June 17, 2008 – 4:10 pm
Only the Mets. A team that has bungled things before, (see the Art Howe firing back in 2004) showed how much of a lack of class they had, when they fired Willie Randolph this morning around 3 AM EST. Why now? Why not after their debacle in San Diego, when they took it on the chin in a 4-game sweep. There were countless other opportunities the Mets had that would have been better timing for the firing of Willie Randolph. Was the firing deserved? Yes, I’ve thought Willie should have went since the end of last season. That is not what is at debate here in my opinion. It’s how it was done and handled is nothing short of a debacle.
How can you send Willie Randolph to the West Coast for one game, win his third tilt in four games, and then fire him? Why was Rick Peterson added to the chopping block as well, that definitely is a suprise to me. Unless you were bringing in a guy like Leo Mazzone from the outside, I don’t think he should’ve been fired, it seems like a wierd time for it to happen as well. Prospect Mike Pelfrey is appearing to turn the corner a bit. Now, if you want to fire Rick Peterson for his alleged input into the Scott Kazmir trade for Victor Zambrano, that’s fine, but wouldn’t you be a bit late on that one? I have no huge qualms with the firing of Peterson, but again, its the timing that is odd to me. As I mentioned before, Pelfrey was beginning to show progress. The likes of Aaron Heilman, John Maine and Pelfrey, amongst others have had more success under Peterson’s tutelage. Yes, i realize guys like Matt Lindstrom and Heath Bell that didn’t take to the Peterson methodology, so it’s not that I’m heartbroken he was let go, but what is Dan Warthen going to provide that Rick Peterson didn’t? What’s going to happen if Mike Pelfrey suddenly has a regress in performance, what will people think? An interesting question to say the least.
Now, someone please explain to me what Tom Nieto did by being the first base coach to warrant him being fired? It appears his only error was being a friend of Willie Randolph, which put him on the firing line. Who knows what kind of behind the scenes items took place, but there are grumblings that Tony Bernazard worked to have the Mets fire Willie Randolph, as there are also alleged differences in philosophies between Bernazard and Randolph. In the end, I think that the Mets view Ken Oberkfell (Nieto’s replacement) as a potential candidate for the major league managing job, and they want Oberkfell to get a taste of the major league life. Jerry Manuel has the interim tag for now, and I’m sure will be re-evaluated at season’s end depending on his peformance. I would be curious to see how Oberkfell would do as manager, but also agree that this would be an unfair time to give Oberkfell his first shot given the current status of the ball club.
All the above aside, the biggest issues here at hand are that firing Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto is not going to instantaeously correct all the mistakes of this team. While I’m not necessarily disappointed to see any of them to go, I think the Mets truly made themselves look horrible in how they carried out the firing. In Part II, I will look more closely and tell you what I think the true course of action I would have taken, had I been Fred or Jeff Wilpon.
Posted in Aaron Heilman, Baseball, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Duaner Sanchez, Jose Reyes, Moises Alou, NL, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, SNY, Shea Stadium, Sports, Willie Randolph | No Comments »
