Mets Fire Manager Willie Randolph

[Zoneboy]

Link


ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Mets announced early Tuesday morning that they have fired Willie Randolph and replaced him with the bench coach Jerry Manuel. They also fired two of Randolph’s coaches, the pitching coach Rick Peterson and the first-base coach Tom Nieto, and have promoted three coaches from the minor league level.


Dan Warthen, the Class AAA New Orleans pitching coach, will replace Peterson. Ken Oberkfell, New Orleans’s manager, and Luis Aguayo, the team’s field coordinator, will also join the major league staff but their responsibilities are unclear.

General Manager Omar Minaya, who arrived here late Monday night, will meet with the media Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Monday evening, the Mets defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 9-6, for their third victory in four games. Buoyed by two Carlos Beltrán homers and a four-run seventh, they appeared on their way to overcoming shoddy relief by Pedro Felicano before Billy Wagner put two runners on with one out. But Garret Anderson lined into a game-ending double play, and the Mets (34-35) had drawn to within a game of .500.

An awkward situation had traveled 3,000 miles west, darkening even the land of perpetual sunshine. As much as players were not looking forward to flying across the country for the third time in two weeks, they were at least a little hopeful that some of the spectacle surrounding the team would dissipate here. It had, but just a bit, as some local and national reporters listened in on Randolph’s pregame session with the news media, interested to hear about a situation from the 1970s in the Bronx from a man who lived through it. “It’s always there,” Randolph said. “It’s always around. You can’t escape it.”

Randolph acted relaxed, as if he were resigned to his uncertain fate, while meeting with reporters over the weekend. He cracked jokes, offered thoughtful answers, and shed the defensive front that has dominated his interaction during his three and a half seasons as manager. But Monday, sitting in the visiting dugout — a more cramped space than the dingy interview room at Shea Stadium — Randolph seemed a little more guarded.

“What we talk about as a team is how we can get this thing going — period,” Randolph said. “I just wish we could get back to that because that’s really what it’s all about. We spend so much time talking about all this extracurricular stuff, man, and it’s like, this team just needs to focus on playing winning baseball. That’s the way we started out in spring training, and that should be the main focus here. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it should be.”

Randolph watched most of the game from the top step of the dugout, leaning over the railing, and was often flanked by Peterson. Their emotions mirrored the flow of the game. When Luis Castillo’s mishandling of a superb throw from Marlon Anderson allowed Chone Figgins to slide safely into second, Randolph grimaced and recoiled. When Howie Kendrick lashed a Mike Pelfrey pitch for a run-scoring single in the fourth, Peterson violently slammed a rolled-up piece of paper against his hip. When Aaron Heilman came in with two runners on base and struck out Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter to end the Angels’ three-run seventh, Randolph clapped vigorously as Peterson nodded beside him.

With the exception of Peterson, a leftover from Art Howe’s tenure, all the other coaches have been hired by the Randolph-Minaya tandem. Randolph said he was bothered by reports that some of them, people he considers friends as well as teammates, may not be with the team for much longer. He said he was a little surprised but not completely blindsided last July when Minaya fired the hitting coach Rick Down, a close friend, and replaced him with Johnson. He said that he had no feel now for what could happen.

“They’re my guys, they work hard every day,” Randolph said. “They’re good at what they do, so you don’t ever want any speculation about them losing their jobs because it’s unjustified.”

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

Link


ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Mets announced early Tuesday morning that they have fired Willie Randolph and replaced him with the bench coach Jerry Manuel. They also fired two of Randolph’s coaches, the pitching coach Rick Peterson and the first-base coach Tom Nieto, and have promoted three coaches from the minor league level.


Dan Warthen, the Class AAA New Orleans pitching coach, will replace Peterson. Ken Oberkfell, New Orleans’s manager, and Luis Aguayo, the team’s field coordinator, will also join the major league staff but their responsibilities are unclear.

General Manager Omar Minaya, who arrived here late Monday night, will meet with the media Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Monday evening, the Mets defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 9-6, for their third victory in four games. Buoyed by two Carlos Beltrán homers and a four-run seventh, they appeared on their way to overcoming shoddy relief by Pedro Felicano before Billy Wagner put two runners on with one out. But Garret Anderson lined into a game-ending double play, and the Mets (34-35) had drawn to within a game of .500.

An awkward situation had traveled 3,000 miles west, darkening even the land of perpetual sunshine. As much as players were not looking forward to flying across the country for the third time in two weeks, they were at least a little hopeful that some of the spectacle surrounding the team would dissipate here. It had, but just a bit, as some local and national reporters listened in on Randolph’s pregame session with the news media, interested to hear about a situation from the 1970s in the Bronx from a man who lived through it. “It’s always there,” Randolph said. “It’s always around. You can’t escape it.”

Randolph acted relaxed, as if he were resigned to his uncertain fate, while meeting with reporters over the weekend. He cracked jokes, offered thoughtful answers, and shed the defensive front that has dominated his interaction during his three and a half seasons as manager. But Monday, sitting in the visiting dugout — a more cramped space than the dingy interview room at Shea Stadium — Randolph seemed a little more guarded.

“What we talk about as a team is how we can get this thing going — period,” Randolph said. “I just wish we could get back to that because that’s really what it’s all about. We spend so much time talking about all this extracurricular stuff, man, and it’s like, this team just needs to focus on playing winning baseball. That’s the way we started out in spring training, and that should be the main focus here. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it should be.”

Randolph watched most of the game from the top step of the dugout, leaning over the railing, and was often flanked by Peterson. Their emotions mirrored the flow of the game. When Luis Castillo’s mishandling of a superb throw from Marlon Anderson allowed Chone Figgins to slide safely into second, Randolph grimaced and recoiled. When Howie Kendrick lashed a Mike Pelfrey pitch for a run-scoring single in the fourth, Peterson violently slammed a rolled-up piece of paper against his hip. When Aaron Heilman came in with two runners on base and struck out Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter to end the Angels’ three-run seventh, Randolph clapped vigorously as Peterson nodded beside him.

With the exception of Peterson, a leftover from Art Howe’s tenure, all the other coaches have been hired by the Randolph-Minaya tandem. Randolph said he was bothered by reports that some of them, people he considers friends as well as teammates, may not be with the team for much longer. He said he was a little surprised but not completely blindsided last July when Minaya fired the hitting coach Rick Down, a close friend, and replaced him with Johnson. He said that he had no feel now for what could happen.

“They’re my guys, they work hard every day,” Randolph said. “They’re good at what they do, so you don’t ever want any speculation about them losing their jobs because it’s unjustified.”

You were up 4:56am in the morning???-lol Well I felt he should have been fired after last season so it was long over due

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by KingofTVResearch

You were up 4:56am in the morning???-lol

I'm a night owl so I'm almost always up at that time

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by KingofTVResearch

You were up 4:56am in the morning???-lol Well I felt he should have been fired after last season so it was long over due

I know you were waiting for this announcement for a long time, Sol.

[Pavan]

Well, I don't like the Mets, but this organization has no class. Firing Willie now? Why not 2 weeks ago or before the season started? Omar already said they wouldn't do this. Willie met with executives on Sunday after the game to see if he was still on the flight to Anaheim...and he was. They won the game last night, too. Just a weird situation. They need to change the team (bad bullpen, etc), not the manager.

[Scoobiedoo30]

Why did the fire the manger in the middle of the season

[Chocolate Moose]

i heard that this am. don't know if it's a smart move or not ...

[TJL]

Firing him in the middle of the night was a classless move by the Mets.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

Well, I don't like the Mets, but this organization has no class. Firing Willie now? Why not 2 weeks ago or before the season started? Omar already said they wouldn't do this. Willie met with executives on Sunday after the game to see if he was still on the flight to Anaheim...and he was. They won the game last night, too. Just a weird situation. They need to change the team (bad bullpen, etc), not the manager.

I guess you forgot about the HUGE COLLAPSE last year that gave the Phillies the NL East???

[Pavan]

No, I didn't. Then why not fire him then? Why not fire him after they lost all 4 games to the last place Padres? Why fire him when they WON 3 of 4 games?! Why fire him in Anaheim after one game which they won!? Omar was too chicken to fire him in person so they let him travel 3,000 miles to Anaheim? I hate the Mets, but what they did to Willie was wrong and all of the talk shows I listened to today, such as Mike and the Mad Dog agree 100%.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

No, I didn't. Then why not fire him then? Why not fire him after they lost all 4 games to the last place Padres? Why fire him when they WON 3 of 4 games?! Why fire him in Anaheim after one game which they won!? Omar was too chicken to fire him in person so they let him travel 3,000 miles to Anaheim? I hate the Mets, but what they did to Willie was wrong and all of the talk shows I listened to today, such as Mike and the Mad Dog agree 100%.

I agree with the decision, not the Timing

[Pavan]

I would have not said one word if they fired him after they lost a few games, but after winning 3 of 4? That is why I'm calling Omar and the Mets out on this strange move.

Also, Omar doesn't know what he is doing. That was proven today when he was on Mike and the Mad Dog at about 6:15. Strange excuses on why they fired him and a lot of stuttering by him. He must have said the word "listen" 100 times.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

I would have not said one word if they fired him after they lost a few games, but after winning 3 of 4? That is why I'm calling Omar and the Mets out on this strange move.

Also, Omar doesn't know what he is doing. That was proven today when he was on Mike and the Mad Dog at about 6:15. Strange excuses on why they fired him and a lot of stuttering by him. He must have said the word "listen" 100 times.

Why did he go on M&M to explain why he fired Willie? Are they his bosses?-lol

[Pavan]

Listen to the interview on wfan.com. Mike and the Mad Dog really asked good questions. Omar had to go explain himself to the media, because of all the bad talk about it.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

Listen to the interview on wfan.com. Mike and the Mad Dog really asked good questions. Omar had to go explain himself to the media, because of all the bad talk about it.

I'm sure Phil Musnick will make fun of their interview with Omar-lol He hates M&M