Lo Duca On WFAN: Omar Minaya Is An Idiot Who Set The Mets Back
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Former Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca was a guest of WFAN co-hosts Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Friday afternoon.
The retired backstop was on the show to discuss the Belmont Stakes and California Chrome's run at the Triple Crown, but the conversation steered to Lo Duca's time with the Mets.
He had some rather harsh things to say about his time in Queens, not holding anything back.
Paul Lo Duca
But before getting to that, he took a snipe at Travis d'Arnaud and Anthony Recker, the current Mets catchers.
"I could hit better left-handed than the schmucks they've got there now," the four-time All-Star said.
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The Brooklyn native played for the Mets in 2006 and 2007, and was a key piece of the team that came a game away of advancing to the World Series. New York ended up losing to the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. In 2007, the Mets collapsed and missed the playoffs after coughing up a seven-game lead with 17 games to play.
The catcher signed with the Nationals after the 2007 campaign.
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"The issue that the Mets have is that after 2006 and 2007, when we all were there ... they stuck their hopes in a guy that, let's be honest, had no clue what was going on," Lo Duca told Joe & Evan in regard to former general manager Omar Minaya. "None. The guy was an idiot. And he ended up making the franchise go backwards. Where the Mets have always made the mistake is they've always settled for mediocrity.
"As a Mets fan, I'm done with it. Besides '06 and '07, give me some other years besides 2000 ... And then they go build this ballpark that's mammoth, and your franchise player (David Wright) is a hitting star who has four home runs!"
Continuing to pile on Minaya, Lo Duca added, "How did that guy have his job for that long? Let's be honest ... The guy didn't even know what my age was. And I never got a phone call. So I'm never gonna support that guy. Because when the collapse happened, I wasn't part of that collapse. It was the other guys who collapsed."
Lo Duca also continued to criticize the Mets' home park, arguing that free-agent hitters aren't going to sign with the organization. He also maintained that Citi Field doesn't have the character that Shea Stadium did.
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