The Slanch Report

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am obviously satisfied that the Mets finally fired Willie Randolph, but could that franchise look any more dysfunctional after the manner in which they actually let him go? The organization sent out emails at 3:11 am letting media outlets know that Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto were all axed. There has to be a better way to have handled this. Do you think that back at the hotel, Omar hid in Willie’s closet and then smothered him with a pillow when he laid down to sleep?

But regardless, Willie, a seemingly classy guy was simply unable to corral this team and make them perform the way they were supposed to. Two years ago they were a base hit away from the World Series, since then, they have gone 122 – 109 which is simply not good enough. They have a $139 million payroll and were expected to be the best team in the NL. As reader Youppi pointed out yesterday, it is not Willie’s fault that players got hurt or have completely slowed down (cough, Delgado) but it is his responsibility to get the team to perform no matter what. This team goes the way Jose Reyes goes, and he hasn’t been going. The only player whom Willie’s constant mismanaging didn’t seem to affect was David Wright. Every few games there were moves that Willie would make that would be questionable. Whether it was even allowing Fernando Tatis to play or the manner he handled the bullpen, it just seemed like Willie was grasping at straws and didn’t have a plan.

I’m not convinced that Jerry Manuel is going to be a long-term answer, but any change is good at this point. What I’m most interested to see is who they hire for pitching coach. Leo Mazzone is still unemployed and, up until his less-than-successful tenure in Baltimore was considered the best pitching coach in the game. Was he product of the fantastic Braves pitchers, or is he really that good? Someone needs to figure out how to make Oliver Perez throw strikes, and Mazzone might just be that guy. If Perez, Mike Pelfrey and John Maine can’t be consistent this team should start booking their October vacations now.

The fact that Omar Minaya handled this situation so poorly though, is just one more example of why Omar Minaya ALSO needs to be handed his walking papers. That he could have done it at the worst possible time, and after forcing the coaches to fly across the country only to get fired in the middle of the night. Completely classless. Omar has managed to arrange a team that is inconsistent, a bench that is unproductive, the highest paid players (again besides David Wright) are all under performing. Ridiculous moves like the signing of Luis Castillo are simply inexcusable. WHY DO YOU SIGN A SECOND BASEMAN WITH BAD KNEES WHOSE GAME IS BASED ON SPEED TO A 4 YEAR CONTRACT IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE HAS KNEE SURGERY!?!?!?!?! Is that not the most idiotic move possible? Now the team is hamstrung at the position. The rotation is struggling, the bullpen is a rollercoaster, Delgado is finished, Beltran (last night excepted) has been not close to what he is supposed to be, Pedro has had one good year. There are very few moves that Minaya has made that have panned out and it is time that he go to. Let’s see if the Wilpons have the brains to do it.

Day one of a new Mets era starts today. Let’s hope it goes well…