So this is what the Mets have been reduced to. As if watching the team unravel like funnel cake wasn't enough, now the Mets' vice president for player development is reportedly challenging those developing players to shirtless fistfights in Binghamton.
Oddly enough, that doesn't seem like the way to get farmhands psyched about contributing to the franchise, so the impetus for the outburst must have been egregious. Like, alleged underage drinking on a professional baseball team. Scandalous!
Adam Rubin of the Daily News has all the salacious details:
Tony Bernazard particularly went after middle infield prospect Jose Coronado, using a slang term associated with a woman's anatomy, a source indicated. The confrontation happened about 10days before the All-Star break, according to insiders.
"That's an all-timer if true," an AL official said upon hearing the account, which was corroborated by multiple people with ties to the Mets.
GM Omar Minaya acknowledged Bernazard spoke to the B-Mets in a "stern voice," but said he had no knowledge of the scope being portrayed.
"I know he did have a team meeting with them," Minaya told the Daily News. "It was not a 'you-guys-have-been-great meeting.' I know he spoke to them in a stern voice. But as far as what he was wearing, what kind of shoes he was wearing, I don't know anything about that."
It probably wasn't the wisest idea for Bernazard to objectify his Double-A middle infielder, let alone try to pulverize him. At this injury rate, after all, he's scheduled to start in the big leagues in about two weeks.
Sources: Mets VP for player development challenges Binghamton Mets to a fight [Daily News]