NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Mets fired manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya on Monday, just one day after the Major League Baseball regular season ended.
Manuel and Minaya paid the price after the Mets stumbled to a second consecutive losing season (79-83) and failed to make the playoffs for the fourth straight year, despite having one of the league's biggest payrolls.
"We are extremely disappointed in this year's results and the failures of the past four seasons," Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon in a statement on Major League Baseball's official website (www.mlb.com).
"We need to hire a new general manager with a fresh perspective who will transform this club into a winner that we want and our fans deserve."
The American League manager of the year in 2000 with the Chicago White Sox, Manuel replaced Willie Randolph at the Mets in 2008 and posted a 204-213 record in his two and a half seasons in charge.
"I think as the manager of the team, I've never run from blame or anything like that," Manuel told MLB.com.
"I managed the pieces and the resources the best way that I could, and it didn't work out. We didn't finish where we wanted to finish, so I take responsibility for that."
Minaya assumed the Mets general manager's duties before the start of the 2005 season and made several major trades and free-agent signings, including pitcher Pedro Martinez, outfielder Carlos Beltran, and closer Billy Wagner.
(Reporting by Steve Keating. Editing by Julian Linden)
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