Read Between the Lines in Omar's Message to Fans Regarding Bernazard Firing

The Mets once again came up big last night, shutting out the Colorado Rockies 4-0 behind a stellar effort from Mike Pelfrey. The Mets have now won 4 games in a row. Jeff Francoeur continues to become an RBI machine since his arrival and David Wright looks like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

Yet the talk of the town continues to be off the field, where the Mets faithful yesterday received a message from Omar Minaya via the Mets newsletter - The Flushing Flash. Obviously, someone wrote it for him as it contained no grammatical errors, but it really makes me wonder: how dumb does Omar think we fans really are? Let's read between the lines with this. Omar's letter is in blue - the truth, in brackets:

I wanted for you to hear directly from me today regarding an update on the investigation of Tony Bernazard, our Vice President of Player Development.

[Sending a letter is so much better than publicly speaking. Don't judge me on my lack of knowledge regarding the spoken English language. See kids? It doesn't matter how stupid you are with language or how poorly you come across in a public venue, because somehow, I got a GM job regardless - and keep it to this day! Would it surprise anyone that I can't read or write a word of English? Could you possibly be looking at a modern day Forrest Gump?]

Prior to a series of articles published in the media, our Baseball Operations and Human Resources departments had begun looking into several matters involving Tony. Once those reports became public, we accelerated our investigation. We wanted it to be thorough and complete it as quickly as possible while still being fair to Tony. That process concluded over the weekend.

[We always knew what a horrible person Bernazard was, and we hired him anyway because he was my friend. Remember you're judged by the friends you hang out with and I vouched for this guy. That should say something about my judgement. I always tried to cover up his ridiculous antics but once someone actually noticed, we couldn't sweep it under the carpet anymore. Every day this story lingered, more and more people started calling for my job, so I really needed to do something drastic.]

Yesterday, I met with Tony in person to have a frank conversation about what we had learned following interviews with numerous people. I also wanted for Tony to have the opportunity to give his side of the story.

[I needed to make it look good legally, so Tony couldn't claim discrimination, play the race card in any way, or sue us for wrongful termination. But someone had to go - and it sure wasn't going to be me. So I listened to his profanity laced explanation about how unfair life is.]

After meeting with Tony, and giving a lot of thought to the facts, I came to a decision on Tony's status which I shared with Ownership last night. My recommendation was that we needed to part ways with Tony, as his behavior in his interaction with others was inconsistent with our organization's values. Ownership agreed with my assessment and accepted my recommendation.

[The fans were coming down on me... the media was coming down on me... I had no choice but to fire him to save my butt. I need to deflect mounting attention that I may be in way over my head with my job, and knowing the Mets front office boy is about as clueless as they come, I thought I would pull a classic "misdirection" and throw a writer under the bus. In so doing, I decided to embarrass myself further. By "recommendation", I mean "I was told to do this". And by "organization's values", I mean "we reward incompetence". Believe me, I know.]

I spoke with Tony this morning and informed him of my decision to terminate his employment with the Mets.

[With an armed police escort for safety, (being aware of Bernazard's proclivity to violent outbursts and disgraceful behavior), I fired him, never once giving any thought that it was my decision and judgement to hire him in the first place. Either way, I still have a high paying job that I've proven myself incompetent in and now he doesn't]

Personnel decisions are never easy. And one can't make them without giving it a lot of thought. It's even harder when you know someone as I do Tony. Tony and I go back a long time. He is a dedicated baseball man who loves the game, someone I like and respect, and someone who has contributed to the Mets. In the end, however, I just told him I couldn't leave him in his position after all that had transpired.

[I like someone who's abusive. I respect erratic behavior. Despite the fact Tony was Vice President of Player Development and never developed one player in his entire employ with the Mets speaks to his contributions. Even though on all accounts and on every level everyone knows what a blowhard this guy is, I don't see it, or I don't care, either way, he's the kind of person I like to call my friend. After all, I'm a GM and judged on my decision making ability, which includes giving a lot of thought on how to keep my job]

As General Manager of the Mets, I am fully accountable for our Baseball Operations department -- on and off the field -- and stand by this decision.

[Miraculously, I'm still in charge, and even though I use the term "accountable", I really don't mean it. In fact, this entire letter is CYA lip service to you fans I laugh at under my breath. Because if I really was "accountable", I'd have no choice but to resign seeing how I've embarrassed myself and the organization in just about every aspect of the job. Ownership is so stupid because they tolerate my incompetence. Tony had to go because I need to stay in a high paying job that everyone in baseball (including other GM's who repeatedly take advantage of my stupidity) knows I can't do. I stand by this decision because it somehow saves my job once again].

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Mets.

[Continue your blind, sheep-like devotion of a team that still needs to make major moves to gain any kind of credibility. Your purchase of tickets and merchandise continues to keep me employed.]