Mets' GM Throws Fuel on Front Office Fire

The New York Mets showed the baseball world Monday that embarrassing miscues need not be limited to just the field.

General manager Omar Minaya's news conference Monday to announce the firing of top lieutenant Tony Bernazard after reports surfaced detailing his abusive behavior toward minor leaguers was designed to end a public relations nightmare. Instead, Minaya created a completely new one, accusing the reporter who broke the story of privately lobbying for a job in the team's front office.

The Daily News' Adam Rubin, citing multiple sources in the organization, reported last week that Bernazard, the vice president for player development, took off his shirt and challenged players of the Mets' Double-A affiliate in Binghamton to a fight in their clubhouse after a recent game. Subsequent stories surfaced of verbal altercations with several Met players and team employees.

After the reports, the Mets announced their human resources department was investigating the allegations of Bernazard's alleged improper behavior, culminating in Monday's firing.

But in a bizarre and tense exchange, Minaya implicitly accused Rubin of trying to damage Bernazard in order to get his job, saying he had "scuffled a lot as I made my decision because I had known that the person writing this had been lobbying people for a position in player development."

A flabbergasted Rubin, who later admitted inquiring to team officials how a reporter might go about landing a job in baseball, asked Minaya if he was directly accusing him of deliberately trying to get Bernazard fired so he could replace him. Minaya denied that but repeated the charge that he had previously lobbied for a job. Rubin called the accusation "despicable."

In an interview following the conference, Rubin said he was "absolutely floored" by Minaya's comments, adding "I don't know how I'm going to cover the team anymore."

Later Monday, Minaya apologized for not using the "proper forum" to air his comments about Rubin, though he stood by them.