Take a good, long look at the above picture of Willie Randolph and New York Mets' owner Fred Wilpon. It may be one of the last ones of its kind.
Baseball guru Buster Olney joined Charlie Steiner on XM Radio's MLB Home Plate channel on Friday afternoon to discuss the Mets, as well as Randolph's future with the team, given his recent remarks and relationship with management.
Most Mets fans may point to the team's recent performance, locker room bickering amongst players, and lack of team leadership as the primary reasons for Randolph's imminent departure.
However, Olney claims that the main reason Willie should get ready to clean out his desk lies in the remarks he made in an interview with Ian O'Connor of the Bergen (N.J.) Record claiming that he is disliked because of his race, and that the team's own television network, SNY, has not been portraying him accurately in the dugout.
Despite the fact that Randolph apologized to the Mets' organization and SNY in front of the media and to WFAN's Ed Coleman, Wilpon and his son Jeff, the team's COO, have not been returning Willie's phone calls.
When Steiner asked Olney if he would bet the family farm that Randolph would be gone as Mets' manager by the time next week rolled around, Olney cited the above silent treatment given by management as his justification for an affirmative response.
Although Olney seemed to indicate that a strong series in Colorado may help elongate Willie's tenure, the main reason he has not yet been let go is that the Mets do not have a good replacement in mind.
Bench coach Jerry Manuel's name has been tossed around, but the feeling in Met-land is that Manuel's personality is too similar to that of Randolph and that when a team is looking to change their manager, they tend to look for somebody that has the opposite (or at least a different) style.
Olney claims that the Mets have been considering Jim Fregosi as a potential replacement for Randolph.
Fregosi last Major League gig was with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999 and 2000 when he managed them to two straight third place finishes and a .515 winning percentage. He has previously managed the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels.
His best season came in 1993 when he led the Phillies to a 97-win season and the World Series, only to fall to his future employer, the Blue Jays. Despite some success with the Phillies, Fregosi has a career .484 winning percentage as manager during the regular season, and a .412 winning percentage during the postseason.
Olney claims that Fregosi would be a welcome change from Randolph in that he is good with the media and that he could be helpful in helping get Jose Reyes back on track after four months worth of up-and-down baseball.
It is said that Randolph and Reyes do not have a great relationship. Shocking!
However, the always reliable Wikipedia claims that, "One general criticism of Fregosi was that he was a manager who relied on veteran players and was unable to develop younger players."
Is this the direction that the Mets are going in?
In the words of Willie Randolph, "Huh? It smells a little bit."
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4 months ago
Dan,
I was just about to sit down and write an article entitled "Willies Last Stand." But you and Buster beat me to it. Less work for me. Ha ha.
Great Article, especially the Willie quote at the end. But I truly feel if the Mets do not win at least 2 of the next 3 against the Rockies, Willie is gone next week. If they lose all three, he is gone on Monday. A strong series will give him another week. But if they play the same ball next week, its all over.
from 4 months ago
Didn't mean to step on your toes!
If Olney is right and the Wilpons aren't returning any calls, then I don't see the point in waiting to fire him. They can hire Manuel on an interim basis.
4 months ago
Is that really going to make the Mets better? Is what this team needs a managerial change? You've got Martinez for this season, pretty much, and then he's gone. Every year Carlos Delgado gets older and less effective. The window is closing pretty quick on this group. The young guys will still be there, but they're going to have a time replacing the older guys in the coming years.
from 4 months ago
You're right about the personnel issues, but Willie makes bonehead moves time and time again. Tonight we had to see Aaron Heilman blow the lead. Why was Sanchez or Smith not in the game? What happened to Heilman working in mop up duty or only when the team playing from behind or if he is the last resort? Two good outings and now he has his job back. Gimme a break Willie.
4 months ago
Was Sanchez or Smith coming off of consecutive nights pitched? Was Willie trying to save the bullets for later in the season, or if the game needed to be saved? I don't know, that's the only reason I usually save my judgments in these instances, I don't watch enough of the Mets, even though I'm a HUGE David Wright fan.
from 4 months ago
Smith was used, Sanchez was not. Good question.
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