Mets fall to Marlins; Minaya keeps focus on job

MIAMI - Now that the Mets officially have been eliminated from playoff contention, the season can't end fast enough.

One potential GM candidate was taken off the board Wednesday when the Diamondbacks announced the hiring of Kevin Towers, a proven commodity who would have been a good fit in New York. But the Mets still intend to wait until after the Oct. 3 season finale to unveil their restructuring plans, and that could give other clubs a head start toward filling their own vacancies.

As long as Jerry Manuel remains manager and Omar Minaya the GM, the Mets will not interview potential replacements for those positions. Neither has been told of their respective fates, and Minaya, along with assistant GM John Ricco, is with the team on this road trip through Florida and Philadelphia.

"I'm going about my business as usual," Minaya said Wednesday before the Mets' 7-5 loss to the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. Minaya, who has two years remaining on his contract, also said that he had not approached the Wilpons about his job status.

"I've been around this team, and I've been in this town, long enough to know that you just have to focus on your job," Minaya said. "Right now, as we speak, we're already planning on how we're going to make this team better."

Minaya was talking about 2011, not the remaining 10 games on the schedule this season, and he's operating under the assumption he will remain the GM for next year as well. Until the Mets begin interviewing other candidates for that job, they may not even know for sure what role Minaya will have in the front office.

The Orioles moved swiftly to hire Buck Showalter as manager on July 29, but that decision was made easier by having the power structure above him intact. The Diamondbacks could have stayed with interim GM Jerry Dipoto through the end of the season, but they liked Towers enough to pull the trigger early, and selected him over Dipoto.

"We considered this a critical hire for the organization at this important time," Arizona president and CEO Derrick Hall said in the team's statement.

The hiring of Towers in Arizona could still directly impact the Mets' search for another front-office executive with an undetermined title. That's because the Diamondbacks are trying to get the displaced Dipoto to remain with the organization - effectively keeping him away from the Mets. Also, the GM that Dipoto replaced earlier this year, Josh Byrnes, is among the candidates the Mets are considering.

As for Minaya, he's been dealing with the speculation over his job situation for what seems like years now. What made this season even more puzzling for the GM was the failure of the Mets' offense, which never got the intended boost from the $66-million signing of Jason Bay. Minaya refused to accept blame for that and insisted the team he assembled should have been a strong offensive club.

"I believe if you look at the baseball cards of the guys," Minaya said, "the baseball cards of the guys will tell you that."

For a team that supposedly had a serious pitching deficiency heading into the year, the Mets' team ERA of 3.73 ranked fifth in the National League heading into last night's game. Minaya admits to getting lucky on that front, but it's the overall performance that counts.

"What we planned for was not there," Minaya said. "We've played all year as a .500 team and you've got to play better than a .500 team."