Category: Management

Rosenthal: Randolph Firing “Inevitable”

Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal has a new column out today and writes about the fading job security of Mets manager Willie Randolph and the Mariners John McLaren. Of the Mets he writes:

The Mets could have fired Randolph at the end of last season. They could have fired him two weeks ago during his well-publicized meeting with ownership. Instead, they keep delaying the inevitable — and, thanks to the play of the Phillies, their season is slipping away.

He also writes that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Randolph was fired this week after the embarrassment the Mets suffered in San Diego. The second four game sweep in two weeks must be very difficult to swallow for the Wilpons right now. “Citi Field: Home of the Fourth Place Mets” would be a nice banner to hang for the 2009 opening day celebration.

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Are The Mets Buyers Or Sellers This Season?

New York Mets

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New York Mets GM Omar Minaya only has three to four weeks to decide if the Mets will be buyers or sellers on the trade market. The non-waiver trading deadline ends on July 31 so the Mets need to give themselves two to three weeks to work out trades prior to the deadline.

I would imagine that Minaya has no idea what he’s going to do right now. Standing at 7.5 games back of the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies and two games under .500 after the first 62 games makes their situation ambiguous at best. The Mets need to play 20 games over .500 for the rest of the season to win 90 games which is about what it will take to win the division. If the first two and a half months of the season are any indication, and they are, that is highly unlikely.

The wild card is a long shot right now as well. The St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins are in a much stronger position to make a run, especially the Cardinals playing in a weak division.

That leaves the Mets in the awkward position of potentially scrapping the 2008 season and selling off the team for parts. For a team that went into opening day with a payroll of $137,793,376 the proposition of selling prior to the deadline is a complete and utter embarrassment. Flushing a season down the toilet in New York is particularly difficult because the team’s revenue goals are tied to the tickets sales and television advertising revenue. Last season the Mets sold over 3.8 million tickets and the Mets jointly owned television station SNY generates plenty as long as people are watching. Watching this team becomes more difficult with each passing loss.

Possibly the most embarrassing situation of all would be for the Mets to limp into their new stadium Citi Field. I’m sure that the Mets will sell plenty of tickets despite the team that shows up to play every day. But it’s certainly not what the Wilpons had in mind when they broke ground on Citi Field, a team that’s a reclamation project. Continue reading “Are The Mets Buyers Or Sellers This Season?”

Jose Reyes Fielding Problems- Randolph Offers Help

NEW YORK - MAY 14: Manager Willie Randolph of the New York Mets removes Claudio Vargas #39 from the game in the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals as his teammates David Wright #5, Carlos Delgado #21, and Jose Reyes #7 look on on May 14, 2008 at Shea Stadium in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Jose Reyes season has been one of offensive success in recent weeks and defensive mystery. His fielding percentage (.961) is the lowest of his career since 2004 (.957 at SS). That’s when he was in the middle of the horrible transition to second base to make room for Japanese superstar Kaz Matsui.

We now know that Matsui wasn’t a superstar for the New York Mets and Reyes wasn’t a second baseman. But Reyes has been struggling defensively this season often on plays that appear to be routine. There’s been speculation that Reyes is dissatisfied with his four year/$23.25 million contract. That may be a logical assertion. Fellow infielder David Wright has a six year/$55 million contract. In my opinion, Reyes is a far more dynamic player at a position that requires more defensive skill. I’d be unhappy about the contract as well. Continue reading “Jose Reyes Fielding Problems- Randolph Offers Help”

Church: Late Round Draft Success Story

Ryan Church was the 14th round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2000 out of the University of Nevada. Today Jerry Crasnick has a good column about at ESPN about late round picks that are active players making an impact.
Ryan Church
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This underscores my thought that the Mets are completely correct in staying within Major League Baseball’s slotting system for high round draft choices. You just never know what’s going to happen to young players and whether they will continue to improve enough to play in the big leagues.

If you can sign foreign players at 16 years old as free agents, for far less money, it makes sense to go in that direction. The Mets started their training facility in the Dominican Republic last year for exactly that reason.

There’s no need to spend millions of dollars on players that may never make the big club. Too many young players can dominate the game at a lower level but fail to continue to develop. It’s also difficult to judge which players will still remain “hungry” after their bank account hits seven figures. That’s probably the toughest thing to determine when scouting.

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Rosenthal: Peterson, Johnson On Chopping Block Too

NEW YORK - APRIL 26: Manager Willie Randolph #12 (L) and pitching coach Rick Peterson #51 of the New York Mets confer in the second inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium April 26, 2008 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reports that Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson has fallen out of favor with some in the front office. Rosenthal says that if the Mets start dropping games at an alarming rate again that Willie Randolph won’t be the only one on the unemployment line.

He says that Peterson and hitting coach Howard Johnson would be fired with Randolph. That’s near total house cleaning.

Rosenthal says that it wouldn’t be long before another team picked up Peterson. He’s well respected in baseball.

Personally, I think that the value of coaching is overrated. It comes down to having players with talent much more than the influence of coach’s. I won’t be shedding any tears if Peterson or HoJo are gone.

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Jerry Manuel: The Next In Line To Manage

Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman reports that if the Mets do make a change at manager this season that bench coach Jerry Manuel is likely to become the interim manager.

Manuel was the 2000 AL Manager of the Year while with the Chicago White Sox and has a career record of 500-471 .515 win percentage. He manager from 1998-2003 in Chicago.

That would be a good decision if they make the move during the season. It would minimize the disruption to the team and give the front office a chance to work on a long term strategy. If Manuel has a major success, then he stays. If not, then the Mets move on to other candidates that make a fresh start during spring training next year.

Manuel’s experience with the team would allow some continuity while driving home the message that mediocrity won’t be tolerated. Changes will be made.

Major League Scouting: An Inside Look

I wrote on May 13th that San Diego Padres special assistant Paul DePodesta had started a blog. Today he wrote an interesting post on the scouting organization that the Padres use to prepare for the Rule IV draft that’s occurring next Thursday and Friday.

The draft covers all players in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. With so much area to cover the teams have to be well organized to prepare for the draft. DePodesta says that they’ll have over 1000 players on their draft board.

It’s a really interesting read. Check it out here.