Willie Deserves Better.

[metirish]

The money breakdown....

]Randolph and the Mets agreed in principle yesterday to a three-year, $5.65-million extension, three people familiar with the situation confirmed. The extension will kick in immediately -- Randolph's $700,000 contract for 2007 was torn up -- and run through 2009, with a team option for 2010. The 52-year-old will earn $1.4 million this season, $2 million in 2008 and $2.25 million in 2009. The 2010 team option is for $2.5 million.

[Vic Sage]

this puts him 10th overall next season, and his 3-4 year average puts him in the Leyland/Sciosia/Francona/Bochy range, which is probably a bit high for a 2-year man, but not egregiously so. A good deal overall, for both sides.

[Guest Edgy DC]

This was a good idea for an article with Ken Davidoff going back and reviewing each of Willie Randolph's failed interviews. Not a lot of substance comes out, but at least one team seemed to have shied away because maybe they felt he was more interested in succeeding Torre (and maybe interested in using their team as a stepping stone). What's interesting is that he wasn't the only guy to turn down the Reds offer.

Twelfth time was a charm for Willie

Randolph endured years of disappointment before finding his niche

BY KEN DAVIDOFF,

Newsday

Staff Writer

January 26, 2007

The answer is 11.

Eleven times Willie Randolph interviewed for a managerial opening and didn't get the job, earning an unwelcome, legendary status of sorts within baseball circles. But it turned into a lucky dozen when Mets general manager Omar Minaya hired him in November 2004.

It has worked out pretty well, of course. After two impressive seasons, Randolph earned himself a three-year, $5.65-million extension, announced yesterday by the Mets.

So what took him so long? Here's a look back, job opening by job opening, at Randolph's path to his own office.

1. Blue Jays, 1997

Gord Ash is now the Brewers' assistant GM, and as Toronto's GM, he was the first executive to officially target Randolph, then 43 and the Yankees' third-base coach, as a future manager. He interviewed him after firing Cito Gaston.

"Willie was a guy I had always admired as a player," Ash said. "He wasn't a guy who needed to be out front. He had a reserved personality but there was a fire there.

"The only thing was, when we interviewed him, he didn't, at that point, really have a game plan for what he wanted to do as a manager ... Without any minor-league track record of managing a ballclub, and without, in his own mind, a formulated game plan of how he would do it, it was tough to take a chance at that point."

Ash hired Tim Johnson, and the Blue Jays went 88-74 in 1998. But Johnson's managerial career hit an iceberg after that season when he admitted to lying about fighting in Vietnam. Ash fired Johnson in spring training of 1999.

2. Rockies, 1999

Jim Leyland quit the Rockies just one year into a three-year, $6-million deal. Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd received permission from the Yankees to talk with Randolph, and that's all the two men did -- talk.

"He was in the middle of the playoffs, so I never really got a chance to meet with him," O'Dowd said. "I spoke with him on the phone, but the train had already gone on the track. We needed to make a decision."

His hire, Buddy Bell, went 161-185 before getting fired shortly into the 2002 season.

3. Brewers, 1999

The Brewers fired GM Sal Bando and manager Phil Garner after long runs, and new GM Dean Taylor reached out to Randolph, eventually narrowing his search to Randolph and Davey Lopes.

"[Randolph] had two outstanding interviews," said Taylor, now the Royals' assistant GM. "... Davey had a reputation of playing the game hard when he played. Davey brought some of that to the table, as well, in terms of what he was going to be bringing to the manager's job. At the time, that was a little bit more what we were looking for."

Lopes went 144-195 and was fired a couple of weeks before the Rockies dismissed Bell in 2002.

4. Phillies, 2000

The Phillies let manager Terry Francona go after four losing seasons.

"We actually interviewed Willie in New York during the World Series. We met with him at the Grand Hyatt," said then-Phillies GM Ed Wade, who works for the Padres. "I thought it was a great interview.

" ... I got a little bit of a sense that although he was interested in managing, he seemed to be content to stay in New York and see what developed down the road. We never got to the point of economics, but he referenced that the situation in New York was pretty attractive, from the standpoint of the Yankees' history of going to postseason and the benefits he reaped from that.

"There was no question in my mind the opportunity would present itself to him."

For the Phillies, hiring the popular, experienced Larry Bowa made the most sense. Bowa, now in Randolph's old spot as Yankees third-base coach, went 337-308 in four seasons before being fired.

5. Reds, 2000

This one falls at least partly on Randolph, although it also ranks as the most bizarre of his job quests.

The Reds, having dismissed Jack McKeon after an 85-win season, looked to longtime organization man Ron Oester, who turned down the two-year, $650,000 offer with the thought that he was negotiating. The Reds, viewing their offer in more of a "take it or leave it" vein, ditched Oester and made the same proposal to Randolph.

With an under-market offer, the power to hire only one or two coaches and a team seemingly on the decline, Randolph turned down the opportunity. Bob Boone signed the identical two-year, $650,000 contract and lasted until July 2003.

Nationals GM Jim Bowden, who ran the Reds at the time, didn't return a telephone call. Former Mets executive Al Goldis, who worked as Bowden's special assistant, sat in on Randolph's two interviews and said, "Willie was viewed very favorably. I think he would've gotten the job. But he made the right decision."

6. Twins, 2001

After eight straight losing seasons, Tom Kelly led the Twins to an 85-77 record in 2001. Then he stepped down.

"Willie was an impressive interview for me," Twins GM Terry Ryan said. " ... I thought we had a good exchange. At that time, we were on the verge of becoming a lot more successful, and Willie was very aware of everything that surrounded our club, just from working in the same league. He came across well."

But as Ryan said, "We've tried to do things from within here." The Twins opted to promote third-base coach Ron Gardenhire, who just completed his fifth season and won his fourth AL Central title.

7. Mets, 2002

GM Steve Phillips prevailed in his power struggle with Bobby Valentine, firing him after a last-place showing. He interviewed Randolph twice before deciding on Art Howe.

"I thought he could do it, but I didn't know he could do it," said Phillips, now a baseball commentator for ESPN. "Being in a large market, needing to win immediately, I felt we needed to go with experience in the end. We didn't have the margin for error to go with an inexperienced guy.

"I think he's done a terrific job. He's done an even better job than I thought he could."

Howe, of course, was dismissed just two years into his four-year agreement.

8. Brewers, 2002

Dean Taylor lasted only three years, and Doug Melvin, formerly the Rangers' GM, entered and brought Randolph back to Milwaukee for another shot.

"I played with Willie in 1972 [in the Pirates' organization]," Melvin said. "He interviewed well. The reason I went with Ned Yost wasn't any reflection upon Willie. I had spent 30 years in the AL as a GM and player development guy, and this was my first year in the NL as a GM. I went with Ned because Ned was a little more familiar with the NL.

" ... I didn't think the timing was right for us. The Mets' situation was perfect for him."

Yost still manages the Brewers.

9. Tigers, 2002

Dave Dombrowski, after his first season as president and GM, dismissed interim manager Luis Pujols and included Randolph as part of his search for a long-term solution. The job went to former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell, who lasted three seasons before Leyland replaced him.

"We thought he was a very, very good baseball man," Dombrowski said. "We thought, at that point, Tram presented a lot of those same qualities. And with his history in the organization, it made a lot more sense to go in that direction. But our feelings were [Randolph] would be a good manager."

10. Devil Rays, 2002

After firing Hal McRae, Tampa Bay interviewed a group of candidates that included Randolph -- and hired none of them, as Lou Piniella fell into the Devil Rays' laps. Before that unlikely sequence of events, however, Tampa Bay targeted coach Tom Foley as McRae's replacement.

Piniella gave up after three frustrating years. Former Devil Rays GM Chuck LaMar didn't return calls for comment.

11. Mariners, 2002

After Randolph went 0-for-4, he appeared to be done for the 2002-03 offseason. But when Piniella left the Mariners for Tampa Bay, Randolph's former Yankees teammate created another opening, and the Mariners called upon Randolph. They didn't advance him to their round of four finalists, however, and they hired Diamondbacks bench coach Bob Melvin, who lasted just two years before being dismissed.

The Mariners' GM at the time, Pat Gillick, is now the Phillies' GM. He declined comment for this story.

12. Mets, 2004

This one worked out a little better. "We feel very good not only about the decision to bring him here but how Willie has done," Minaya said. No reason for Randolph to ponder the next job interview now.

[metirish]

Well if we are to believe what the baseball people are saying in that article then the interview process was not nearly as bad as some make it out for Willie.....and what has lying about fighting in Vietnam got to do with coaching the Blue Jays?

[Guest Edgy DC]

metirish wrote: Well if we are to believe what the baseball people are saying in that article then the interview process was not nearly as bad as some make it out for Willie.....

Well, some of it has to be reading between the lines. And part of the "bad"-ness of it all was the sheer volume of interviews and opportunities he fell short of, making it look like he was a token minority interview to validate the teams' hiring process in the face of Selig's aggressive affirmative action plan. And whether or not that's true, the notion has got to take a toll on a man's dignity.

metirish wrote: and what has lying about fighting in Vietnam got to do with coaching the Blue Jays?

Quite a bit when Johnson was using combat stories to motivate his players and it all turned out to be crap. It was a pretty sad story. The lie took on a life of its own and it was almost as if he had come to believe it himself.

The team, for what it's worth, didn't fire him immediately. He came back to start the season but a few weeks into spring training they got the notion that he had lost the team.

[Frayed Knot]

From his first try with the Blue Jays:

"The only thing was, when we interviewed him, he didn't, at that point, really have a game plan for what he wanted to do as a manager ... Without any minor-league track record of managing a ballclub, and without, in his own mind, a formulated game plan of how he would do it, it was tough to take a chance at that point."

On such comments are reputations such as; 'I hear he doesn't interview well', are born. Reps like that are then often repeated with each successive non-hire whether it was true in that case or not.

[metirish]

metirish wrote: and what has lying about fighting in Vietnam got to do with coaching the Blue Jays? ="Edgy DC"] Quite a bit when Johnson was using combat stories to motivate his players and it all turned out to be crap. It was a pretty sad story. The lie took on a life of its own and it was almost as if he had come to believe it himself. The team, for what it's worth, didn't fire him immediately. He came back to start the season but a few weeks into spring training they got the notion that he had lost the team.

Oh,Ok,that explains that....has he been out of the game since I wonder.