The Rick Down firing brought to light Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya aren’t best buds who see eye-to-eye on everything. Is anybody concerned about this or is this something that will pass?
The Rick Down firing brought to light Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya aren’t best buds who see eye-to-eye on everything. Is anybody concerned about this or is this something that will pass?
22 Comments
Them not seeing eye to eye on everything I think is a good thing. You don’t want the MEts to become a Yankee style team with a yesman coaching staff to Omar. If Willie disagrees with something Omar wants to do, I’d rather Willie (behind close doors) tell Omar. I don’t care if he uses the company line for the press, but at the least he needs to be able to say to Omar when he disagrees.
I’m wondering if Minaya is beginning to see some of the things I’ve been reading in the posts in your blog and Metsblog others have written about Randolph’s managerial style and ability.
After the game tonight, Randolph said about Gotay that he’s not played a lot so he’ll have to see how he does in the games he does play. I’m wondering WHAT??? He doesn’t play b/c Randolph doesn’t play him. It’s his choice who starts/plays in games.
It makes me curious to wonder if he really has an allegiance to certain guys and no matter how bad or ineffective they play, he sticks with them. Other players who might be better, don’t seem to get a shot at proving if they are.
He hinted at the same thing with Milledge, saying that he’s got a chance…etc…I’m sure if Green is still swinging and making outs after Alou comes back, Randolph will stick with his allegiances and continue to play the older veteran….Just my thoughts.
*****
To Jeff: And your thoughts are shared by a lot of people. Willie has an allegiance to certain guys, but all managers do. Loyalty is a good thing. However, the difference between good and great managers is the ability to separate that loyalty when the time comes. Maybe Willie will learn that … I haven’t given up on him in that regard.-JD
If not completely getting along is what causes the team to make the hard essential choices then, baby, I don’t wanna be right!
Seriously. Without a little friction, there ain’t no fire.
If everyone’s sittin’ around makin’ S’mores and singin’ Kumbaya around the camp, there isn’t a whole lot of time to play winning baseball.
*****
To Mike C.: Nice line, and true, too.-JD
in a word, no.
this is about winning, not about making friends. i think the media is getting too caught up with how much of a “family” the mets are. well family doesn’t always agree. its a feel good story that everyone wants to dwell in but bringing this up now is a very inopportune time. dont get caught in the yankee’s squable…this is about winning, period. no controversy, no fancying up to the pubic, no iconic figures. Minaya has always emphasized winning as a priority and quite often the media doesn’t view it that way…see lo duca’s statements about the media.
so no, this is about winning, whatever it takes
I echo the sentiments expressed above, they need to respect each other….but I don’t think they should always be best buds.
na i dont think it will be big in the long term..once again it is the hitting coach and thats all. they’re allowed to not see eye to eye they’re not robots
Lets not forget how long it took for Omar to give him an extension. If they loved each other that would have happened earlier…
As for another comment here about Willie and veterans….
Have you forgotten that during his first season he was quoted saying something along the lines of he would not judge a veterans performance before the ASG. that time is now here, and we shall see. He really didn’t have to worry about it last year, so we didn’t discuss it.
Down, Hojo or Rickey, we still blew chances with men in scoring position and less than two out.
And Shawn Green is looking like he’s done.
Ah who cares?
I don’t always agree with my boss either. It doesn’t mean he is going to fire me tomorrow.
If this is what it takes to shake up the team great. Does it really matter?
1/2 the season is over. We are in first place and started the second half of the season on an up note.
The world is a happy place.
Dave
Random note, while I admire Sean Green for going out there and giving it his all, he really is done. I respect the guy for what he’s doing out there, he’s trying his hardest to make plays in the outfield, and run out balls for base hits, doing whatever he can, he even is making wise choices of when to dive for a ball, like tonight with 2 outs, its either make the play or runs will score, either way. But you know, effort will you get my respect, but it shouldn’t get you playing time. I think we’re seeing the end of this guy. He’s lost allof his pop pretty much, he can’t hit for a good avg. and he’s incredibly slow, not only is his top speed horrid, it’s how slow he is getting started from a standstill, seems to take him a few minutes just to get going. Respect the hell out of him for possibly realizing all this and putting it all on the line out there, but I do believe his days are, if not numbered, over.
No matter what happens, Willie wouldn’t have a job without Omar, simple as that.
I have no problems with this at all. Omar is doing his job by making the tough (and correct, IMO) decisions. Willie is sending a message to his other coaches that he will back them to upper management as much as he can. I would want my boss to do the same for me. That said, now willie has to back down (not back Down…) and move forward.
I do think willie is a little too attached to his veterans. I´ve been a little bothered from the start about him referring to young players as being ¨just babies¨ and needing experience—hell, they´re in the big leagues: if they can play better than the vets, give them a chance.
No, a disagreement over a single move is not equivalent to Omar and Willie having any kind of falling out. Omar’s the boss so he’s got the final call on the tough decisions.
Do bosses and employees see eye to eye on everything?
I know I don’t, with my boss, or the people who work for me.
I’m guessing the majority of employee/boss relationships are the same.
As for playing the young guys,
Willie is in a tough spot. If he plays the young guys, and they fail, he will get ripped by some fans for not playing the vets. When he plays the vets and not the young guys, he gets ripped. The guy can’t win.
When Milledge was up last year, he got ripped because he didn’t meet a lot of people’s expectations, which were probably a tad too high. We see the same thing this year with Pelfrey.
Disagreement is good as long as they can work together. Different perspectives mean more things will be evaluated in making decisions rather than fewer—as would be the case were these two in complete agreement on everything. Randolph counts Down as a close friend; I’d be disappointed in him if he didn’t bristle a little—and that’s all he’s done. But it seems that he’s moved on and will make the most of the situation.
As for Randolph and the youngsters, I agree that he puts too much faith in aging veterans and is slow to open the door for the youngsters. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as many, many youngsters simply don’t pan out whereas the veterans have made it through an extensive screening process. I do believe that Randolph will ultimately make the right decision in each case, even though he sets the bar higher for the kids. Where it seems that he and I will consistently disagree is when it comes down to choosing between two guys who are performing comparably; I’d rather play the kid with the upside and he’d rather rely on the “proven” performer who is no longer able to perform very well. The solution to that, of course, is to keep bringing in better young players.
I think that generally, with all of the media coverage on this sport, we all think we know exactly what’s going on behind closed doors. We don’t.
I guess I have a bit of a different take on this. Rick Down was one of Willie’s “guys”, his friend. And while I’m sure he is sad that his buddy is gone, we don’t know what kind of conversation he had with Omar about firing him, regardless of what was said to the media. For all we know Willie told Omar “I know, he needs to go, but he’s my friend and I’m sad about it and I don’t want him to hate me” and, as such, that’s how he came off to the media.
After all, the Mets were kind enough to let Julio Franco act like he wanted his release.
All I’m saying is that we are speculating a lot on how everybody feels and we have no clue. Both Omar and Willie have the same job: to win ballgames. They are on the same page with that and that’s all that matters.
I think a little tension is a good thing. Willie played on the Yankees in the late 70s and I’m sure he knows how to win in a tense situation. I’m sure the best day in the Bronx Zoo was tougher than anything Omar will throw at him.
This is a complacent team that feels they should be defending world champs (I do, too) and maybe are entitled to a bit of a free pass. 2 1/2 months to go in the season against the worst team in the league is a good time to rattle a few cages.
So does this mean they are going to hire “Keith”?
;-)
This does nto concern me, other than to say, if Willie really is an organizational guy, then he would have said the right things in his interview. I have never been a fan of Willie Randolph, as the Mets Manager, and his comments yesterday really drove it home for me. Omar gave him his shot, and he is the boss. If the boss is not happy then sometimes a shake up is needed, and that is what the Mets got. Willie needs to just let this go, and show everyone how good this team is.
I agree with the sentiment here that differing opinions in an organization insure that various options and points of view get a thorough airing.
I, too sometimes wonder about the impact of Willie’s loyalty, and his seeming reluctance – at times – to make necessary changes. The fact that Omar is willing to step in and make those changes, even over Willie’s objections, when he thinks it’s necessary is comforting.
Whatever you think about the particular moves – I tend to think that Down was an overrated Yankees hack, and I think that Franco’s release was a good one, and bringing in Milledge was a no-brainer – but that’s neither here nor there – it was clear that this team needed a jolt over the break. That’s what they did, and I think it can only help.
Next Jolt (barring a deadline trade)... the return of Pedro sometime in the next month.
That can’t hurt either.
Here’s the latest on the coaching changes from my blog:
http://writingitallsmetsblog.blogspot.com/
The best approach to hitting is to wait for a GOOD pitch to hit and then swing at it like you mean it. This is not what a lot of the Mets do. Especially when they are not going well. Sometimes they swing at any pitch they think they can get the bat on. Keith said it last night about Delgado, when he said that he wishes that Delgado would lay of the high inside pitch. You have to be picky. Like those pitches aren’t worthy of your effort. Sometimes they will be called strikes. That is just fine. With 2 strikes you have to protect mostly because almost all umpires call strikes on pitches way off the edges that they will not call strikes if there aren’t 2 strikes in the count. But if there aren’t 2 strikes you have turn your nose up at those pitches. Then we you get one you like you swing at it like you mean it. I think Rickey will help with that.