ENOUGH already! Everywhere you turn you hear "Willie needs to go, Peterson needs to go, blah blah blah"
ENOUGH!
It is still too early for changes that drastic to be made. Let us examine what is going on right now, and what has gone on over the past few years with Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson: Willie has won more games than he has lost, and by a considerable margin at that. Rick Peterson has done EVERYTHING he can, and has turned John Maine into a potential All-Star and Cy Young candidate-to-be, has taken Oliver Perez, and last year, did what he could with an erratic, wild, headcase of a pitcher, and turned him into a double-digit winner.
People, INCLUDING ME, bash Willie for his lack of intensity, and for his "it's OK, we'll get 'em tomorrow" attitude. Trust me, I hate it JUST as much as all of you do, and possibly even more. I am a player myself, and I like nothing more than when a manager shows some fire, and sticks up for a player on a bad call, gets in your face WHEN IT IS NECESSARY, and does what he can to get his team fired up. That being said, Willie just IS NOT THAT GUY. Which is a shame, because if he was, I feel his players would respond better to pressure, because they know that if and, lately, WHEN they fail, over and over again (I am talking to YOU Aaron Heilman, and I am talking to YOU Carlos Delgado) it will be "OK, no worries, get 'em later."
That is the wrong mind set to have your players in. Do you think a SINGLE player on the Cubs thinks that way? OF COURSE NOT! Why? Because Sweet Lou isn't afraid to make changes, and to say "ya know what? YOU AREN'T GETTING THE JOB DONE, TAKE A SEAT ON THE BENCH UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT DONE!"
Here is the problem: we do not have a manager like that. We just don't. I am not a Willie Randolph fanatic, and I am BARELY a supporter, but if you look around, what else do you have? The only other person who I would put in charge is Sandy Alomar. He has some fire, he knows the team, and I personally think it would work. Will that happen? Doubtful. Doubtful to say the least. Would I embrace the change? I might. But right now, with the team at 14-12, and half game out of first, I do not believe it is the time to make changes.
Yes this sounds like a condescending rant, with me changing my opinion frequently, but here is what it comes down to: I am acknowledging that Willie Randolph is not exactly what we need right now, but I also think that he is the best we have, and that things are not bad enough to make a change as drastic as firing the team's manager (that would be WAY to Steinbrenner-ish)
Two weeks from now, if this team is still 2 games above .500, I can make everyone who reads this blog a FORMAL guarantee that I will make another post.
And trust me, it will not be as nice as this one was.
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5 months ago
First off: Rick Peterson is a fantastic pitching coach; anyone who says he needs to go is (to imitate your caps-lock-happy modus operandi) A MORON!
I do think that Willie needs to change the way he deals with a few things, though. He sometimes gets these notions about players--that they're going to come through for him--and it's very hard to dissuade him of these ideas. As an example: Jorge Sosa. Sosa had a couple good starts last season and made some good pitches in one or two big spots out of the 'pen, and so Randolph thinks he's a useful reliever that can eat up innings and come out of the bullpen in big spots. This is, of course, not true at all. Sosa time and time again shows that he cannot handle big league hitters whatsoever, yet Willie keeps making the call. The same can be said for Delgado. How long has his "slump" lasted for (I know he hit three home runs this week, but I doubt he's "breaking out"). A year? A year and a half?
Something needs to change, but I don't know if it's the management itself or just the attitude therein. I'll go with the latter for now.
5 months ago
Let’s look at the big picture. This isn't Kansas; really this isn't Kansas City, or the Royals. The intensity that Randolph continues to purport ion a daily basis would be a perfect fit for him in KC. This is NYC - The Big Apple - COMPETITION! If Randolph had an Iota of intensity that Billy Martin had, I do believe you would have a better and healthier ball club. His players get a stubbed toe - that’s it - they don’t want to play for him in that condition, or any condition for that matter.
Minaya spends the Wilpon’s money because Jeff Wilpon is a horses ass and will dump daddy's money anywhere Omar says - THIS IS NY - the team needs a kick in the ass - there shouldn’t be a question whether or not this team will be successful - have you looked at the bank roll?
Bring Mazzilli in, and allow intensity to be demonstrated not only on the field but in the dugout. Enough of this passive, laid back managerial style - Randolph is NOT Torre, nor does he have the talent as Torre had - what Torre had was an owner that DEMANDED a winning team - do the WILPOPNS have the same demands?
Otherwise – the Wilpon’s need to eat their pride – rehire Valentine with full GM and Managerial control – the Latino experiment isn’t working!
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