Joe Torre looked thrilled to slip on his new Dodgers jersey this afternoon as the smog dissipated at Chavez Ravine. But his smile probably was nothing compared to the wide grin Willie Randolph must have been wearing as he watched at home in New Jersey.
Randolph's status as Mets manager can best be described as shaky after the treatment he received at the hands of GM Omar Minaya and team ownership on the heels of this season's historic collapse. If Torre had been available at the start of the 2008 season, you can bet Randolph was on a three-month trial period to wipe out the bitter taste of last September's nosedive.
That's not to say Randolph gets a free pass now with Torre safely employed by the Dodgers. Randolph is signed through 2009, but the Mets won't hesitate to cut short his tenure by the All-Star break if things aren't proceeding as planned. How about moving into Citi Field with Gary Carter at the helm? Or Bobby Valentine, back from exile in Japan?
Comments (8)
What about Davey Johnson?
WILLIE WILL NOT LAST BEYOND NEXT SUMMER AS THERE ARE RUMORS THAT EITHER LEE MIZILLI OR MANNY ACTA WILL BE THE NEXT MET FIELD MANAGER.
Lee Mazzili? What are you smoking, pal? The guy doesn't have a clue.
Joe Girardi should have been hired to replace Willie. Tough, no BS guy. You hustle out every play or your ass hits the bench. Let's see delgado and reyes not hustle out ground balls. And for sure "Steroid" Mota doesn't get called into game after game to blow up leads.
As with all managers, their jobs are always on the line, especially when expectations for winning are high. Now that there has been time to digest our beloved Mets collapes lets, look at a few things.. First of all Randolph saw the fall comming and really there wasn`t much he could do about it. He tried to warn his players but they didn`t or couldn`t stop the free fall. Secondly in what was suppose to be our strength turned out to be a major weakness down the streatch. The Ballpen.. Mota, Sosa, Feliciano, Wagner, and Heilman all failed.Starting pitching wasn`t any better, if we got 5 innings from them was a gift in itself. Randolph will be a good manager, whether that will be the Mets time will tell, but I think he should seriously think about changing his coaching staff, and thirdly he needs to rely more on his guts then what his coaches tell him.
The "Kid" as Field Manager...Interesting ! As a player he was Tough as nails! I can see him lighting a fire under their Asses!
Witless Willie had no idea how to stop the free fall. All he could do was talk about the "Champagne Tasting Sweeter". He's an idiot. And if Omar trades for Contreras, He should be hung. Why would the Mets want another 40+ year old Pitcher who can't stay healthy? I'd yake Bobby V or Gary Carter over Witless Willie anyday.
As much blame is going to Willie, Omar needs to be mentioned also. I think everyone knew the bullpen was going to suck to start the season. Wagnar and Heilman you figured would be ok. Feliciano was a maybe (turned out good), Smith (rookie), Schoeneweis was probably going to suck, and Sele (terrible spring). Waiting for Mota, stunk just like he did except for those 18 games from 2006.
And going into the season with Glavine, El Duque (history of injuries), Maine (never pitched more innings this year then his career total in the MLB), Perez (last year was in the minors and was a big maybe), and a rookie with Pelfey? Their fill in's were 8-11 in game starts. If you count Pedro then 11-12. Average for maybe a 5th starter, but bad when they start for your entire starters.
Where is Davey Johnson?