Do you ever feel pride of authorship as the current edition of the Mets runs onto the field?
You put that question to Omar Minaya, the former Mets general manager, and he gives a laugh of pleasure, and deflection. “You watch Jeurys Familia throw on Labor Day and Hansel Robles strike out four in two innings, and you’re really happy for them,” he replies. “There’s a part of you that always sees them as kids.”
I give general managers a hard time; I acknowledge that. Some of that is deserved, and sometimes maybe it just looks a lot easier than it is to balance budgets, contract demands, pushy agents, egomaniacal players and owners, and a lot of ink-stained reporters.