Tag: Willie Randolph

Mets Take Out Listless Nats 7-2

Johan Santana looks like he’s worth the money, and the prospects that the Mets gave up. He was good again tonight keeping the Mets in the game through seven innings. He had seven strikeouts, and gave up two runs, seven hits and one walk. I might also mention that he was 2 for 2 at the plate with two doubles.

Carlos Beltran was 2 for 4 and looked really good hitting left handed. Ryan Church was 2 for 5 as well. Angel Pagan had two steals, Reyes had one, and Luis Castillo had his fifth steal of the year. That’s one more than Reyes has.

The death knell for Carlos Delgado was subsided for one night mostly because the Mets won. But Delgado did have a hit and an RBI to stave off the vultures circling his career.

Playing against the Nationals is a good way to make a team feel good about themselves. They’ve got very little talent on that team. Their new stadium looks great though and has me looking forward to seeing Citi Field.

The Mets fans are traveling really well this season. There was an audible presence during the game. That’s great to see in another team’s stadium.

I have to mention that Willie Randolph is the last person to notice that Delgado should move lower in the order and Duaner Sanchez should pitch the eighth inning. It’s amazing to me that everyone else recognizes that before he does. He’s far too loyal to players that aren’t getting the job done. That’s all that I’ll say about that… I feel like I’m beating a dead horse.

Box score

Video Highlights

Delgado Is Dead Weight And I’m Mad!

New York Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado before a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.Image via Wikipedia

Question: How do you get rid of $16 million worth of dead weight?

Answer: I have no idea.

I’m exasperated watching Carlos Delgado. He’s completely lost it. If he had any respect for himself he would return most of the money the Mets have paid him last season and so far this season and retire. He’s hurting the team. That’s what it comes down to.

The problem for the Mets is that there’s no solution to this problem. There isn’t another player on the team or in the minors that can play first base every day. I know about Mike Carp. He’s not going to play every day for this team. So, forget it.

There’s no way to get rid of Delgado without releasing him and paying him. It’s been done before. Damion Easley got released by the Tigers and they owed him $14 million. So that’s a possibility.

Delgado can’t be traded… Nobody would take him. I can’t even blame Omar Minaya for bringing him here. I went back and looked at his numbers. His last year with the Marlins was excellent. He was a .300 hitter. Since the 2006 season his skills seem to have just dropped off a cliff. He’s barely a .200 hitter now.

It’s also really bothering me that Willie won’t move him down from fifth in the lineup out of respect for Delgado. Forget respect, Willie! We’re trying to win games here. Delgado should be hitting sixth or seventh. Based on his performance, there’s no denying that.

The mainstream media is all over the topic too with columns here, here, and here.

What would you do with Delgado and first base after he’s gone?

Cubs Rip Heilman, Mets 7-1

John Maine (1-2) had a pretty decent game. He pitched six innings only giving up two runs, five hits, two walks, and had six strikeouts. He deserved to lose the game only because Carlos Zambrano was really on tonight for the Cubs. He went seven innings giving up only one run. That can happen at times during the season.

Duaner Sanchez pitched a flawless seventh inning and looks like he’s getting back to his old form. He doesn’t have the blazing fastball that he had before the shoulder injury a year and a half ago. But it looks like what he’s got is good enough to get hitters out.

Now we get to the eighth inning, when the wheels came off for the Mets. Once again, Aaron Heilman was the goat of the game. That’s appropriate since they’re playing in the home of the curse of the goat. Heilman only got through two outs in the inning giving up two hits and hitting Aramas Ramirez. Four runs scored but Heilman’s ERA was bailed out by Jose Reyes making an error on a grounder. He was able to actually reduce his ERA to 4.97. Continue reading “Cubs Rip Heilman, Mets 7-1”

Reader Poll Results

The results are in and the poll is now off-line. The poll question was “Will Willie Randolph be fired during the 2008 season?”. I was curious to see which way the wind was blowing with the fans. The readers responded:

  • Yes- 30%
  • No- 60%
  • Maybe- 10%

What I get from that is that 40% of the respondents think that Willie will or might be fired during this season. That’s a pretty high percentage. It’s actually higher than I thought it would be when I posted that poll.

I’m in the “maybe” group. If the Mets aren’t playing well at the All-Star break I think it’s likely that he’ll be let go considering the way the season ended last year, and the fan backlash that’s continued into this season.

Thanks to all of you that participated.

Beginning The “Willie Watch”

Mets manager Willie Randolph before a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.Image via WikipediaWillie Randolph appeared to have such a sense of frustration with the team after losing the home series to the Brewers. I was also surprised that he was hinting at criticism of Oliver Perez after his second start of the season, which went very well. It made me wonder if he’s just not getting his message through to the team.I like Willie and think he does a fine job managing the team. He’s taken criticism on the Mets blogs, predominantly for not playing typical National League style ball and mis-handling the pitching staff. Some of the criticism is justified and some definitely is not. That comes with being a manager.

Ken Rosenthal did a preseason column about managers on the hot seat this year and Willie was listed as number one. Certainly, “The Collapse” last season must have made the Mets front office at least consider firing him. Continue reading “Beginning The “Willie Watch””