The Randolph Saga With Its Conclusion In Flux
Everyone's coming up with a diagnosis or opinion about the Mets without providing suggestions for a clear-cut solution. Every day, every game, every loss brings up another
crisis and waiting game for manager Willie Randolph's dismissal. The players are saying that the manager is not responsible for the way the team is playing, but that begs two questions: If he's not responsible, then who is? And if the players don't want to see Randolph fired, then why are they still playing as if they don't care?
Media people, from the respected to the idiotic to the self-promoting; from those that are watching the Mets on a daily basis to those that are sitting elsewhere and commenting based on a personal relationship with
Randolph are proffering unsolicited opinions of what to do. Peter Gammons dismisses the idea that it's all Randolph's fault and doesn't see a fit for any of the managers available as a replacement; Mike Francesa and Christopher Russo on the Mike and the Mad Dog Show on WFAN in New York react in a similar knee-jerk and ill-thought-out fashion as many of their callers while presenting themselves as experts; John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman discuss the crosstown matters during their broadcasts/cheering brigade during Yankees games; the Mets TV broadcasters----Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling----report on what they see, analyze and try to formulate ways things could be done differently to turn things around, but no one is saying that the ever elusive THIS will fix things.
When the Yankees of the 70s and 80s had bloated payrolls and struggles on the field,
there was always Billy Martin to whom to turn for a quick fix and swift kick in the backsides of slumbering players; the Mets don't have anyone out there that is an obvious replacement for Randolph. The names that have been floated----Jim Fregosi, Jerry Manuel, Joey Cora, Bobby Valentine, Larry Bowa, Buck Showalter, Keith Hernandez, Wally Backman and Gary Carter (not floated, but rammed by none other than Carter himself)----all have positives and negatives, but no absolute track record or guarantee of success.
Stars they've been since. The argument that the Mets don't want to swallow Randolph's remaining contract isn't going to be a factor because they've already lost the post-season revenue from 2007 and aren't going to let his relatively meager salary cost them 2008 post-season revenue (or basic fan revenue as the season winds down if things continue as they are).
Bottom line and regardless of the excuse, this team should be playing better than they are. It's got nothing to do with age and decline of the veterans; nothing to do with the slumping players; they should simply be better than what they are. When people like Gammons venture their opinions about the Mets problems, it's acceptable because he's been around the game so long and is dialed into what people are saying inside
and outside the Mets organization; Cohen, Darling and Hernandez are seeing this team on the daily basis and have the baseball knowledge and experience to wonder what the team and manager are thinking when they do certain things. It's when the knee-jerk, ignorant know-it-alls like Francesa and Russo start coming up with off-the-wall suggestions that they have no accountability for if they work or not that it becomes necessary for the Mets to make a decisive move to stop the blather. It's when Sterling and Waldman start pontificating about a team they rarely see and openly despise that it becomes theatre of the absurd.
Sterling knows he's a schtick artist, but Waldman fancies herself as a journalist when she
should actually be sitting there munching a Yankee-frank; wearing a Yankee hat and waving a Yankee pennant during broadcasts. What credibility does she have when she openly has a fit when Roger Clemens announces he's returning to the Yankees in 2007? Or when she starts sobbing as Joe Torre's Yankees tenure ends? Then she claims "sexism" because she cried; it wasn't sexism; it was that she's unprofessional.
Randolph indulges in some creepy version of gallows humor when things go very badly for him and his team. Last season, after the collapse was complete and Randolph shaved his mustache and joked that he was going to slit his throat; then over the weekend, he joked that GM Omar Minaya was "sharpening his machete". These are the statements of
someone for whom the pressure is getting to be too much to bear; it's one thing to make such darkly humorous statements, but to make them so publicly provides a window into someone's mental state and it's disturbing as he tries to stop a tailspin. And make no mistake, Randolph brought this on himself. Whether perception or reality has anything to do with the way the Mets have played over the past week is irrelevant; this sudden downturn directly coincided with those strange comments Randolph made to Ian O'Connor regarding race and team coverage on SNY. The way this team is playing, something has to be done. Either definitively say that Randolph is the manager or fire him. The problem is no one is coming up with an answer as to whom the new manager is going to be and if it doesn't work, who's going to be blamed then?
Please check out and purchase my book The Prince Of New York's 2008 Baseball
Guide also available on Amazon.com and BN.com.
crisis and waiting game for manager Willie Randolph's dismissal. The players are saying that the manager is not responsible for the way the team is playing, but that begs two questions: If he's not responsible, then who is? And if the players don't want to see Randolph fired, then why are they still playing as if they don't care? Media people, from the respected to the idiotic to the self-promoting; from those that are watching the Mets on a daily basis to those that are sitting elsewhere and commenting based on a personal relationship with
Randolph are proffering unsolicited opinions of what to do. Peter Gammons dismisses the idea that it's all Randolph's fault and doesn't see a fit for any of the managers available as a replacement; Mike Francesa and Christopher Russo on the Mike and the Mad Dog Show on WFAN in New York react in a similar knee-jerk and ill-thought-out fashion as many of their callers while presenting themselves as experts; John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman discuss the crosstown matters during their broadcasts/cheering brigade during Yankees games; the Mets TV broadcasters----Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling----report on what they see, analyze and try to formulate ways things could be done differently to turn things around, but no one is saying that the ever elusive THIS will fix things. When the Yankees of the 70s and 80s had bloated payrolls and struggles on the field,
there was always Billy Martin to whom to turn for a quick fix and swift kick in the backsides of slumbering players; the Mets don't have anyone out there that is an obvious replacement for Randolph. The names that have been floated----Jim Fregosi, Jerry Manuel, Joey Cora, Bobby Valentine, Larry Bowa, Buck Showalter, Keith Hernandez, Wally Backman and Gary Carter (not floated, but rammed by none other than Carter himself)----all have positives and negatives, but no absolute track record or guarantee of success. - Fregosi works for the Braves and, while he's got the old-school leadership and veteran cachet to get the players' attention, is unlikely to be allowed to leave the Braves for the Mets during the season.
- Manuel was a better manager than he was given credit for while with the White Sox, but he's been sitting next to Randolph throughout this entire time from the rise to championship contender to the precipitous fall. He was criticized for adding to the confusion during the Mets ninth inning rally against the Cardinals in the NLCS and I don't see what he'd do differently as a manager than he has as bench coach.
- Cora is an intriguing name, but it would be a no-win situation to walk
into this mess
at mid-season and too big a risk for the Mets. - Valentine isn't going to leave Japan at mid-season to walk into this hurricane.
- Bowa would inject some life and intensity into the clubhouse, but his players everywhere have hated him and, despite being a superior tactical manager, would end up in a war with some of his veterans who won't want to see his made for TV sour faces and gestures when one makes an error or strikes out with the bases loaded.
- No one is mentioning Showalter seriously which leads me to believe that the Mets front office has no interest in him at all or his interview with them raised some red flags before the Mets hired Randolph.
- Hernandez is an interesting idea. Bringing a broadcaster down from the booth and onto the field has succeeded----Bob Brenly, Larry Dierker----and failed----Buck Martinez, Jerry Coleman; Hernandez certainly has the intelligence and status as a former star player and off-field regular in the gossip columns to have the breadth to get the attention of the players. Francesa related that when he spoke to Hernandez at Yankee Stadium during the Yankees-Mets series that Hernandez would take the job if offered. The thing I would be concerned about with Hernandez would be if he'd be willing to commit for the foreseeable future and not decide after three weeks that he didn't like all the baggage that comes along with the high-profile job of being a New York manager. At this point in his life, is Hernandez going to want to trade his free time to be back in the spotlight and make a lot of money?
- Backman would light a fire in that clubhouse and has Billy Martin-level baggage; he'd be in
the faces of players he didn't think were going all out regardless of their contract status. It's a desperation move that would either explode right in the Mets faces or send them on a tear. I doubt the Wilpons are going to risk this type of explosion even though it might work. - Carter probably blew any chance he ever had of managing the Mets with his overeagerness, even though he has some experience and success as a minor league manager and his playing career would be respected by the Mets veterans.
Stars they've been since. The argument that the Mets don't want to swallow Randolph's remaining contract isn't going to be a factor because they've already lost the post-season revenue from 2007 and aren't going to let his relatively meager salary cost them 2008 post-season revenue (or basic fan revenue as the season winds down if things continue as they are).Bottom line and regardless of the excuse, this team should be playing better than they are. It's got nothing to do with age and decline of the veterans; nothing to do with the slumping players; they should simply be better than what they are. When people like Gammons venture their opinions about the Mets problems, it's acceptable because he's been around the game so long and is dialed into what people are saying inside
and outside the Mets organization; Cohen, Darling and Hernandez are seeing this team on the daily basis and have the baseball knowledge and experience to wonder what the team and manager are thinking when they do certain things. It's when the knee-jerk, ignorant know-it-alls like Francesa and Russo start coming up with off-the-wall suggestions that they have no accountability for if they work or not that it becomes necessary for the Mets to make a decisive move to stop the blather. It's when Sterling and Waldman start pontificating about a team they rarely see and openly despise that it becomes theatre of the absurd. Sterling knows he's a schtick artist, but Waldman fancies herself as a journalist when she
should actually be sitting there munching a Yankee-frank; wearing a Yankee hat and waving a Yankee pennant during broadcasts. What credibility does she have when she openly has a fit when Roger Clemens announces he's returning to the Yankees in 2007? Or when she starts sobbing as Joe Torre's Yankees tenure ends? Then she claims "sexism" because she cried; it wasn't sexism; it was that she's unprofessional.Randolph indulges in some creepy version of gallows humor when things go very badly for him and his team. Last season, after the collapse was complete and Randolph shaved his mustache and joked that he was going to slit his throat; then over the weekend, he joked that GM Omar Minaya was "sharpening his machete". These are the statements of
someone for whom the pressure is getting to be too much to bear; it's one thing to make such darkly humorous statements, but to make them so publicly provides a window into someone's mental state and it's disturbing as he tries to stop a tailspin. And make no mistake, Randolph brought this on himself. Whether perception or reality has anything to do with the way the Mets have played over the past week is irrelevant; this sudden downturn directly coincided with those strange comments Randolph made to Ian O'Connor regarding race and team coverage on SNY. The way this team is playing, something has to be done. Either definitively say that Randolph is the manager or fire him. The problem is no one is coming up with an answer as to whom the new manager is going to be and if it doesn't work, who's going to be blamed then? Please check out and purchase my book The Prince Of New York's 2008 Baseball
Guide also available on Amazon.com and BN.com.
Great stuff, Paul. While watching that hour and a half "Baseball Tonight" broadcast the other night where John Kruk teed off on Mets management, all I could think about was the Prince of New York. Kudos for getting into my head.
--Jeff
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