"Let's do something, even if it's wrong.." Roy Drusky
Something must be done!
And so it was, and so Willie Randolph joins the ranks of the unemployed. And the question you have to ask, the only one that matters, is whether the Mets are better off.
Absolutely, positively, well, probably not.
Because the problem is not Randolph, but General Manager Omar Minaya. The man who assembled the defective machine which failed to deliver a pennant last year or even the hope of one this year. A team with no head or heart.
And no bullpen.
Make no mistake, keeping Randolph wouldn't have changed the situation. Randolph was Gamelin, in charge of the French Army of 1940. On paper he had an edge, in the field, alas, a different story.
Back in the back of the pitching staff, behind Johan Santana and John Maine, stands a fire brigade of arsonists. A bullpen that has yielded 25 home runs. And a surprisingly weak rotation. Grim indeed is the question Nelson Figueroa or Claudio Vargas is the answer to.
Minaya, and not Randolph, rolled out the duct tape which binds this fetid assemblage. It seems he has a rolodex somewhere of every past prime pitcher in the universe. The height of this depth plumbing approach was four horrendous starts by Jose Lima in 2005. Seventeen innings, 25 hits, 19 earned runs, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts and four losses. Pregnant women who watched those games will have children who spend their lives flinching at the sound of bat contacting ball.
The signing of Pedro Martinez, for which Minaya has been widely hailed, has been a mixed blessing. The Mets tied up over $52 million in payroll to procure the services of a pitcher widely known to have a bad arm. It paid off in one good season, much less so in three others where the team's rotation and planning have been disrupted by his presence and absence from the roster.
Minaya's other acquistions? Carlos Delgado. A study in decline. Carlos Beltran. A player who is probably not up to the unique pressures of playing in New York City. A past his prime Luis Castillo. The dreadful Jorge Sosa who, if one man can cause another to lose his job, more than anyone did in Randolph.
The John Maine trade has to go into the plus column. Xavier Nady for Oliver Perez is starting to look a net loss. Moises Alou, an aging illusion. The loss of Heath Bell, Matt Lindstrom and Dan Wheeler from the bullpen has been a source of constant grief, and likely cost a pennant last year. Billy Wagner is the classic blessing and curse.
Mostly, though, the Minaya Mets are less than the sum of their parts. A team which finds a way to lose, the double play not turned, the weak grounder with two out and men on in the late innings. It is a team no manager could win with.
Was Randolph to blame for not lighting a fire under a listless pile of kindling? Probably. Should he have held pitching coach Rick Peterson to account for the team's pitchers failing at inopportune times? Absolutely. Should he have found a way to get through to Jose Reyes? Of course.
But did Randolph deserve to twist in the wind for weeks while Minaya vacillated and the Wilpons schemed? And does it make sense to replace Randolph with one of his coaches?
Jerry Manuel won't fix the Mets. Nor will anyone else. It is not a time to hope for miracle comebacks, but a time to gut the interior of a badly damaged house and start over.
Oh no! They fired the wright man!! They just shouldent have stopped the firings until Peterson and Minaya were gone also.
How can you make excuses for Randolph when this is basicaly the same team that went 7 games with the Cards in the LCS 2 years ago? And they got there with those old pitchers your talkin about (Pedro-Glavine) When your perenial AllStars- ( Beltran, Reyes and Wright finish 07 the way they did, how CANT you blame the Manager?
Your wright about Del Got No, he's done! Lay that one on Minaya. Call me a racist, but it's obvious," Painfuly obvious, that Minaya, dollar for dollar, stat for stat, will take a latino player over any other at all cost. The proof aint hard to find. My problem with that is, he got the wrong latinos. He's had shots ( how ever slim) at A-Rod, Manny and Magglio and sat on his hands.
Nah, keep Beltran and even Alou and Pedro, you cant blame the injuries on anyone. But clean out the whole coaching staff and front office..
Well said. You've said a lot of the same things I've said in my blog. Willie didn't put this aging roster together. Granted, it's underachieved, and not only has Minaya not done a good job with many of the trades he's made, the farm system right now is a disaster. It doesn't seem like a lot of the drafts under his regime is producing much. If this team flounders in mediocrity or worse, Minaya will be put on the 7 train out of Citi Field next year.
Situation: The New York Mets have NO pitchers to take them to the World Series. Now, they really don’t have anyone to lead them any championship.
Missions: (1) FIRE GM Omar Minaya, Pitching Coach Rick Peterson, Get rid of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Jorge Posada, and other deadbeats.
(2) Get to the World Series and win it for the faithful FANS, not for the front office.
Execution: The Wilpons and Katz need to take charge of the organization and clean house, starting with the General Manager.
Administration: Fred Wilpon: Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer need to FIRE Omar Minaya, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager (wasted payroll), immediately.
Command: Bring back leadership to the front office. Most important bring back pride to be a faithful NEW YORK fans.
The NEW YORK METS has been and will always be my New York baseball team.
Signed: a disgruntled faithful New York METS fan…………
Just remember Willie was the one that constantly called on Heilman in pressure situations only to watch it blow up. Heilman is awful, I have never seen a pitcher blow so many close games in my life. Yet Willie called on him over and over.......just this year alone, a close game in Washington get out of control when Heilman comes in with the bases loaded and give up a grand slam to FELIPE LOPEZ!!! Lopez couldnt hit a grand slam if you let him hit it himself from second base.....Heilman has the uncanny ability to make the leagues worst hitters look like Ted Williams.......that was all on Willie.
This was badly handled from the start, and the Mets are an aging team with no immediate hope of a turnaround. And why replace a stoic guy with another stoic guy. When is the GM at fault here? Is Minaya working for William Clay Ford lol!
Agree......to a degree. While Minaya is certainly responsible for this assemblage of high paid under-performance, he will also and ultimately be held accountable. It is essentially a team built upon team unity, but without the capablitly to play like one. Who among us didn't whisper to themselves last night after falling behind 3-1 even with Santana on the mound that the game was essentially over. Don't you hate it when you are so right? Without doubt and starting with the manager, the building of this team has been flawed lacking any kind of offensive or defensive consistency. Pehaps due to the fact they do not have a bonafide plus .300 hitter ala Chase Utley, Chipper Jones who both form the heart of their respective teams in the field and at bat. The Mets, sadly to say have no equal. Beltran, along with Wright & Reyes form the base of this team, but Beltran would have been better suited in Yankee pinstripes without the burden of his $18mm salary and the onus of having to live up to that number. In the middle of the Yankee lineup he most likely would have flourished and he seemed to sense it by offereing the Bombers nearly $20mm in discount. Here is a team unable to go through its rotation without a loss. What other winning team struggles to piece together a 5-game win streak? In short they are like the 'Girl with a curl,' and when they are bad, they are very, very bad. Then again, maybe we've all over-rated this contingent with its aging players and no apparent leader and just maybe they are playing up to their capability!
Rgonz33
The unloading of power arms for soft tossers has been Minaya's biggest problem. Bell, Owens, Lindstrom, Bannister for who? Can we get Bradford & Oliver back? Can we acquire more athletic young players who don't pull up lame when they run?
If you think Wilpon is going to do anything you have another thing coming. Just grab a look at the back pages of the New York papers and seeing Wilpon there looking like "who me"? Then about three seconds later he threw Omar under the bus by saying it was Omar's decision to fire Willie. We need someone to buy the team that a)gives a damn about it b) knows something about baseball and c) doesnt have an #### son looking for a new play toy. Damn I hate the Wilpons.
Now they should just get rid of Heilman (who is as resposible for Willie being fired as anyone), and Moises and Orlando Hernandez when they can. Heilman may work out somewhere else not with the Mets --Moises and Hernandez too old and unreliable.
I agree getting rid of Randolph wouldn't have changed the situation. But getting rid of his won't change thing either. Oh by the way why does Minaya still have a job.
Omar is more responsible for the Mets failure then Willie or anyone else. He put together a team that put out a lack luster effort. And he has the nerve to say that his players are playing 100%, what a joke. The Wilpons are clueless and should show Omar the door at the end of the season.
The Wilpon's are learning the cost of being fashionable, Mr. Minaya is an uneducated consumer, and Mr. Randolph was the easy target at this point. No honesty, no high-priced ticket sales. WAKE UP METS!! All OF YOU!
blue@orange-There is the nucleus of a decent team in NY, but the idea widely circulated they would be ready to contend in Year 1 of the new ballpark is now exposed as fiction. No team with Wright and Reyes is without hope, but a reorganization (especially of the pitching) is in order.
slshusker-I think Minaya will get a pass for at least another season. But if things don't get better of the course of this year and especially 2009, Minaya will be the next to go. I'm interested in who he goes to as manager. If he sticks with Manuel it's a sign nothing really has changed.
Wildman_629-You made me think about what the Mets represent to NY and their fans. Sort of a fun alternative to the Yankees. You are right in mentioning the pride, but more than that Minaya and the Wilpons have really taken the fun out of the Mets.
axel718-The other day I went back and looked at the box scores on the Mets losses. You're on the money about the relievers, and Heilman. They just blow up like a ball park frank. The problem I have with how the bullpen was handled under Randolph (and, in fairness, how modern managers do handle bullpens) was how many losses turned on the bullpen blowing up in the 6th or 7th inning. There comes a point where you just have to trust your starter to get the job done.
DownsA529-Interesting comparison to the Lions. It sort of feels that way, though. You have to question throwing money around without much logic behind how you do it. You can spend alot of money and still not have a lineup where all the parts fit together right. The Mets look more like a baseball card collection than a team.
rgonz33-You mention something I think is really important. In either the 3 or 4 spot you have to have that hitter who can hit with power but is more than a power hitter. The guys you mention (Jones and Utley) are good examples of players who can spark a lineup and set the stage for big innings. Beltran's contract, which isn't that large by today's standards, set the expectation he was that sort of hitter. He's good, but not a consistent RBI guy. That's where Delgado hurts the Mets so bad. A good cleanup hitter would make Beltran look so much better.
Secretslew-The Mets probably can't restock useful pitching because of the lack of depth in the farm system. They aren't the Astros in that regard, but not that far away either.
Mikeeelikesit-I've wondered if Heilman shouldn't have stayed a starter. He's had his moments in relief, but gives up an awful lot of hits at very inopportune moments.
jallen11434-Minaya is interesting. He was given alot of credit for running the Expos during their time of being owned by MLB. But I think he started to believe his own press clippings.
yankeechampion-Randolph is, by reputation, a very solid baseball man. But if you go back and read his comments during the stretch drive last year he didn't appear to be able to bring himself to put the boot to players who needed it, or even coaches. If he had fired Peterson early it might have bought him some time. It may be more important who the Mets bring in as a pitching coach than a manager. Speaking of which, anyone up for the return of Bobby Valentine?
MyNYteam-I don't think this Mets team will wake up. They don't appear that much interested or motivated. Outside of Wright and maybe Wagner, none of them even speak up about what goes on around them. You got a hint of what's wrong in the clubhouse when LoDuca left and made some oblique comments that now look more understandable. It's just a team without much heart.
I agree that Minaya has to go. However Randolph showed a lack of intensity that transcended into the team. The Mets have more talent then they are showing, and it is up to the manager to get them to play to their potential. That said there are too may broken parts with these old guys. The Delgado deal wouldn't have looked too bad if the Mets won it all in 2006. That said it was Beltran who choked for the final out. He has been overrated. If the mets don't turn it around where they are in the hunt by July 15, I said Trade anyone except Wright or Reyes and try to keep Maine. The Mets don't need Santana and Beltran if they are gonna need to rebuild, a $39,000,000 cut in payroll. I am tired of dropping $350.00-$400.00 a game for 2 people to watch this. I feel like I am being robbed.
#1Metfanofalltime-The ticket prices you mention are a symbol of the problem. The Mets aren't fun anymore. They are just another NY team operating on the Yankees model. Maybe part of the problem is Minaya doesn't know who the Mets are, the tradition. He needs to assemble a team and not a baseball card collection, and he needs a manager to bind it all together. Crazy as it may sound, I think Bobby Valentine may be that guy.
Wow, it is simply amazin how people turn so quickly. Right here on Fox sports I read nothing but positive platitudes to Minaya since the day he was hired as Mets GM. Look, he got Beltran....whohooooo. Wow, how did he get Pedro to sign.........simply amazin.......Delgado for Jacobs, this guy is a genius. Santana, wow, what a steal.
Now all I hear is how Minaya #### and pilledged the farm system to get Santana (who should be 11 and 3 by now save for a couple of bull pen melt downs). What was he thinking by signing Pedro, an aged fragile prima donna and sheesh, Delgado is just the worst pick up of all.
It is time to stop blaming anyone but the players. They are the ones to blame. After all, they are the ones who have to go out an earn those bloated contracts in the first place.
I think what happened here is the players stopped liking Randolph and to borrow from Ron Darling, they simply did not want to drink from that kool aid any more. I think Reyes felt betrayed by Randolph when Willie did not defend him when the press jumped on him for his supposed lack of respect for the other team because he celebrates on the field and high fives someone. And as we all know, when Reyes goes, the Mets go. Look at the fire and intensity Reyes has showed over the last game and inning. He looked like the Reyes of 2006. A fire starter. He looked happy again.
THe doom sayers out there need to zip it. They don't know what they are talking about and they change sides like they change underwear. Something needed to happen. And Willie turned out to be that something. I agree that
Willie Randolph mentioned "race" publicly and the N.Y press would not let it go. He is responsible for his own downfall and should learn to keep his mouth shut next time. Minaya has been leading the Wilpons down an expensive path for years now without much to show for it. His own bias determines his player selection. He should be trying to acquire the best players, period. Minaya's handling of Randolph's firing shows that he is a liar and has no class. The Wilpons are just as gutless. Leadership must always come from the top. The Mets won't have success until they have leadership. Minaya must go.
Typical Met bashing. Sounds like you spend way too much time listening to the New York sports radio shows.
Most of the same people who feel Randolph got screwed are the same people that were calling for his head at the end of last season.
The Mets were more than fair with Randolph. They overlooked what happened last year and gave him another shot. After a terrible start this year a change was necessary.
I liked Willie Randolph, but I can't fault the Mets for firing him. And yes, if they don't turn it around Omar has to go too.
