Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez (born November 10, 1958) is a Dominican baseball executive. He was the special assistant to the general manager of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He previously served as general manager for the Mets and the Montreal Expos. Early life Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to Elmhurst, in Queens, New York City at the age of eight and grew up in Corona. Minaya starred as a baseball player at Newtown High School in Elmhurst. Playing career Minaya was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 14th Round (342nd overall) of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft. He had a short-lived career in the minor leagues as well as stints in leagues in both the Dominican Republic and Italy. Front-office career After injuries ended his playing career, Minaya joined the Texas Rangers' scouting team in , where he helped in the signing of players such as Sammy Sosa, Juan González, and Ivan Rodriguez. New York Mets In the mid-1990s, Minaya left Texas and returned home to join the staff of the New York Mets, working his way to assistant general manager behind Steve Phillips and being partly responsible for that team's late-1990s success. Minaya became the first Hispanic to hold a general manager position in Major League Baseball when he left the Mets in early to accept the general manager position with the Montréal Expos. Montreal Expos In 2002, Minaya was named vice president and general manager of the Montreal Expos, who had been taken over by the other 29 major league teams. This unusual ownership arrangement was reached after a failed contraction attempt and the purchase of the Florida Marlins by former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria. When he arrived, there were only six other employees in baseball operations; those who hadn't followed Loria to Miami had gone elsewhere. With the fan base rapidly declining and speculation that the team would be relocated, Minaya was forced to work with limited financial resources. Despite these limitations, Minaya was aggressive in his attempt to make the Expos a contender. On June 27, , he traded Cliff Lee (future Cy Young winner and 2-time All-Star), Grady Sizemore (future 3-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger), Brandon Phillips (future All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner) and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colón. On July 11, he acquired Cliff Floyd