News: Willie Randolph will Stay
From a press conference at Shea Stadium a few moments ago, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that Willie Randolph will continue to manage the Mets.
According to Minaya, he had the final decision and the team’s 
ownership had no reservations about his choice.
Minaya, talking to reporters this afternoon…
“After thinking about this, I have decided that Willie should continue to manage our club. It was a decision I made as a General Manager, it’s my decision to make, and I felt that, it’s just the way we lost, the way it was, I just had to think about those things…
“I do believe that, when we came on board here with Willie, when I decided to pick Willie as the manager, I think that we’ve worked well, we’ve communicated with each other, and I do believe that his passion for winning is there – and I know sometimes that people question that, because of how he is, but the bottom line is that I know how he is in that clubhouse after wins and losses…
“I do believe that Willie is going to continue to work hard, and it’s a challenge to all of us – from Willie to myself to the whole organization – to get our guys back winning…
“It’s my decision. I told ownership that this is what I’m doing, and they are in support of my decision.”
Minaya, on the past few days…
“You know what makes this week tough, for us, it’s that, we, when you look at our organization, and what we’ve done over the last three years, we’ve generated so much fan interest…and I feel bad, and take full responsibility, in building all this interest we were not able to close it out. And that’s what makes it so hard. But, that being said, it’s like, I feel like we’re just going to keep working at this.”
Minaya, on why he is confident about Randolph…
“Willie is a competitor…I do believe that he is passionate and this is a new challenge for him. I do believe, up until two or three weeks ago, we had the best record in the National League. Look, slumps happen, and I just believe that Willie Randolph is gonna give me his best and give me his all and we talked about how we can continue to find ways to improve in this organization. I do believe he is going to his best to get this team back to the playoffs.”
…omar re-introduced willie, shook his hand, looked him in the eye, as if to say, ‘gotta love new york, buddy,’ patted him on the back, and left willie to speak to the media…
Randolph, talking to reporters this afternoon…
“Thank you Omar for that vote of confidence from you and ownership, I really appreciate that. I came here to win, and that’s what I’ve always been about. So, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get back to where we should be, which is winning the division and moving forward.
“The way the season ended, obviously, is unacceptable. We had opportunities to get this thing done, and as manager of this ball club I take full responsibility for that…
“I’ve always been associated with winning, and it hurts deep down inside to be associated with this type of collapse. That’s not why we play the game, and there’s no way in the world I thought we’d be talking about this…It’s some cruel lesson in life and in baseball, and you make your bed you live in – and we definitely set this up for disappointment.
“It’s disappointing for the fans, the people who came out and really wholeheartedly rooted for us…It just hurts right now. It’s been hard sleeping the last couple of nights, trying to come to grips with what happened…
“I’ve been through a lot of these wars, and so I handle myself a certain because that’s what I know, as the leader of this ball club. But, when the finality comes down and you know you didn’t reach your goal and you didn’t achieve what you wanted to achieve it really tears you apart inside…This is probably the worst pain I have felt since being in baseball. But, like my mom always told me, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I believe that, and my team will learn from this and we’ll be bigger and better and a better team next year. That’s the challenge we’re looking forward to.”
…this was awkward, because willie
