Update June 17 11:00 AM EDT: Since the decision was made for us early this morning. I decided to take the poll down.
Since it appears to be imminent that someone is going to get fired. I’d like to get your take on who should get the axe. See the poll on the right side of the page. If you’re using a feed reader, visit the site to participate in the poll.
I’m tired of reading and hearing about how the “Evil Wilpons” and Omar Minaya should stop torturing Willie Randolph by pressuring him to achieve results. Everyone has pressure in their jobs to increase productivity and results. Those in the newspaper business should know that better than anyone.
Yes, Randolph has a winning record over his entire four year tenure with the Mets. But professional sports is a business of "what have you done for me lately" unless there’s a long term contract involved. In Randolph’s case, there isn’t a long term contract. The Wilpons owe him about $3.5 million more over the next year and a half whether he’s managing the Mets or home watching on TV.
The only managers in baseball with higher annual salaries than Randolph are: Joe Torre, Lou Piniella, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, Dusty Baker, and Joe Girardi. Those are all far better managers than Randolph.
The Mets can’t continue with the status quo if they expect to be competitive this season. And I have every reason to believe that they do have that expectation.
In some cases, the players haven’t appeared to be as motivated as they could be. That’s on Randolph. Of course, he’s not the only problem. But all of the so-called experts picked the Mets as the front runner for the NL East, not for a fourth place finish.
The Mets had to get out to a fast start this season to erase the taste left in our collective mouths from "The Collapse". It didn’t happen, and the Wilpons and Minaya have every right to press for better results than we’ve seen this season.
I realize that Randolph probably won’t get another managerial position after presiding over the worst collapse in baseball history. That’s not the end of the world though. He’ll probably end up back on the Yankee’s coaching staff where he belongs.
The ESPN Baseball Tonight crew talks about Randolph’s job security as the team heads to Los Angeles to face the Angles. Steve Phillips says that it looks like Randolph will be replaced.
ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian talks about the prospect of instant replay being utilized in Major League Baseball this season. He also addresses the possibility that Mets manager Willie Randolph could be fired any day now. He said that it’s his understanding that Randolph’s job is being evaluated on a day-by-day basis.
For weeks I’ve been hoping that the Mets would settle on a direction to go for this season. There are two choices: change the manager or change the roster. The acquisition of Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamond Backs may signal that Mets GM Omar Minaya is going to give the latter a try.
Although I hope that Minaya has decided to pursue roster changes, there are a few problems that I have with the Mets organization. First, they shouldn’t leave Willie Randolph twisting in the wind for a variety of reasons. Second, the Mets roster is going to be difficult to make significant changes to, and it will take time to implement.
Minaya has offered tepid support for Randolph twice over the last two weeks. The lack of substance to this support has left the players, and certainly Randolph, wondering when the shoe is going to drop. The Mets need to eliminate this distraction and offer full support such as, “Willie is our manager for the rest of the year” or not talk about Randolph’s job security at all. Going half way with his support isn’t helping the situation. Minaya has to be smart enough to know that.
Continue reading “Roster Changes A Long, Difficult Road For Mets”
Prior to tonight’s game Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the rumors swirling that manager Willie Randolph’s firing is imminent. Minaya re-affirmed his statements from two weeks ago that Randolph has his support and the support of the Wilpons. However, he didn’t commit to Randolph managing the Mets for the entire season.
There were plenty of columns written on the topic this afternoon. Perhaps the best one was written by Fox Sports.
Some quotes from the column:
"Bottom line is, I’m just not going to answer every report that’s out there," Minaya said. "This is a game of performance and you have to do certain things."
Minaya didn’t rule out personnel changes, either, and said: "Nobody is untouchable."
"They tell us he’s going to be here. He’s our manager and nothing has changed," Carlos Beltran said. "It’s been rough lately but we need to move on. We need to play better, that’s the bottom line."
Once again, we get a statement of support for Randolph that lacks emphasis. If they’re going to keep Randolph they need to come out and say that he’s here for the year. Until then, the speculation will continue. Clearly, this is a distraction for the players.
David Lennon and Ken Davidoff of Newsday are reporting that Willie Randolph has this weekend to show management something or he’ll be fired. The last couple of days have given us opinions from Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal that Randolph’s job is day-to-day at this point. Only Jayson Stark from ESPN is reporting that Randolph is safe for now.
From Newsday:
"He’s got the weekend," a person familiar with the situation said.
It’s also interesting to note that Rick Peterson and Howard Johnson’s fates are being tied to Randolph. That’s bad news for them.
All reports seem to be in agreement that Mets bench coach Jerry Manuel will take over the team for the rest of the season.
The Mets Report 