Chapter 77: See Ya Later, Willie

To me, the Willie Randolph situation had become so unimportant that I'd stopped watching the Mets. Yes, that may sound like a contradiction, but my point is this: The Mets are terrible, and unless I hear that things are actually turning around, I probably won't watch much.

I thought about turning the game on late last night, but before I turned the channel from Colbert, I fell asleep. The next thing I know, REM is playing on the Ferguson show. Time for bed.

I wasn't aware of Willie being fired till I heard it on the train platform. I'm not quite sure Omar Minaya flew them all out to California only to fire them. It seems like a pathetic way to avoid the heat in New York. At this point, I don't much care. The team is playing miserably, and I can't bear to watch.

It's not so much that they fired Willie. I can certainly accept that. But to do it in such a callous, cowardly way is simply despicable. The way the firing was handled suggests that the problem wasn't so much with the manager -- or even the players -- but with ownership. It's not enough to sign the checks and pave the way for a new stadium. You need some class, too. From the sound of it, they don't have any.

Jerry Manuel, I wish you luck. I'm sure I'll tune in eventually, but I need a moment.

Chapter 76.5: Another Day, Another Month...

Soon we will enter June, but in the final beautiful days of May, I sense a calmness in the New York area. For the Mets have started to win.

The streak is modest, to be sure; three game winning streaks should be commonplace for good teams. But these are Willie's Mets. Willie Randolph, who many fans thought would be fired this week, has survived so far and has his team looking more stable (albeit at the .500 mark) than they've looked since banging the Yankees ... my goodness, was it only two weeks ago!

As coincidence would have it, Willie's former colleague, Joe Torre, was back in New York as well, his Dodgers competing against the Mets, which allowed for an interesting article to appear in the New York Times. Harvey Araton, in his column, noted that the Yankees weren't quite as whiny when Torre was being insulted last fall as was being remembered this spring.

Araton writes:

Last October, Mike Mussina said of Torre, “If we don’t perform, it shouldn’t be a reflection on his ability.” Johnny Damon said: “We’re not just playing for him. We’re playing for a bunch of players in there.” ... Alex Rodriguez was too busy opting out and begging back in to worry about a manager. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera were supposedly factoring Torre into their free-agent strategy, but the Yankees substituted an alternate Joe (Girardi) along with keys to the Steinbrenner vault. The band played on.

And the Mets fan looks at the standings, recognizes that the team is 3.5 games out of first place after taking two of three from the first-place Marlins (who are on their own three game losing streak), and says "Ok, Willie's safe for now. But don't let it happen again!"

We're fickle, we Mets fans.

As I've said to fellow Mets fans, who else is there right now? Short of importing Bobby Valentine from Japan, I don't think the Mets have a clear option that's better than -- or more importantly different from -- Willie. Jerry Manuel was a decent manager in Chicago (Cammy, Frank, correct me if I'm wrong), but his casual approach eventually allowed the players to get lazy. Laziness and complacency are killing the Mets. As for other options that have been voiced: Ken Oberkfell (Mets AAA manager) might have the chops, I really don't know; Gary Carter shot himself in the foot, which he'd already shoved in his mouth; Jim Fregosi doesn't impress me; and Tom Kelly is too smart to leave retirement for the New York circus.

I'd love to hear other people suggest other managers for the Mets, because I'm not convinced Willie's going to remain regardless of this little winning streak.

What I'd really love to see are Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran start to hit like they used to, Luis Castillo demonstrate why Omar lavished millions on him this past winter, and the pitching staff to work consistently and well into the latter third of the game. Is that too much to ask of a "championship-calibre team"?

Chapter 76.2: Time to Strike the Match, Willie

I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's time for Willie Randolph to go. I won't belabor the point, because the arguments I'll make are pretty much the same ones that have been bandied about already.

The fact is, the Mets are playing like an uninspired, mediocre team. Billy Wagner is right that the players need to be held accountable; moreover, he's correct in saying he's not the one who should be answering reporters' questions about what's wrong with the team. (He's a reliever, already! He's not the reason the bullpen has been so bad. The guy hasn't given up an earned run all year.) But there's more to it than just that. The team is listless.

Don't blame the injuries, either. No one really expected much from Pedro or El Duque. The team should be hitting better than this. Part of the problem is that Carlos Delgado is past his prime. We could tolerate a .260 batting average from him with 20-22 home runs and maybe 80-90 RBI if Carlos Beltran were hitting, but neither of them are producing as expected. For that matter, neither is David Wright at the moment. Thank God for Ryan Church! But what has happened to Jose Reyes?

What kills me is that the way the Mets are playing is not what I have come to expect of a Willie Randolph club. When he was playing, Randolph was a hard-nosed, strong-willed player, proud of his abilities and too stubborn to accept losing. Ask him if he's worried about his team's performance now, however, and he gives an answer of "No, not yet. ... It's just one game. ... You can't judge a season on a couple games..."

Willie, a quarter of the season is behind you. If you can't get this club playing like champions by now, why should you be allowed to keep at it?

Ignite that fire in your belly, Willie. We all know it was there in the past. But if you don't find the fire, you'll find yourself fired.

Chapter 67.35: Free Willie?

That scant number of people who've been reading my blog may have noticed one person I'm not blaming for the Mets meltdown. Willie Randolph. Do I think he's without blame? Of course not. I think, for example, that Humber should have gotten the start that Brian Lawrence had, but I understand the reasoning for not using him. I think he's made some strange decisions -- from double switches he chose not to make to pinch hitters he chose not to use at particular times -- but I don't think he's to blame for the debacle that has made the Mets the butt of jokes for the entire off-season and probably well into the next decade.

He's going to have to win early in 2008; this team cannot afford to sleepwalk any more, regardless of how much of a makeover the roster receives.

But right now the problem is about the pitching staff mostly -- starters and relievers. Willie tried to put his best guys in there -- Heilman and Feliciano in particular -- but they kept giving up hits. Mota had a few good innings at the end, but none of these guys seems able to pitch more than one inning any more.

There's a lot of work to do, and a lot of blame to spread around. Perhaps from that crap, something worthwhile will grow. But for now, they just smell putrid.