evidence to date that the Binghamton story was inaccurate.

    So there was no need to insinuate in the press conference that Rubin lacked integrity and might have had ulterior motives. I think a jury would say this was defamation on the part of Omar. Maybe that’s why the big apology by Jeff Wilpon yesterday and why they are saying the mistake was Omar’s. Omar clearly f*cked up.

  11. Chris Silva
    July 29th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    Excellent point Vinny. In any situation, where somebody is wrongly accused there is a quick defense. All the stories never had any sort of rebuttle that is was untrue. Tony B. let the power go to his head and Omar is left with egg on his face. This could of been less of a circus if the Mets knew how to handle the media.

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