Willie Randolph is Gone: Who Might Be Next?

At 3:15 AM EST this morning, the New York Mets wrote a brief press release in the dead of night, stating what every single person with a vested interest in the team (players, fans, upper management, trainers, team doctors, clubhouse workers, stadium vendors, beer men, Shea Stadium parking attendants, custodians, and Mr. Met) had been expecting to hear for days, weeks, maybe even months: Willie Randolph had coached his last game for the New York Mets.

The damage is finally complete. The waiting is over. The entire saga has worsened the play of the team to the point where they now blow late-inning leads like they're ordering pizza. The upper management of the Mets has had a track record of blasting its managers in the press over the years. Think about the Frank Cashen/Davy Johnson conflict that lagged on for much of the '80s, or the Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine bust-up in the '90s.

Omar and Willie have been added to that list. The higher-ups in this organization have a proven track record of throwing each other under the bus. As much as the Wilpons are respected around the NY area and throughout baseball, they aren't the classiest humans to walk the planet.

I'll be honest: I haven't been the biggest Willie Randolph supporter over his tenure in Queens. As a native New Yorker who's extremely passionate about his Mets (as most Mets fans are), I never saw Willie emanate that same passion on the field. I never saw him get in his players' faces. I never saw him get in the face of an umpire, or kick some dirt around the infield.

He obviously came from the Joe Torre school of managing, keeping that poker face on while seated on the bench at all times. He tended to overuse his bullpen as well, another tactic I never got.

What happened to the Orel Hershiser days of throwing 20 complete games and 10,000 innings a season? These starters are paid to pitch. Let them pitch. Let them decide the game. If the fans aren't smart enough to understand that, then screw them; you're the manager.

I just never felt that Willie had that ability to fire up this bunch. The collapse last year is a perfect example of that. It seemed that the Mets felt they had already clinched a spot in the postseason by early September, and decided to put themselves on cruise control.

Some of that blame should be put on the veterans, the Carlos Delgados and the Carlos Beltrans, who have played in this league long enough to understand how crucial every single game is.

But then again, it's tough to read how much those two really care about what's going on sometimes, as evidenced through their desire to ignore talking to the press, and have their white, English-speaking teammates like David Wright and Billy Wagner do the dirty work. They need to wake up, or they will continue to get rightfully booed by the fans.

The monumental collapse of last year should have signaled the fact that maybe Willie wasn't the right fit for this team. That his style of managing may prove more beneficial for a younger team, still learning to play the game the right way. When things go wrong, a more even-keeled manager might prove more beneficial when instructing his younger players, as opposed to a more volatile one.

Regardless of this fact, the timing of this decision was horrendous. If you have a problem with your manager, you fire him before the season, at the All-Star break, or at the season's conclusion. You don't fire him one-third of the way through the season, in the midst of a West-Coast road trip...especially after the team has just won a game.

But maybe that's the problem. This Mets team seems to want to turn it on and off when it sees fit...kind of like an inferior Detroit Pistons squad.

When they catch news that their manager might be fired the next day, they seem to want to play their absolute hardest in hopes of saving his job, and saving their own reputations. But when that news has gone away for a day or two, it seems like the same lackadaisical Mets return, blowing away big leads and slumping around in the dugout like a bunch of sad children.

Maybe Jerry Manuel will do the trick. He's a smart guy who's had valuable experience at the Major-League level with the White Sox. He seems to know the game extremely well, and has a career managing record of over .500. He's gotten tossed out of more games than Willie, so it appears that maybe he's better at firing up his players, and he publicly appears to give a crap. But something's got to give.

Should Willie have been fired?

Probably.

Should he have been fired last night?

Nope.

Should this ordeal have been handled differently?

Absolutely.

With a team that has a psyche that's already as sensitive as the Mets', any little distraction will take them off their game. As bold, bellicose, and brazen as the Mets of the 80's were, these Mets appear to be the complete opposite. It's impossible to ignore the constant talk of firing their manager on the sports radio, the papers, and on ESPN had to have taken its toll on this team.

But the ordeal is over. I hope the Wilpons are happy. I hope Omar is happy that he's still with the club, because he played an extremely vital role in causing this poor play and last year's debacle. He brought these players here and assembled this roster and these personalities to mesh with one and other, but it hasn't happened. It was his job to build a championship contender, and he's failed at that so far.

But of course, when it comes to playing the blame game, these players are more to blame than Willie for this fiasco. Who should leave this ball club? Let's start with Billy Wagner, continue with Carlos Delgado, Joe Smith, Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, and Pedro Martinez. Yeah, that should do it. Actually, every one should be put on notice. Any of them, excluding Wright, can be traded tomorrow.

It's up to these Mets to erase all doubt about any lingering effects from last year. They're paid to perform on the field. They're given these rich contracts because they've proven that they can produce in the past. It's time for them to do their jobs.

Don't ask any questions. Talk to the press. Put the blame on yourselves. Be men. You play in, and represent, the greatest city in the world. Take some pride in that. As the cliché goes, there is no worse place to lose than New York, but there is no better place to win.

Luckily for the Mets, the season isn't over just yet. They're only six games behind first-place Philly. Can Jerry Manuel get the team out of this slump? Will the team put this all behind them, and concentrate on playing hard-nosed baseball, if not for the fans, or the management, but for each other...and maybe for their beleaguered ex-manager?

I don't really see it. I'm not sure anyone can get this team to wake up and play the baseball everyone's been waiting for them to play. What happened to the team that experts unanimously picked to represent the NL in the Fall Classic? As much as it nauseates me to say it, that team might play in a gorgeous new ballpark 100 miles south of Queens.

I really hope Omar and the Wilpons know what they're doing...because if progress isn't made as the season continues, it won't matter if they bring back Tommy Lasorda, they will be under more pressure from the media and their fans than they ever could have imagined.

The Mets are taking some bold steps right now...let's hope they pan out.

Good luck to Willie in his future endeavors.