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There have been coaches, like Rick Peterson. There has been a manager, Willie Randolph, who went in a middle-of-the-night debacle last year in California. Now there is an executive, Bernazard, who goes because he couldn't rein in his own temper and appeared to have the self-control of a 5-year-old.

Think about that list, and about the number of scapegoats that Minaya has axed over the past few years. Now think about this: When does it come back to him?

Much will be made about how the press conference went down Monday, when Minaya somehow turned a routine firing into a low blow at Daily News reporter Adam Rubin, who had written the initial stories about Bernazard's misbehavior. Minaya said he questioned Rubin's motives for writing the stories since Rubin allegedly "lobbied" Mets officials for a job in their front office in years past; Rubin vehemently denied the charges.

Truth is, Mets fans don't care. Don't care about Rubin's career. Don't care about a he-said-he-said between a reporter and the team. Don't care, really, about Bernazard, who seemed to spend a lot of time around the major league club for a guy that was supposed to be in charge of what went on in the minors. If Minaya had shown up yesterday, fired Bernazard in a two-minute statement and left the room, the biggest story of the day would have been about Mets vs. Rockies at Citi Field.

Instead it's about incompetence. Ridiculousness. Disbelief. It's about yet another episode in the circus that never ends. Minaya's circus.

Full disclosure I: I used to work at the Daily News. I covered the Yankees when Rubin was covering the Mets. We were co-workers, are still colleagues and I respect him and his work.

Full disclosure II: I like Minaya. Always have. We've gotten along well, had a pleasant professional relationship and, as a person, I generally respect the way he handles himself.

Just not this time.

Was it wrong for him to go after Rubin in the way he did? It was, particularly since he seemed to be doing it purely for spite. If Minaya wanted to have a press conference where he said he'd done an investigation and found that everything Rubin had written about Bernazard was false, then offer an explanation as to why a reporter would do such a thing -- for his own career advancement, for example -- that would be one thing.

But Minaya didn't do that. By firing Bernazard, Minaya basically confirmed that everything Rubin had written was true. Only then, after saying that the reporter's work was essentially accurate, did Minaya decide to toss out some uncorroborated statements that are among the most damaging accusations someone could make about a journalist. It was cheap. Weak. Cowardly.

It was also just flat-out dumb, which is the part that ought to aggravate Mets fans most. Look, Minaya has done some good things during his four years as GM, has brought in some big names and has helped to reinvigorate the star-power of a team that basically had none. He helped make them relevant again.

But he has also shown himself to be inept, particularly recently, in a number of areas, not the least of which being, you know, general control of the team.

Don't forget, at his introductory press conference in 2004, Minaya said he had "total autonomy" and that he was basically running the show. If that's true, the spotlight -- at some point -- has to stop with him.

Injuries aren't his fault. Neither is the fact that Citi Field plays about as big as Central Park. Miscommunication about hurt players, though, and inconsistencies in diagnosing ailments does fall under his umbrella. So does a barren minor league system, a lack of a clubhouse leader and an oddly-constructed roster. Minaya also has to take his share of the blame for a slew of PR disasters, including this latest one with Rubin, since - in the absence of any coherent message from the Wilpons - he's the public face of the Mets hierarchy on a daily basis.

This press conference should have been simple, should have been the GM firing a guy that most fans probably didn't care about and likely didn't even know about until last week. Instead we get another Mets disaster.

At this point, it's getting hard not to notice the pile of bodies outside Minaya's door. Getting hard not to wonder about how much longer he gets to stay on the other side.