URGENT: Randolph fired
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- June
- 17
ANAHEIM _ The inevitable became reality tonight when the Mets fired the embattled Willie Randolph and made Jerry Manuel their 19th manager on an interim basis.
The Mets also fired pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto, and added Ken Oberkfell, Luis Aguayo and Dan Warthen to the coaching staff.
The Mets made the announcement at 3:14 a.m., ET, roughly two hours after the team had beaten the Los Angeles Angels, 9-6, their third win in four games.
General manager Omar Minaya will hold a 2 p.m., PT press conference.
Randolph’s job had been on shaky status since the Mets’ dramatic collapse at the end of the last season when they blew a seven-game lead with 17 remaining to lose the National League East on the final day of the season.
Two days after the season, general manager Minaya said Randolph had his, and ownership’s endorsement, and the franchise entered spring training with renewed enthusiasm after the trade for Johan Santana.
“We’ve put last year behind us,’’ Randolph said during spring training.
However, such talk never showed itself on the field and the sluggish spring training turned into a slow start compounded by losing Pedro Martinez with a strained left hamstring.
Inconsistency marked the start of Randolph’s fourth season and eventually led to this afternoon.
On April 19, the Mets were in first place by a half-game at a season-high four games over .500 at 10-6 following a five-game winning streak.
But, the best they’ve been able to do since is a three-game winning streak and three two-game streaks.
However, they’ve had two five-game losing streaks.
Randolph’s future was placed under the microscope after the team seemed to turn the corner with two victories at Yankee Stadium, when he said he believed criticism of him was racially motivated and he thought the team’s television network, SNY, sought to portray him in a negative light.
Randolph attempted to clarify the next day, and the day after that made a public apology to owner Fred Wilpon, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, SNY and to his team for becoming a distraction.
The backdrop for the apology was being swept in a four-game series at Atlanta, and the downward spiral continued by losing two of three games in Colorado.
Randolph received a vote of confidence when the team returned from Denver when he met with the Wilpons and Minaya. However, the endorsement didn’t include the promise of finishing the season, let alone his contract that expires after the 2009 season.
The Mets appeared to turn things around when they won five of seven games during a homestand against Florida and Los Angeles.
However, they sputtered during a West Coast trip when they lost five of seven at San Francisco and San Diego, including being swept in a four-game series against the Padres, with three of the losses by 2-1 scores.
The breakdowns during the Padre series was mostly attributable to the offense and bullpen, which included Scott Schoeneweis walking the bases loaded and hitting a batter, and Billy Wagner giving up a three-run homer in the eighth inning to Tony Clark.
Wagner’s skid included blowing back-to-back save opportunities that cost victories to Mike Pelfrey and Santana.
Many times when a team slides as the Mets have there’s finger pointing in the clubhouse toward the manager’s office, but that hasn’t been the case.
“The problem isn’t in there,’’ David Wright said pointing toward Randolph’s office. “It’s the players. We’re not getting the job done.’’
Because of injury and poor performance, the players haven’t gotten the job done.
Injuries have cost the Mets Martinez, Moises Alou, Brian Schneider and Ryan Church for extended periods.
In addition, the Mets’ core players have not been producing. Wright and Jose Reyes aren’t playing to their levels; Carlos Delgado’s decline from last year has continued; starters John Maine and Oliver Perez, 15-game winners each last season, have been inconsistent; bullpen stalwart Aaron Heilman has been hit hard as has Duaner Sanchez; and only recently has Carlos Beltran started to produce.
When the Mets were being swept in Atlanta, Randolph said he understood the landscape.
“I’m the manager,’’ he said. “I’m responsible.’’
Taking a quick glance at the new guys.
JERRY MANUEL: Currently served as bench coach. … Was Mets first base and outfield coach in 2005. … Managed White Sox (1998-2003) and named 2000 Major League Manager of the Year.
KEN OBERKFELL: Manager of New Orleans Zephyrs of the Pacific Coast League, his fourth year managing the Mets Triple-A affiliate. … Previously managed Double-A Binghamton Mets.
DAN WARTHEN: Was Oberkfell’s pitching coach in New Orleans after serving two years as bullpen coach for LA Dodgers. … Coached in Mets minor league system from 2003-2005. … Was pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers (1999-2002), San Diego Padres (1996-97), and Seattle Mariners (1992).
LUIS AGUAYO: Mets Field Coordinator in spring training for minor league teams and Mets fall instructional league team. … Played with the Cleveland Indians (1989), New York Yankees (1988), and Philadelphia Phillies (1980-88).
Not totally, of course, but this is how it works.
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on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 3:53 am by John Delcos.
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Nothing against Jerry Manuel but if you are changing managers in mid-season, shouldn’t you go with a different type of personality? Manuel strikes me as similar to Randolph.
Nice move to fly him out to the West Coast to fire him. Who does the Mets PR? Tough call between the Mets & Knicks on which is the stupidest organization in sports.
Yes, this was handled without a bit of class.
Like your co-worker on the Yankees blog rushing to post a reprinted AP story to scoop you on your own beat by 13 minutes.
Classy, that Petey Abraham.
Totally classless..I agree.how do you fly someone out then fire him..also, this teams decline was not his fault…and lastly, if you are going to replace him..why do it with Manuel?
Agree with Truthful…as with Abe, Omar and the Mets brass are without morals.
As Willie goes west, so goes his job?
Since when does any business have “class” when it comes to fire people? Employers never gave a crap and never will about that issue.
Wow. Completely classless.
The sad thing is, I’ve started to expect this from Los Mets. They’re certainly not my Mets anymore at this rate.
In a strange way, the Mets showed Willie one consideration: by firing him at 3:14 a.m., his dismissal doesn’t make the Post or Daily News and the screaming headlines that would accompany the news.
I think it’s sad that a managerial career that got off to such a promising start had to end the way it did. Think back just two years to division-championship series and how we as fans felt about this team, and Willie had to get a lot of credit for that.
But this has not been the same team since Beltran took that third strike, and especially since The Collapse. They’ve played scared – afraid of the fans, of the other teams, and of what they themselves did. And nothing Willie did could change that.
So as disappointed as I am in the firing, and disgusted at how classlessly it was done, the Mets had to do something. I’d like to think they might still be able to salvage ‘08, but the Mets also have to think about what they need to do to contend in 2009.
Well, now that Willie’s “death watch” has ended and the deed has been done, I say screw it. I’d bring in Buck Showalter and Leo Mazzone as soon as contracts could be worked out. Both have a great track record and are available. As a bonus, how itchy would that make Omar, knowing that Buck built the D Backs system, and his own job is on the line.
Now that I’ve put that out, I know Omar would not hire Buck, simply because Showalter is a STRONG personality and would not cow-tow to him.
Sorry guys but the spineless timing notwithstanding, this move is long overdue and should be lauded. Although Manuel has a similar managing style – i.e., laid back – he tends to connect with his players. Willie did not, something that was apparent last September and pretty quickly this season. The Wilpons will never be a classy bunch, but this move is the right one.
Not your Mets Rasputin? See ya later then!! I guess everyone forgets how the town’s belvoed Yankees treated joe torre for the past 5 years. Inviting him to Florida, giving hoim a low ball offer so he can quit? yeah that was classy
While this move has been coming for a long time, this was still a pretty sad display by the Mets organization. There have been many opportunities for the organization to fire Randolph since last year’s collapse. To fire him after taking 3 of 4, when the team had been playing better (they would have had a very impressive record over the past 2 weeks if Billy Wagner had been able to do his job) is a bad job.
So while I have not been a Willie supporter during his tenure as manager, the circus that has been the Willie Watch and his ultimate demise were not handled well. Despite what you think of Willie’s managerial style, he was always a class act and one of the more successful managers in this team’s history. He deserved to be treated with more respect, even if you believe he deserved his fate.
Jeff Wilpon should stick to giving tours of the new stadium and have nothing to do with running the team. John, lets see how long it takes Jeff to start whispering in your ear about Manuel.
By the way. I don’t beleive any of that crap about connecting with players. This is not high school. If Billy Martin were alive he would tell you the same thing.
How’s this for typical New York:
First the Met fans whined and complained about the team’s performance and they want Willie Randolph Fired.
Then it goes weeks and weeks with drama up the Hudson about Willie possibly losing his job.
Finally the Mets pull the trigger. No one is really that happy. Why? Well it appears thay he was not fired with class.
Ha! That just makes me laugh. Good old New York.
The fans also say that it will not solve a thing. Will firing Omar fix it? I doubt it. However sometimes you do not have to get rid of the problem to fix the situation.
NY fans wanted Isiah gone. Happy happy fans. NOT
NY fans wanted Torre gone. Happy happy fans. NOT
NY fans wanted Willie gone. Happy happy fans. NOT
NY fans wanted Coughlin gone. Those are the only happy happy fans.
My congratulations go out to Omar Minaya who will be the next target of the media frenzy and the fan bases that will fall in line because overpaid ball players in every sport underproduce eventually. You showed your knowledge of the game. The worst one of the lot, Alomar, you forgot to fire.
The way Willie was let go was unbelievable. Though they would at least wait until the team is back home. This was just stunning in the way it was done without any class. How come Sandy Alomar was spared? He makes mistakes as a third base coach. Now that Willie is gone Minyana should follow him. He put the team together for Willie. Wonder what the players are feeling and what they are saying among themselves. They sure are not stupid enough to reveal it to the press.
Like many others I am sorry for Willie, but glad he is gone. I am even happier that Peterson is gone. It will be interesting to see what happens from here. I never got the impression that Randolph knew how to connect with the team. I don’t believe he was well respected or liked. As evidenced by his racism comments a few weeks back, I just don’t feel he was ever suited for the job. I don’t know how a guy with his history could be so wrong for a town, but he clearly was. Since he’s in the neighborhood, perhaps the Dodgers will invite him over for a visit.
Why do you feel sorry for Willie. he gets his salary. He gets away from the spineless, lying boss he had in Minaya. He gets away from the spineless worthless little boy owner. We don’t get away from any of that. It is so obvious they had to make the 3 fly out West because they were too incompetent to have the new lackeys in place by Sunday evening. And of course, the middle of the night. Did they really think the talking jerks on radio who whipped everything up would pat them on the back now? Met fans used to be able to pride themselves in not having Steinbrenner types in charge. Well, they even took that away. But at least the originals go to the playoffs every year. The Wilpons aren’t even good at being Steinbrenner. Watch your back Omar.
This has Jeff Wilpon all over this. He is a spineless SNAKE! What did he ever do except being born rich? I wonder what Racheal Robinson feels like this morning? If I was her I would tell Los Mets to take her late husbands name off the Rotunda at Citi Field. Then you would you would have a bigger PR nightmare.
Probably the “worst” part of this firing is that Willie did not get fired for the teams on-field troubles. He got fired b/c of his race comments which embarassed the Wilpons-never publicly embarass your boss.
The 2nd worse part is that the Mets managed to turn the media against them. If they had done this weeks ago instead of waiting in the middle of the night while out of town, nobody would be writing how they don’t have any class.
The 3rd worse part is for Omar b/c now he has nobody to blame if the team still stinks.
But bottom line is that this move will have no impact.
As for the suggestion of Showalter. That will never happen b/c he would know more about BB than Omar and Omar wants somebody that he and the wilpons can tell what to do. Oberkfell will get the job long term unless the team turns it around (them maybe Manuel).
Well Fred’s special boy Jeffy finally got his way. Now can we fire his lame ass? Omar is officially “on the clock”. I have no idea what they will do now? Who will Delgado blame for his awful play now?
It was well reported that jeffy was against giving willie a conract extension after 06. I don’t think they ever got along. The way this was handled has his name all over it.
As someone suggested, he should only give tours of the stadium. When Fred finally is completely out of the picture I wonder if jeffy will become another jim dolan. For all of us fans, let’s hope not.
In an odd way firing Willie on the West coast may have been the best way to do it rather than doing it at home. In other words there is no great time and place to fire a manager. From what I’m reading it was common knowledge that this was coming. (I suspect Willie’s gallows humor over the past week or so suggests he knew he was dead man walking.) Given that, whether the Mets were being intentional or insensitive this was set up to avoid complete three-ring media circus. Doing it on the day off or at home would have guaranteed the full three rings. This way it’s one ring, two tops. As “The Magic is Back” notes, the Omar watch is likely officially on.
As for Manuel, what I recall of his White Sox is that they played something of a National League style; not so much steals but lots of runners moving, taking the extra base, hitting and running. Am I misremembering that?
crockett
it may not be a full blown 3 ring circus, but the media is going to focus on how this was done instead of that it was done and had to be be done to shake things up. And that will cause the circus to go on, especially if the Mets lose a few games.
And how fitting for this org. that they would botch this firing that the team would end up losing 5-6 in a row…it would not be surprising if it happened…
you know what.. I once got laid off while on vacation. I tried to check my email and i was locked out. called my manager and she transfered me to HR. I had a voice mail on my machine when i got home. so this is fucking life. so what he got fired at fucking midnight. It’s a business. I feel sorry for willie the way it happened, but who cares he got fired at midnight PST
Truthful Avatar:
Willie is a long time Yankee. So, I imagine a Yankee beat writer would be interested in the firing. Pete is just doing his job.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Can you add another choice to the poll? The Mets got it half-right (or I guess 1/3-right) by firing Peterson. I can’t understand what Ñieto did wrong. Please add the choice to the poll for people who just wanted Peterson fired.
How did Manuel, Alomar Sr, and HoJo and Minaya survive? The Mets needed to clean house. How are the players going to respond to an interim manager if they never responded to the manager who had a contract through 2009?
As for the timing of the firing, I have to agree that handling of Willy’s inevitable firing was BUSH LEAGUE. It is shameful and embarrassing the way this whole thing went down. They should have cut ties with Willie Memorial Day.
See ya Willie. Jerry has a shot to turn it around, if not, Oberkfell will be managing the opening of Citi!
JD – There’s certainly a lot of speculation out there right now that may be cleared up this afternoon. Aside from Wharthen, who we know will be the pitching coach, and Manuel, the mgr, do we know what positions of the remaining coaches and Oberkfell (sp?) will take. I guess I am specifically wondering if Alomar moves to first where he may do less damage?
Also, Manuel was named interim coach. What is the guessing on his tenure? The end of the year or are they going into full search mode for a replacement now?
As Doris from Rego Park always said – Thanks for the time and the courtesy!
The press conference today and Willie’s subsequent comments when he is ready to talk should be interesting. I agree that based upon face value of what occurred that the Mets could not have handled it any more poorly. It will be interesting to hear what else is disclosed that occurred leading up to and when they dismissed him. As for Nieto, why fire him? Did they equate him as a die hard Willie man? Did he forget how to tell runners how to “Turn left”? Also, why was Sandy and Hojo spared? The only thing I can possibly think of is that when they approached Jerry Manuel that he requested to keep at least one or two of the current coaches to have some familiar faces to work with. In any case, I would not be surpised if you see Alomar become the bench coach, or, at least be moved off of third. If he becomes the first base coach, that would partially explain why they dismissed Nieto.
Camilo. You are right. They should have fired him when they called that big meeting. But that would mean the Wilpons would have to do it face to face and obviously they are gutless, spineless, useless worms so they couldn’t do it the right way. But this is the organization Met fans have to live with. Crap at the top, and it shows on the field. Now we know why all the guys that are signed are overpaid or given contracts too long. Nobody will play for the Wilpons at fair market value.
I understand that Trot Nixon was not happy with the way he was being used and THAT is what really did Willie in!
What a pitiful display by the Mets, not surprised because Jeff Wilpon is a moron and shouldn’t have anything to do with the mets. What is amusing is Jerry manuel is the new manager. That is a joke within itself because manuel comes from the american league, like randolph and he is laid back, like randolph. They are the same type manager. The only smart thing the mets did was to fire peterson. Now met fans are going to see who the real person is to blame, OMAR MINAYA!!!!!!
Paulunde,
At last the real answer comes out! You would not know by chance who was behind the Grassy Knoll when JFK was shot, do you??? = )
Stillsane-
Didn’t Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza and Keith Hernandez cover that one already?
This was as mishandled as any situation in New York sports I have ever seen. As a life long Mets fan no amount of poor play and mediocrity has ever made me as disgusted with this organization as I am right now. If it truly took Omar Minaya this long to reach this decision then he doesn’t belong in a management position.
paulunde – I think everybody covered that one.
Media is really pissed because they didn’t get their big back page of a frowning willie.
Franco, I don’t care that Willie was fired. Overall, I think the blame rests on Minaya assembling a bad chemistry, ego-driven, lazy team.
The firing was at 3AM New York time, after flying the manager cross-country for the 4th west coast trip in the last 6 weeks (if I’m recalling correctly).
Classless.
I don’t hate the team. Right now I hate the management.
Clm, I believe I heard on the FAN that Manuel will manage thru the end of the yr and a decision will be made on what to do for next yr then.
So if Oberkfell is the bench coach I’d guess he is next in line after the season if things don’t work out for Manuel. If not him then you’d have to guess Alomar as the bench coach and Obie as the 3rd base guy.
I don’t think it took Omar all this time to make a decision. I think he wanted to keep willie here either b/c he really did want him here or to keep his own head off the chopping block.
I think as Buster Olney stated on ESPN the Mets have been an org w/lots of politics and somebody leaked to the press that Willie was going to be fired any day and Omar had no choice but to dump Willie b/c this story would be a story everyday unless the Mets won 10 out of 12 or something like that.
Now he looks silly, indecisive and not in control just like Duquette did when they traded away Kazmir b/c Jeffy boy was playing GM.
This was very poorly handled. You kind of wonder what else goes on behind the scenes. As a die-hard Islanders fan, this reminds me of they rinky-dink way the Islanders have done things over the years. (Is John Spano advising the Wilpon’s?)
The only way to salvage this fiasco is for the Mets to win lots of games to take people’s minds off of this whole affair.
The funny thing is, I think this club is more capable of doing just that. Other than the Cubs and possibly the Phils, I don’t see any team that is clearly better than we are. And I think we can compete with both of them.
If not for Wanger’s slump we’d be in the midst of a pretty decent run right now. I am guessing Beltran’s legs are starting to feel good – so he could be set to make things interesting. Recently, the starting pitching has been very solid and that’s always the main ingredient for success. If they continue to give us longer outings it will certainly help the bullpen.
We desparately need to address out outfield problems. I hope Nixon can be a solid addition to the club and that Ryan Church comes back soon. That would really help straighten things out.
It’s really hard to root for this organization sometimes. Just an disgusting, awful, horrible way to handle this. Whether it truly came from Omar, or it came from Jeffy and Fred, I mean who would want to work for this organization after how they handled this?
I think Omar is going to get grilled today at that press conference like he never got grilled before.
Whether it be about the way this was handled or the fact that manuel is another willie or that this won’t change anything b/c you still have the same players. It will be interesting to see how he handles these questions.
He and the mets could have avoided all the above if they had done this a few weeks ago. Their sense of how to handle the press is the same as their sense about how to handle BB activities-always one step slow.
Scoop: Absolutely. And I guarantee you that Omar will handle it poorly. He just does not come across well in these situations…”you know what i’m sayin?”
On the other hand, do you suppose the Mets simply waited until today b/c Santana is picthing and they thought they’d have a better chance to win to change the story line?
Of course they should not be counting on that given that he is 1-1-1 in his last three starts despite giving up just 2 runs and he is going up against Lackey who has pitch terrificly.
I would not put it past mets to think like this. But given this orgs history, would anyone be surprised if santana lays an egg and mets lose 12-3? and the press will just eat it up.
“As a life long Mets fan no amount of poor play and mediocrity has ever made me as disgusted with this organization as I am right now”
I disagree. I was really pissed when M donald Grant dumped Seaver. This is just a pitiful event in a long chain of events that help explain why the Mets rarely win.
They can’t handle a medical problem with a concussion. Why would anyone expect them to handle anything well. More bad publicity coming during the AllStar game when ESPN and Fox will bring up Willie not being a coach about 3 million times.
steve o, I know what you sayin but will I believe it…...
If John Delcos gets a chance perhaps he can ask Minaya, Bernazzard, or Jeff Wilpon how they would like to be fired. What are their reasons and why now. When the company I worked for went bankrupt the founder and head of engineering gathered everyone together and said “I’m sorry, we ran out of money, we’re bankrupt and we have to let everyone go. Take a reasonable amount of time to gather your personal belongings but you all have to leave the building soon.” It was handled as it should. Randolph’s wasn’t. Probably as bad as Yogi being introduced as Mets manager to the press at almost the same time Gil Hodges was being buried in 1972
Is Manuel expected to make the playoffs to get a permanent deal? What can Warthen do better? Will relief pitchers pitch more than one inning to cut down on the number of games they appear in? Does anyone know anything about Oberkfell’s style of baseball? Any contact with media people in New Orleans and Binghamton about him?
I guess I am in the minority in that I don’t find the siuation “classless”.
No manager firing is ever pretty or pleasant. And so what that it was done on the road? Would everyone be fawing over the Wilpons as men of honor if they had canned him at Shea?
Flying to the West coast with the team is not a big deal. And if anything, it was nicer to WIllie (that, by definition, being “classy”)
Looks at it this way. He gets fired in private at 11:30 – 12:00 local time (NOTE: He was fired ~2 hours after the end of the game, not at 3 AM! California is still on pacific time, you know!)
Then, he can disappear if he wants to, and reppear when he feels like talking. In other words, he gets some privacy.
Or maybe Classy is canning him during the pregame press conference at Shea, when the media hoards are all there to pounce on him?
People need to get some perspective, especially the fans and press that have been screaming for his head. Well, you got your wish, but sorry they didn’t handle it the way you would have liked them to!
And frankly, the press is just ticked that they weren’t able to pounce on the carcass immediately. You don’t honestly think they care about how the team acted on this? They just want pictures, quotes and deadlines met!
Now WIllie, if he is smart, is probably already in the Caymans with his wife, relaxing and enjoying his 3.5million in severance pay!
Stick: Yes, you are most definitely in the minority.
I’m embarrassed today to be a Mets fan.
How Randolph was fired was worse than a coup in a lesser developed country. I’ve read about mafia whackings that had more respect.
It’s a completely bush league move by what has become a bush league organization.
The Mets make the Knicks look like the epitome of class.
Sickening.
Yes, its very classy to send a man away from his friends and family to be fired in a hotel room and left by himself so he has nobody to help him get over his feelings. At 3 AM he couldn’t even call his wife without her thinking someone had died. You deserve the Wilpons Stick, the rest of us deserve better.
TheGuvlovestheMets, I can’t disagree with you there. The Seaver trade was before my time but it continues to haunt my father who insists that the Mets will trade David Wright because his trust in the organization has never been restored.
It will be interesting to find out if willie knew about this days ago and for whatever reason they let him continue on.
That would show some class on his part.
But if he did not know for sure, there was no reason why they could not have told him in NY. He could have slippped out of shea and not deal w/the press.
In fact, if you were told you were fired at midnite and the press was interested in your reaction, where could you go? Did the Mets get him another hotel room in another hotel?
I’m surprised no press people have comments from willie given that it might have been even more difficult for him to avoid the press since he was not in NY where he could have at least driven home and stayed away from the press.
Unless as was suggested he already had plans laid out to leave after the game (but that seems very far fetched)....
Deserved but wretchedly handled. Wretchedly wretchedly handled.
I’m just waiting for the conspiracy theorists to come out and claim that the bullpen mutinied, blowing that last string of games on purpose to put the last nail on this coffin.
That’ll be fun.
Nobody deserves to be treated the way the Mets organization has treated – or, should I say mistreated – Willie Randolph. However, it’s just another article in the book about how the Wilpons are ruining the Mets franchise.
The Mets were originally formed to replace the Dodgers and the Giants who had both gone west. One of the early owners was a woman named Joan Payson. Most of the early days were compromised by being a new franchise and not getting established players, however, the Mets as a team were strong.
Three years ago, the Wilpons and Omar made Willie Randolph their first Afro American Manager and he was very well received. There had never been a bad word spoken about Willie in all his decades with MLB. That changed when Jeff Wilpon started in on him. We are way past the time when Fred needs to rein in his son Jeff who will ruin the franchise if he is not stopped from behaving like a spoiled brat.
This is worse than the Seaver trade, this is the beginning of the end of the Mets.
Annie: It’s NOT worse than the Seaver trade. It isn’t even worse than the Kazmir trade!
Do you think there will be a commerical? Announcer: “Hey Willie, now that the Mets have given you the boot in a really low life way, what are your plans?” Willie: “I am going to Disneyland!” This whole episode played out like a surrealistic cartoon.
Stillsane: No, I think Willie IS the Subway commercial he did. He definitely got “Fresh-Toasted” by Omar, Jeffy, and Fred.
Excellent Steve (The Original)!
ScoopScoop According to the NYTimes article, Willy did not take the team bus to the hotel. Plus if you look at his face last night during the game, the man looked stressed out.
Reyes hasn’t been playing to his level? He is on pace to have just as good of a season as he did in 2006. Bad reporting. Do you watch the games?
Dan—I have seen Binghamton play with and without Obie as their manager. My impression is that his teams have an approach, a defined strategy, that tends to separate them from their opponents. They seem disciplined and focused on a game plan (e.g., being selective with a wild pitcher), while their opponents often seem to be just swinging whenever it feels right. I have always been impressed by the expectation of winning that surrounds his teams. Its absence is certainly noticeable with his successors.
Has anybody seen or heard from Willie yet?
No?
Hmmm…If this happened in NY he certainly would have been mobbed by reporters leaving Shea.
Maybe that this happened in CA was a good thing for Willie?
Maybe it gave him some much needed private time during such a difficult phase?
” And this too shall pass”
I could have sworn the Mets have won 3 out of their last 4 games.
What does Mr. Met have to say about all this?
from Bpro :
“Randolph is out of a job today because a storyline was created, the Mets weren’t savvy enough to get out in front of it, and the situation snowballed. Omar Minaya may have made the phone call, but it was the media that made this transaction.”
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=910
Good job Mets, figured out a way to screw this one up. Willie deserved to lose his job for a year now, bout time. Now its on to Omar. And lets not blame the media, this manager was the manager of a team that had the worst colapse in Major League Baseball. Why is his firing the media’s fault.
aaron, as in aaron heilman?
we can’t take any comments you have on willie without thinking you have an axed to grind. get off the board and go back to the BP….just joking…
The reason why it is the media’s fault is that there is nothing that Willie Randolph did that caused this team’s poor performance. Delgado, Alou, Anderson, Easley, Pedro contributed next to nothing. That is NOT Willie’s fault. Also, crappy relief pitching is NOT Willie’s fault. You will see that there is no magic to bringing in relief pitchers. If they stink it up when you bring them in you look bad. If they do well you look smart. Really it has little or nothing to do with the manager. The media needed a story and they focused the lens on Willie’s future because it made for more drama. The problem was and is the lack of performance by large segments of the roster. Not Wright, Reyes and Beltran by the way. They are doing fine. But Anderson and Chavez have chewed up large numbers of ABs with little contribution. Easley has been only a little bit better. Pedro has only made 4 starts and not great ones at that. Delgado, despite being better lately, has overall been terrible. Alou has 51 PAs. None of this is because of Willie’s management style or decision making or anything to do with Willie. These are the reasons for the Mets disappointing performance this year and they have nothing to do with Willie. Nothing. The media started this stupid line of thought that Willie had to be held responsible for things over which he had no control and the low-IQ Mets management bought into it.
So we are all suppose to feel bad about the way this dude got fired?
Spare me.
If you all think that how his firing went down was completely uncalled for, your all very ignorant to how businesses handle firings,and demotions.
Do you think that getting fired on a Friday from your manager is getting it done with “class”? Or the fact that it was done in person?
From what I know many businesses do not give you two weeks and they really do not give you the exact reason why. They usually send you out the door after your day at work and call it some legal ease.
Willie got one hell of severence package in case you all forgot.
If I said that my boss handled things by the way of race (unless it is true), I can not expect to be kicked out the door with some class.
The media handled this wole situation with as much class as the organization did. The media complaining about the Mets tact in this firing is caling the kettle black.
They should have done it this way or that is a load of crap. Should have could have…This thing was a media circus long before it happened last night.
I posted a couple of days ago that Minayas last minute decision to make the trip meant he was going to fire somebody. The timing makes the mets look bad, its true. It should have been done when they came back from San Diego. Every reporter in town, including JD, were printing stories that the Mets wrong to hang willie in the wind. So, Omar was left with 2 choices to make the noise stop: 1. Fire Willie or 2. Give him a guarantee in public that he will manage the rest of the year, no matter what. Number 2 wasnt going to happen, So all that was left was number 1. Management was in a no win situation. At least now, Its over, and the players dont need to keep answering questions about it and can concentrate on playing ball.
you all would have kept going even if it was not done last night
Fire Willie! Fire Willie! ............Is this class?
(psssssstt…..please do it with such grace though, try not hurt his feelings and if you can do it in person that would be great. As a Matter of fact…can you read up on how to do it with class so that you can make this as professional as possible because we all know that businesses are real mature when it comes to exiting their employees).
Next, in a day or two its going to be: Fire Omar!, Fire Omar!
It never ends until they start winning. Who cares how it done.
I thought there was no crying in baseball. Some of the posts here are laughable. Worse than the Seaver trade? End of the Mets? come on. Is this the first time a manager ever got fired on the road? to read some of the posts here you would think so. Wally the idiot at newsday is saying the Mets management is worse than the Dolans now. What a joke !
You’re darn tooting rebel, you’re going to hear fire Omar. He is one of the worst GMs in baseball today. He’ has no plan, no vision no nothin but rich boy Jeffy’s wallet. He’s a liar. He was going to make this team younger and more athletic. He was going to evaluate Willie on a day by day basis just on Friday, after which 3 of 4 wasn’t enough. Omar should have been first to go. FIRE OMAR YESTERDAY!!!!!! You’re gonna hear FIRE OMAR as often as you heard fire Willie.
Ray: I hate to say it, but I actually agreed with Wally Matthews. Jeffy and Fred did an absolutely awful job of handling this, and if you think Omar is the one who actually made the call, i’ve got a bridge to sell you.
Guy: FIRE OMAR!!!! (I said this yesterday by the way. :-) )
If things dont turn around, I am sure Omar will be following Willie out the door, dont worry about that.