Wilpons, Minaya Botch Willie Randolph Firing

What a way to jump start our blog after a week off. Willie Randolph is out as Mets' manager. Fine. Rick Peterson gone as pitching coach. Great. But THE WAY it was handled—awful, and a disgrace to the Mets and their fans. Minaya must have known that he was going to do this BEFORE the team left for L.A. Sunday. WHY would you have Randolph, Peterson and Nieto fly 3,000 miles, win a game, and then fire him in a hotel room at 3 am New York time?

Omar had many opportunities the last few weeks to let Willie go—he's been twisting in the wind the last several weeks. I'm not disputing the idea of letting Randolph go. He's lost several guys, most notably Carlos Delgado & Jose Reyes, and the team is clearly under performing. So the IDEA of letting him go, no problem—you could have done it a while ago. It's clear Minaya—assuming it was ALL his decision—struggled with this. For all we know, Fred and Jeff Wilpon stepped out of outward character and made the decision for Omar. SportsNet New York reported Tuesday morning that the decision was made Monday, yet Randolph and his coaches were allowed to plan—and then win—last night's game against the Angels.

What I don't get—why fire Randolph after a long distance flight, after a win, after taking three out of their last 4 games? Did the Wilpons and Minaya think that a 3 am New York time firing, with the possibility of a Johan Santana win tonight, think that this gutless move would be smoothed over and forgotten quickly? Like everything in life, we'll all move on. Perhaps Jerry Manuel, a former Manager of the Year, will right the ship. The long term question is whether the ship is good enough to sail. Right now though, Met fans should be angry with this classless move—right up there with the worst of George Steinbrenner. Randolph, a good guy, deserved a better exit. Hard to believe, but the Mets made Randolph look even better in the eyes of their fans and the press.

Read Jim Baumbach's great Newsday column for more insight on the firing.

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