So, Willie Randolph is staying on as the Mets’ Manager. What? Omar Minaya says he met with ownership and the decision was his and he feels you need to look at the entire body of work as opposed to the last two weeks of the season. What? Randolph, when asked about his team losing its focus said that there is only so much that a manager or a coach could do and that he wished his players had his passion and will to win. What? Did I miss something here. Lets look at each of these things one by one.
Lets first start with Minaya’s comment that you need to examine the whole body of work, not just the last two weeks. Fine. Willie Randolph has underachieved the last two seasons. Last year the Mets, clearly the best team in the National League, failed to get to the World Series. They played well throughout the regular season but could not seal the deal. Yes, injured starting pitching was an issue, but that year the Mets had the best bullpen in the NL and had the ability to take the Cards to the seventh game of the NLCS but could not get the job done. Willie underachieved.
This year, the Mets came in with something to prove since they could not even get to the World Series last year. The Mets came in as the toast of the NL East, and probably the toast of the National League. With the exception of the last 17 games of the season, the Mets were never able to get more than a five game lead over their closest competitor. Every time it looked like the Mets could put it away, the hit a slump and let the second place team get right back in it. With 17 games to go, the Mets did put it away, holding a 7 game lead over the second place Phillies. They had more than the five game lead at the end, when it counted. The Mets could not hold it. It should not have been too difficult (made obvious by the fact no other team in history has blown a seven game lead with 17 to go). The Mets could not seal the deal. They did not even get to the World Series. For the second straight year, Willie’s team underachieved.
That means, arguably Randolph’s first season with the Mets was his best. That was a team that finished 83-79, in a third place tie with the Marlins, behind the Braves and Phillies. This was considered good because Art Howe’s Mets the previous year had finished 20 games under 500, at 71 and 91. Still that was a team playing without Beltran and Pedro. That was a team that had Kaz Matzsui at shortstop, Jose Reyes at second and Mike Piazza at first. Certainly Art Howe was not all to blame for that. I will credit Randolph with help Jose Reyes, since as a base stealing middle infielder, Randolph could identify. Still, the numbers for 2005 were not great numbers. So, looking at Randolph’s entire body of work as a manager, it does not warrant him staying on.
Now, as for Randolph, he says he wishes his players had his passion to win. Excuse me?!?! Is not the function of the manager to instill that passion in his players? Is not the manager the one who has to get his team fired up? Willie’s low key approach to managing, never arguing, never fighting, has translated to the Mets not fighting in the field (literally and figuratively). Willie was the one who told us this will all be forgotten (The Mets rough streak) when they were sipping champagne. If you make a statement like that, you damn well better ensure that you are sipping champagne at the end of the season. Clearly the Mets are not, nor are their fans.
So, If I were to get rid of Willie, who would I bring in? I do not know. Perhaps Joe Giradi would have been a possibility. Maybe Ken Oberkfell, the manager of the Zephyrs, the Mets AAA affiliate. What about Keith Hernandez coming out of the broadcasting booth. I am sure there are some former big league managers around, wanting to get back into managing.
The Mets need someone who can inspire them, who can pump them up. This was what I disliked about Bobby Valentine. He could never get them going when they went to play the Braves late in the season. I do not know who has the passion and fire, but the Mets need to find that person and make up their minds right now, that no matter what, they are going to the World Series next year.
I clearly am not thrilled that Randolph is staying, but as long as he is there, I will root for him, or at least his team.
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3 comments:
Phillies / Red Sox (yes, over Yankees and tired)
NL victory.. INCREDIBLE :)
Phillies/Sox?
Ummm...no. But thanks for playing.
Yanks v. Cubs. Cubs will win in 6. George will fire Joe T. shortly thereafter. Joe T. will sit out all of next season while offers get bigger and bigger and the numbers in the Yanks' win column get smaller and smaller. George will fire the guy he replaced Joe T. with, write a big honking check to get Joe T. back and both men will play with each other's nipples.
Hey, this is a Mets blog, leave any talk about the Yanks, much less nipple playing, out of this.
Okay, so you aren't doing cartwheels over Willie but will root for him anyway. Who would you rather root for? Hernandez? Has he ever been mentioned as a candidate for any job? Oberkfell? C'mon, a triple A gig doesn't necessarily qualify him to work the big room. Joe T? Nah, I still remember yelling "Joe Must Go" and "Torre S*cks" on his first run through town, before he found brains and pitching in Atlanta.
You say the manager should motivate and inspire the players but I say these guys are professionals and make a lot of money, if they need a leadership authority to motivate them then maybe we've got the wrong guys in the room. You raise good points, though, in that they never could pull away all year and then collapsed in the end. Maybe anybody with an overhang gut and a lineup card could do better or at least different and different would be better in this case. Careful what you wish for, though, because Lou Pinella miracle cures aren't round every street corner.
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