Omar Minaya

Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez (born November 10, 1958) is a Dominican baseball executive.

He was the special assistant to the general manager of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.

He previously served as general manager for the Mets and the Montreal Expos.

Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to Elmhurst, in Queens, New York City at the age of eight and grew up in Corona.

Minaya starred as a baseball player at Newtown High School in Elmhurst.

Minaya was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 14th Round (342nd overall) of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft.

He had a short-lived career in the minor leagues as well as stints in leagues in both the Dominican Republic and Italy.

After injuries ended his playing career, Minaya joined the Texas Rangers' scouting team in 1985, where he helped in the signing of players such as Sammy Sosa, Juan González, and Ivan Rodriguez.

In the mid-1990s, Minaya left Texas and returned home to join the staff of the New York Mets, working his way to assistant general manager behind Steve Phillips and being partly responsible for that team's late-1990s success.

Minaya became the first Hispanic to hold a general manager position in Major League Baseball when he left the Mets in early 2002 to accept the general manager position with the Montréal Expos.

In 2002, Minaya was named vice president and general manager of the Montreal Expos, who had been taken over by the other 29 major league teams.

This unusual ownership arrangement was reached after a failed contraction attempt and the purchase of the Florida Marlins by former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria.

When he arrived, there were only six other employees in baseball operations; those who hadn't followed Loria to Miami had gone elsewhere.

With the fan base rapidly declining and speculation that the team would be relocated, Minaya was forced to work with limited financial resources.

Despite these limitations, Minaya was aggressive in his attempt to make the Expos a contender.

On June 27, 2002, he traded Cliff Lee (future Cy Young winner and 2-time All-Star), Grady Sizemore (future 3-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger), Brandon Phillips (future All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner) and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colón.

On July 11, he acquired Cliff Floyd from the Marlins only to deal him to the Boston Red Sox for Sun-woo Kim and a minor leaguer by the end of the month.

The 2002 Expos ended up with an 83–79 record and second place in the National League East.

The 2003 Expos finished with an identical 83–79 record and were very much in the wild card race when Minaya was denied permission to make the usual call-ups that MLB teams make in September.

This, combined with the departure of star Vladimir Guerrero after the season, cost the Expos what little goodwill they still had in Montreal.

The Expos went 67–95 in 2004 amid reports that their future in Montreal would soon end.

After the Mets continued to struggle at the conclusion of the 2004 season, Mets owner Fred Wilpon asked Minaya to become the team's general manager.

In Minaya's first offseason he made two significant free agent signings, adding pitcher Pedro Martínez and outfielder Carlos Beltrán.

Signing Martinez helped raise the awareness of the Mets in Latin America, leading Minaya to remark that Martinez was "a guy that makes the brand."

Under new manager Willie Randolph, the Mets improved from 71 wins in 2004 to 83 wins in 2005, staying in the hunt for the postseason until the last week of the season.

When it was announced the Expos would relocate to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season, Minaya learned with the move would come a whole new front office and coaching positions.

Minaya's work in the 2005 offseason would further shape the franchise, adding closer Billy Wagner, first baseman Carlos Delgado and veteran catcher Paul Lo Duca.

He also strengthened the bench by adding utility infielder José Valentín, first baseman Julio Franco and outfielder Endy Chávez.

Bullpen acquisitions included Chad Bradford, Jorge Julio, and Duaner Sánchez.

Despite the veteran additions, Minaya was able to limit payroll by trading Mike Cameron to the San Diego Padres for Xavier Nady and Kris Benson to the Baltimore Orioles for Jorge Julio and John Maine.

In 2006 the Mets won the National League East by 12 games, finishing first with a National-League-best and Major League-tied 97 wins.

During the season, Minaya fortified the team by making additional trades, acquiring Orlando Hernández (for Jorge Julio) and Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernández (for Xavier Nady) and trading away second baseman Kazuo Matsui.

In November 2006, Minaya sent Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the Padres for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins.

Minaya and the Mets were featured in the Sports Illustrated cover story for the June 18, 2007 issue.

The article focused on Minaya's upbringing in the Dominican Republic and Queens, as well as his brief minor league playing career, his two years playing professional baseball in Tuscany, and time as an international scout in the Rangers' organization.

The Mets signed Moisés Alou to multiple lucrative contracts, but Alou was plagued with injuries during his Mets career.

Minaya also traded away several young pitchers many fans believed could have helped the Mets avert their historic breakdown at the end of the 2007 season.

The half-season rental of Bartolo Colón made by Minaya made as general manager of the Expos is part of arguably one of the worst trades of the century, as it included the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner in Lee and future All-Stars Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore.

Minaya also dealt away a number of other young players all of whom went on to enjoy significant success upon reaching the major league level.

These included: