Willie's Seat ... and How Hot it Might Be

[Guest Grote15]

Well..wee Willie is safe...Why Alomar? Seems silly

I think I've had enough of Rick Peterson

[Guest cooby]

Good I'm glad too...it would be nice to see some new faces on the pitching staff, that's for sure.

[metirish]

] It's official: Willie stays as Mets manager BY DAVID LENNON | david.lennon@newsday.com After an unsettling 24 hours for the Mets, general manager Omar Minaya announced this afternoon that Willie Randolph will return as manager for the 2008 season. The Mets' collapse raised speculation that Randolph might take the fall for the team's miserable finish, and Minaya did nothing to quell those concerns on Monday. But after meeting with ownership this morning, Minaya revealed his decision to retain Randolph during a 40-minute news conference at Shea Stadium. "After thinking about this, I have decided that Willie should continue to manage our club," Minaya said. "As the GM, it was my decision to make." Randolph stood beside Minaya during the media briefing and spoke to reporters immediately afterward. "It's been a tough couple days for me," Randolph said. "The way the season ended was unacceptable, and as manager of the ballclub, I take full responsibility for not getting it done." "I've always been associated with winning and it hurts deep down inside, it really hurts to be associated with this type of collapse. That's not why we play the game and there's no way in the world that I thought we'd be in this position right now talking about this." When asked about his job security moving forward, Randolph said that has never been his primary objective since taking the Mets job at the start of the 2005 season. "I'm not concerned about my security. I came here to help this team win a championship. I'm a New Yorker, I'm passionate and I live and die with this team every day. I'm here to win, that's all of my focus." The Mets became the first team ever to blow a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining in the season, and it happened with embarrassing speed. Sitting atop the NL East on Sept. 12, they went 5-12 down the stretch and were crushed by the Marlins, 8-1, on the season's final day to hand the division crown to the Phillies. More articles

[Benjamin Grimm]

Bad bad terrible horrible decision.

(Am I making myself clear here?)

In February and March, the Collapse will be a big stinking toxic cloud over the Mets training camp. It will make for a poisonous atmosphere and I don't think Willie Randolph will be able to dispel it.

A new manager could just say, "I wasn't here. We have a clean slate."

Willie could say, "I'm confident that we've put this behind us" but everyone will remember how confident he was when everything was falling apart the previous September.

2008 has just gotten off on the wrong foot.

If, in May, the Mets find themselves around .500 and in third place (which is not at all far-fetched) Willie will probably be fired anyway.

[metirish]

Jeter called Willie.

] Fifteen minutes before Randolph walked into the first day of the rest of his Mets life, Jeter interrupted his postseason workout to call him from the other side of October. They've stayed in regular touch since Randolph left Joe Torre's side. Jeter spoke with a credibility that none of Randolph's young stars could touch. After all, the Yankee captain was MVP of the last World Series that included the Mets. "Hang in there, bro," Jeter told Randolph. "You know it's the players, not the manager. You're not the one out there playing. You can't hit and field and pitch for them." Maybe Randolph needed to hear that from someone he could trust. "That's my boy," he said of Jeter.

Klap on Willie

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Madden in the Snooze makes a case today that the real power in the org belongs to Tony Bernazard, to whom the Latin players can and do go over Willie's head to report to. That arrangement, he says, leaves Willie with "no juice." The org is also not standing up for him.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah. They're keeping Willie (for now) because of the 4 point something million that they owe him for the next two years.

Unless the Mets come roaring out of the gate next April, that won't be enough to save him.

Also, didn't Davey Johnson also shave off his mustache late in his tenure as Mets manager in a futile attempt to save his job?

[metirish]

Madden is not the first to indicate that Bernazard wields a lot of power in the Mets front office, I've read recently that he pretty much thinks Willie is useless.

I also hate the idea that Willie might actually be keeping his job because of monetary reasons , that never works I don't think.


Madden on Willie

[Frayed Knot]

"Madden is not the first to indicate that Bernazard wields a lot of power in the Mets front office, I've read recently that he pretty much thinks Willie is useless."

Are others actually reporting this, or is it a case Madden being the source and others merely repeating something that's "out there" ?



]"I also hate the idea that Willie might actually be keeping his job because of monetary reasons

This ownership has dumped Howe, Bonilla, Cedeno, Ordonez and others owing them a heckuva lot than they owe Willie.
I honestly don't think this is a factor.

[metirish]

="Frayed Knot"]"Madden is not the first to indicate that Bernazard wields a lot of power in the Mets front office, I've read recently that he pretty much thinks Willie is useless." Are others actually reporting this, or is it a case Madden being the source and others merely repeating something that's "out there" ? ]"I also hate the idea that Willie might actually be keeping his job because of monetary reasons This ownership has dumped Howe, Bonilla, Cedeno, Ordonez and others owing them a heckuva lot than they owe Willie. I honestly don't think this is a factor.

I've read about Bernazard for a while now,yesterday Ken Davidoff from Newsday had this....

] Minaya also tolerated a culture in which an assistant, vice president of development Tony Bernazard, openly fraternized with Nationals manager Manny Acta whenever the Mets and Washington played each other. Between those actions and Bernazard's behind-the-scenes criticisms of Randolph, Bernazard gave off the strongest impression that he wished Acta were the Mets' manager. That's not healthy.

Maybe Wilpon has had enough of paying employees not to work for them, but no I don't think that was the reason they kept him on but I think it was a factor.



Whatever happened with Bernazard and the Pirates, they asked for and got permission to interview him for the GM job, heard nothing since then though.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Does it drive anyone else crazy that these guys who report these front-office power rifts never address or question their Boogeyman directly?

Not that I doubt there's some truth to Madden's story here -- I don't doubt someone is saying it, that's for sure -- but if Madden reports that every Latin player on the Mets has Bernanzard's cell number, how hard would it be to get himself? Could you address this with him directly? Could you ask Omar to address these questions?

[Guest Edgy DC]

A handful of managers don't get hired because they can't agree with their teams over money. I imagine few or none don't get fired because of a team afraid to eat the money.

It's a fraction of the budget in the big picture. Managers on the hot seat remain because the team fears the instability of throwing new leadership --- usually a complete unknown --- at players they have a lot invested in. That's where money comes into it.

Wouldn't it be funny if Delgado and Bernazard were bff?

[Frayed Knot]

]Could you ask Omar to address these questions?

M&MD did on Tuesday. Omar, of course, denied there is or was a rift.

[Valadius]

Pittsburgh hired a GM, one of Shapiro's assistants in Cleveland.

[Valadius]

According to the Daily News, when the Mets brought Willie in, they expected him to be malleable, a pushover, because he had no previous managerial experience. However, that's proven to not be the case, and Willie has exerted his will. I think that's a good sign.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

How has he exerted his will?

[Valadius]

We don't know. Hard to tell with Willie. But apparently, he has. He might look like a cipher while he's in the dugout, but apparently there's a lot more to him.

[metirish]

I tend to not agree with that Val, he didn't exactly inspire or motivate his players in public or behind closed doors, there probably is nothing at all remarkable about Randolph.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Exactly! If he was a remarkable manager who went through a bad streak at a bad time, I wouldn't be calling for his head. (Not that anyone's listening.) I know there's VORP, but is there a VORM for managers? I think that there are at least two or three (or perhaps many more) guys already within the Mets organization who would do as well or better than Willie Randolph.

Am I the only one worried about the toxic cloud of stink in Port St. Lucie next spring?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I know how to calculate VORM.

I just need a sabbatical.

[metirish]

I'm very worried about this team going forward, I'll wait and see what changes are made before the spring. I don't know how true these stories are about Bernazard but they can't make the Mets an attractive team to manage to experienced skippers out there.



Not that we need a manager but in case we do.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think we may need one midseason, which is why I'm wondering about who might be available from within the organization.