Mets fire WIllie Randolph

by SoFa King Mike on Jun 17, 2008 8:03 AM PDT Comment 30 comments

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3447973"

It's been speculated for weeks and now it reportedly happened over night. Pitching coach Rick Peterson & 1st base coach Tom Nieto have been cut loose as well.

It was Omar Minaya's call according to Mets owner Fred Wilpon:

...That the decision to fire Willie Randolph and his coaches and the timing of the move were solely Minaya's.

Bench coach Jerry Manuel will take over as interim coach.

What do you guys think? Who is more at fault here for the team's failures: Minaya, Randolph, or both?

Does anyone care?

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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RACISM!!

He’s black and they fired him! Must be racism at work!!!!

Proud pappa of....STEVE HOLM!!

by UnleashTheGore on Jun 17, 2008 8:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

obviously

Bonds stands alone.

Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal

by nostocksjustbonds on Jun 17, 2008 8:28 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not looking like it was Minaya's call...

To answer your question, no, I don’t really care. However, Dan Graziano points out that it wasn’t Minaya’s call at all:

“The Wilpons said when they hired him that Minaya would have full autonomy on baseball decisions, and this move is proof that that’s no longer true.

So it was a bad night for Willie Randolph – the worst, almost certainly, of his career. And it was a bad night for Minaya, who now knows he can’t count on team ownership to support his decisions anymore.”

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2008/06/randolphs_firing_is_a_joke_jus.html

He goes on to bash the Mets pretty hard. It’s pretty funny…

by Fresburg on Jun 17, 2008 8:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If there were any justice

Minaya would’ve fired himself. he’s the one that put that club together, not Willie.

Typical scapegoating of a manager. Weak, but not unexpected.

Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.

by delorean on Jun 17, 2008 8:31 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Minaya's fault?

Minaya put the team together, but it’s Willie’s job to coach them. Do you believe that the Mets are put together poorly? I don’t. They are one of the most talented teams in the NL on paper.

But are the Mets coached poorly? Probably. Their flaws as a team have been attributed to things like effort and motivation. Their terrible baserunning has been pointed out over the last month. They have players calling out other players. Those sound like coaching flaws—not gm flaws.

by Fresburg on Jun 17, 2008 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Their bullpen is garbage

and they’re replete with overpaid underperformers. Willie shares some of the blame for his apparent inability to motivate these guys, but the ultimate responsibility for the product on the field, good or bad, lies with the GM and with the ownership group.

Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.

by delorean on Jun 17, 2008 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Delgado is clearly declining as a player. There was even speculation earlier this year that they would DFA him. At age 36, he isn’t providing the protection in the lineup that he needs to.

there are other problems with the lineup as well, which is Minaya’s fault. Angel Pagan has seen a ton of OF time because Alou has been hurt pretty much all year, but that is to be expected. Ryan Church has played over his head, but he’s been hurt and is regressing to his mean. he’s a nice player, but can’t be expected to carry a team. And look at that bench. They’re using Fernando Tatis and Trot Nixon, Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley. That’s total garbage. That’s not Randolph’s fault.

Bonds stands alone.

Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal

by nostocksjustbonds on Jun 17, 2008 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

don’t forget the 4 year deal this offseason for Luis Castillo, and the utter lack of a rotation behind Santana. Minaya made a huge splash (and emptied his farm system) by trading for the best pitcher in the world, then decided to fill the next four slots in the rotation with an aging, injured HOF-er who is a huge question mark, a 40 to 48 year old Cuban defector who was good ten years ago, and some nice filler. How can you say this is good roster construction?

by tyrannoman on Jun 17, 2008 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minaya is definitely not blameless. I’m not saying he brought in the red sox and Randolph ruined them. I mean, he’ll always be remembered for giving away Kazmir, among other bad moves.

But when you start hearing things like undisciplined, clubhouse issues, lack of trust from the latino players, no motivation… those things point to no leadership/respect/trust in their manager. Those things can ruin any team—no matter how much talent the gm brings in.

There’s a reason why most baseball guys believe that the Mets still have a chance in the east-because of the talent on the team-notwithstanding the obvious flaws.

by Fresburg on Jun 17, 2008 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not saying Randolph is blameless, but I do think that $138 mil should get you more than 1/5 of a good rotation. i actually like Minaya, back from his days with the Expos when he put in extraordinary effort trying to win with an orphan team. I just think he’s been very impatient, which may also reflect on the Wilpons.

by tyrannoman on Jun 17, 2008 2:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

When the Mets sputtered in April, the backstabbing began, with Randolph being undermined along the way. Words of Randolph’s honest player evaluations in those staff meetings somehow made their way to the ears of players. That left the manager in a brutal position of trying to draw performance out of veterans who heard that behind closed doors the manager wasn’t so sure if they had the right stuff anymore. Some on-field staff members doubted whether they could trust the front office.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3448037&name=olney_buster

Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.

by delorean on Jun 17, 2008 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minaya is definitely not blameless. I’m not saying he brought in the red sox and Randolph ruined them. I mean, he’ll always be remembered for giving away Kazmir, among other bad moves.

Jim Duquette is the one who traded away Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. Duquette had replaced Steve Phillips as GM.

by Hobbes2d on Jun 17, 2008 4:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ken Oberkfell, the club’s manager at Triple-A New Orleans, and Dan Warthen, pitching coach for the Zephyrs, will join the major league staff along with Luis Aguayo, a Mets field coordinator.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/06/17/bc.bbn.mets.randolphfir.ap/index.html

Ken Oberkfell was a pretty good Giant for half a season in 1989. I always liked his game.

Bonds stands alone.

Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal

by nostocksjustbonds on Jun 17, 2008 8:32 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

funny, I liked him when he was a Cardinal. Oberkfell, Smith, Herr, and Hernandez. Good infield.

by tyrannoman on Jun 17, 2008 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

what's that smell?

you can't block the Bocock

by oldjacket on Jun 17, 2008 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Peterson?

Since we are on the hook for all that money to Zito, is it worth it to try to hire Peterson as a trainer or special assistant pitching coach (or some other position) to try to see if he can fix Zito? I mean what’s his salary going to be in comparison to the Millions owed to Zito…I say not a lot of risk there.

by ckmgs23 on Jun 17, 2008 8:47 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If only someone would write a fanpost about this that was two fanposts below this one on the fanpost thing!

If you like things that are funny, perhaps you will enjoy ChatterBalks Dot Com?

by groug on Jun 17, 2008 9:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes please! That would be very helpful if someone did that! Geez!

Adopted brother of the AnVil / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Jun 17, 2008 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This made me giggle, but this was the guy’s first post, so let’s cut him slack.

2008 Giants: Scrappy! Scrappy! Joy! Joy!

by Goofus on Jun 17, 2008 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

(Lynchmob disperses, kicking at the dirt in frustration.)

by Moggeee on Jun 17, 2008 10:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Mets Circus

I’m not sure if Buster Olney is a friend of Omar Minaya’s or an apologist, but he wrote a pretty damning article about the Mets front office today which seemed to somewhat absolve Minaya or responsibility:

Eagerly awaiting Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night on 7/18.

by Kitspool on Jun 17, 2008 9:02 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Who are the clowns and who’s getting eaten by the lions?

Adopted brother of the AnVil / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Jun 17, 2008 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

First he demands $12M. Now our first-round draft choice is slamming the Mets’ front office? Dude sounds like a punk.

2008 Giants: Scrappy! Scrappy! Joy! Joy!

by Goofus on Jun 17, 2008 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Buster against the world.

"While conservatives tell you 'leave things alone and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you 'interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says 'someone will lose.' Not only says it - but insists upon it! ... Democracy is lovely, but baseball's more mature." BVCE supports SF Dugout and Manny Burriss.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 17, 2008 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs