Buzz: The Future of Willie Randolph
…the buzz around the new york media this afternoon seems to be that we will all know tomorrow, definitively, whether Willie 
Randolph will or will not be back as manager of the Mets next season…
…from what i can gather, while most media personalities assume willie will be back, and feel he should be back, there is an odd soap opera being played out right now, while willie twists in the wind…
…if you notice, Omar Minaya has yet to officially announce randolph’s future, despite holding court on two occasions since the season officially ended yesterday afternoon…from what i can gather, omar wants willie back, and will recommend so to ownership in a meeting that is probably still going on…the thing is, the decision ultimately belongs to ownership, and not omar…by the way, i thought omar had full autonomy…oops, guess not, because if he did he wouldn’t he just come out and say, ‘willie’s staying.’…however, he isn’t stating that…instead, minaya keeps repeating that he supports willie, and likes willie, etc, and by doing so he is basically letting the public know that if the manager is fired, a) it was not his decision, so don’t blame him if you’re unhappy, and b) if it happens, he does not come off looking like a liar…very political, by the way…
…if you remember, last week i wrote that, the way i hear it, the rift essentially breaks down as follows: any one who played professional baseball, such as omar, appreciate and believe in willie, while those who have never played the game, i.e., ownership, are disappointed in willie’s in-game strategy and blame him for the team’s lack of focus and fire since last year’s NLCS…this is not to say omar has blind faith in willie, it’s just that i sense he believes in willie’s overall approach and he believes he has a winner’s mentality…on the flip side, the team’s other executives only see the results on the field, and they’re essentially freaking out, understandably to some extent, as they’re looking down the barrel of a new stadium, a television network, and a ton of pressure to not blow this…
By the way, in a report for CNN.com, Chris Isidore explains how the Mets will likely lose roughly $15 million in revenue due to not making the post-season.
…either way, they all meet today, and since the playoffs start on Wednesday, if willie is to be dismissed, it more or less needs to be announced tomorrow…and if he’s staying, which i still think he is, they’ll make that announcement tomorrow, as well, probably when minaya appears as a guest on WFAN around 2 pm, so that it comes off in a more casual, less dire way…
Lastly, according to a MetsBlog.com poll of more than 3,100 of the team’s fans, 66 percent of those polled would like to see Randolph return in 2008, while only 33 percent prefer he be fired.
