Minaya visits MSG Training Center as Yankees surge toward October, Mets history with Marlins looms

Omar Minaya, the former Mets general manager who led the franchise from 2005 to 2010, visited the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Friday. In a quiet lobby, Minaya ran into familiar faces who extended greetings to him for his new role with the Yankees, where he serves as special assistant to the general manager, Brian Cashman.

The night before, Minaya's new club had moved into a first-place tie with the Blue Jays in the American League East and had already clinched a playoff berth, according to people familiar with the situation. The visit also touched on personal lines, as Minaya's son — a former standout basketball player at South Carolina and Providence — is in Orlando's training camp. In discussing the Mets, Minaya added that he thinks the team will be fine.

The Mets' path to the postseason sits against a backdrop of a history that observers have described as fraught with difficulty against the Miami Marlins. A recent note accompanying coverage of Minaya’s visit pointed to “so much bad Mets history with Marlins standing in way of postseason,” underscoring how that rival has repeatedly complicated New York’s October ambitions. The remark frames the moment as much about past canons as present opportunities for both clubs.

Minaya’s appearance at the training complex comes as the Yankees, with Minaya in a supportive advisory role, continue to shape their roster conversations and internal decisions ahead of October. His tenure with the Mets, from which he handed the reins to later regimes, remains a touchstone for how regional baseball is analyzed, especially when intertwined with the other New York franchises. The moment also highlights the smoother, quieter cross-pollination that can occur when former executives remain in the game and in circulation around city-based teams.

Overall, the visit reflects the ongoing overlap between personnel with deep Mets ties and the current contours of New York baseball, where postseason paths for the Mets and the Marlins’ own contending runs in the same lifetimes have created a recurring storyline for local sports fans.