Even with the stain of four straight disappointing seasons to conclude his Mets tenure on his resume, Omar Minaya never doubted he would resurface in baseball.
The former Mets general manager is back, after yesterday accepting an offer from the Padres to become their senior vice president of baseball operations. Minaya will work closely with general manager Josh Byrnes in evaluating talent.
Minaya said his discussions with the Padres began more than a year ago, but it wasn’t until Byrnes was installed as general maanger last month, following Jed Hoyer’s defection to the Cubs, that the pieces fell into place.
“It’s going to be a scouting and development situation, and a lot of fun,” Minaya told The Post last night.
The move will allow the Mets to deduct Minaya’s new salary from the roughly $1.1 million they owe him for 2012. Minaya was fired following the 2010 season with two years remaining on his contract.
“On behalf of everybody at the Mets, we congratulate Omar and wish him all the best in his new position with the Padres,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said in a statement.
Under Minaya, the Mets came within a game of the World Series in 2006 before missing the playoffs on the final day of the regular season in successive years.
In Minaya’s final two seasons, the Mets finished fourth. But Minaya departed sure he would get another opportunity in baseball.
“There are a lot of good young players with the Mets, and I never [worried],” Minaya said of his job prospects. “As a whole in the industry, I was in conversations with different GMs throughout the year, and I never worried about that.”
Could he see himself reemerging as a general manager?
“I don’t know about that, and I don’t have to be one,” Minaya said. “I was fortunate to get an opportunity where many people didn’t. The fact that once you have an opportunity, that’s great. But that’s not my main focus.”
Minaya said if he were still Mets GM, he would take the same approach as his successor, Sandy Alderson, in the Jose Reyes negotiations. Alderson has waited to make the free-agent shortstop an offer until other suitors set the market.
As Reyes weighs a reported six-year offer in the $75-$90 million range from the Marlins, the former Mets GM isn’t about to make a prediction.
“I think Jose has always wanted to be a Met for a long time, but who knows what’s going to happen?”
* Chris Capuano yesterday signed a two-year contract with the Dodgers worth $10 million, with a mutual option for 2014. The veteran lefty went 11-12 with a 4.55 ERA last season for the Mets, but the team wasn’t comfortable offering him a multiyear deal.
