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According to Dan Graziano in the Star-Ledger, citing ‘a person familiar with 
the team’s thinking, who requested anonymity,’ Mets management is planning a reevaluation at the end of this month.
…first off, let me take a minute to recognize graziano, who does a great job for the Star-Ledger…he’s thoughtful in his research and opinions, and he always gives me something new to think about…and i appreciate that…anyway…
The Mets are 71–71 since June 1 of last season, as Graziano points out, adding that, if the team does not find a way to assert itself in the division by June, “the Wilpons will look seriously at whether a change is necessary in the manager’s office.”
Graziano continues on to detail Willie Randolph’s strengths and weaknesses, concluding:
“Randolph is a decent man who cares deeply about his team and his job and believes strongly in himself. But he’s also stubborn, and that’s what has him in trouble.”
…i like willie’s old-school, hard-nosed style, but i just don’t believe the current crop of talent that he is working with plays to willie’s strength…in fact, they may help to expose his weaknesses…the way i continue to see this is, assuming the team continues to step sideways, either the Mets will need new, younger players for willie, or a new manager for these type of players…
…i know, the two worked together in 2006…the thing is, it is no longer 2006, when, for whatever reason, things clicked, and every one was on the same page…remember, “Pick each other up,” which was willie’s mantra that spring, and which was echoed over and over again by the players all season long…words don’t really matter much…however, to me, that was a symbol of how they were all working from the same place, how they had one another’s backs, they were together, all on the same page…this group, today, do not seem to have that same feel…instead, it feels like a lot of individuals, including the manager, all working out of sync, hence the .500 record, win today, lose tomorrow pattern…
…like i said, i like willie…but i also like that the Wilpons will review all of this after Memorial Day, which is seemingly the standard review date in baseball…like i wrote last week, this team just feels like it is at a crossroads, or at a point where it may be time to build upon the accomplishments of the last few seasons, as opposed to clinging to them in hopes that things may get better…
Better late than never.
This team certainly has talent, and whether they will respond to another manager is unknown, but this team should have been a better than .500 team over the past year.
I tend to agree…yes there have been mitigating factors, but the vibe is definitely different. I don’t sense confidence from these guys…more like anxiety, or something. No idea if a new manager would shake it up or not, but it still doesn’t feel like we’re getting 100% from this team (by which I do NOT mean effort, I mean…something else.)
Willy is a goner, this team has not repsonded to him in a looooooong time, nothing is going to change now.
Lets start talking replacement candidates…
Lee Mazilli
Frank Robinson
Buck Showalter
Give Wally Backman a chance. He has had a lot of success in the minors.
Mazilli and Robinson? You’ve got to be kidding. Showalter at least has had some success.
Willie is a lame duck! Plain and simple!
how about any non-Yankee?
“Willy is a goner, this team has not repsonded to him in a looooooong time, nothing is going to change now.
Lets start talking replacement candidates”
Agree. I like Willie also but I also agree with Dan Graziano of the Star-Ledger that Willie is too stubborn. I really beleive that what we’ve seen over the past year into this year (500 ball) is about what you can expect from this team under Willie’s control. It is what it is, no amount of rationalizing or putting a positive spin is going to change that. We’re getting very close to a change, the winds of change are already blowing in from the Shea outfield. If this team (with the highest payroll in the NL) is still playing 500 ball by the Allstar Break then there won’t be any other choice.
I bet HoJo would look good in the manager’s office
Why? Because he played for the Mets? I’d prefer no one who had anything to do with the current staff.
Why doesn’t he get any of the blame when the team can’t hit? Isn’t that his job? Seems like they performed alot better before he took over.
They fired Rick Down last year, too. How many batting coaches does it take to get major leaguers to hit in the clutch?
apparently more than two
Can they evaluate now? Willie is who he is, I don’t see him changing too much in a matter of a month.
Well, this is what a lot of people have been speculating around here for some time and that’s because it makes sense. If this mix of players isn’t a good fit for Willie, you get rid of Willie and see if they’ll step up their play for someone else. If they continue to meander, then you blame the guy who put this team together in the first place - i.e. Omar.
I really don’t think you can blame Omar…When he was brought in, the edict from ownership was to turn the team around, and do it quickly. He has done that, but the result (as expected) is that this team has its share of older players, while depth in the minors just isn’t there. No GM is going to hit a home run with every move he makes, but Omar has done the job asked of him, which was to put together a collection of talent superior to the competition. Once he does that, it really is in Willie’s hands.
Randolph was brought in to help bring the team back from the depths of the Art Howe era, which he certainly has done. I think he has done a very good job here, but with only 3+ seasons of managing under his belt, I just don’t think he’s got the experience to be a championship caliber manager. Obviously I’d like to see him succeed here, but if it gets to a point where the team needs to be shaken up, there is really just one viable solution, and that would be to replace Willie. Of course, you really can’t do that midseason and expect to win it all (the 2003 Marlins notwithstanding, who replaced Torborg with Mckeon in May of that year)
“Well, this is what a lot of people have been speculating around here for some time and that’s because it makes sense. If this mix of players isn’t a good fit for Willie, you get rid of Willie and see if they’ll step up their play for someone else. If they continue to meander, then you blame the guy who put this team together in the first place - i.e. Omar.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. You are right on the money. Nothing more to be said, end of story.
I’ve been saying Willie is “stubborn” and “egotistical” for a long time now. So have a lot of other fans. Funny that this is finally being said as “fact”.
Oh no…Graziano and the Wilpons must just be “Willie haters” and thrive on negativity. What mean people!
Since when do the Mets play old-school, hard-nosed baseball? I loved the idea of “Willie ball” when Willie started, but lately it seems like the team doesn’t bother to manufacture runs, isn’t aggressive, and doesn’t stress fundamentals. Are they just ignoring Willie’s signs, or is he, potentially, not managing in an “old school” way anymore? I think the “old school” part seems like it comes to play in the lineup card and clubhouse. EVERYTHING is by seniority, etc. He may be thinking too much like a washed up veteran player and not enough like a manager.
That said, if he’s trying to instill some grit into his team and they’re tuning him out, he still needs to go, but good luck to whomever takes his place. Yikes.
Well, that’s my point.
I feel like it’s either him and player’s who fit his preferred style, or these players and a manager who fits their style.
Admittedly, I have not thought this all the way through.
It’s a rough sketch of an idea. But, Graziano’s column seemed like the ideal time to start working through it.
Willie Randolph does not understand the mentality of this generation of player. He manages to his generation, which does not work anymore.
It’s interesting . . . what kind of a manager would fit their style? It could be that a guy who throws chairs would be even worse, and they need someone MORE detached than Willie. Willie could be a firebrand behind closed doors — we just don’t know. He doesn’t break the code of silence. Or, it could be a personality issue well outside the oversimplified continuum of chair-throwing vs. Joe Torre.
(Or I don’t know, that is — is there any inside info on that — Willie’s style with the media absent?)
I really don’t think it has much to do with throwing chairs or not. There are a ton of articles on the web about “managing millenials” … It’s a generational perspective.
Willie’s style is the same of Joe Torre. They let their players manage themselves. Willie believes in his veterans and trusts his players, so he lets them go out and play. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it worked perfectly for the Yankees. But this team is different. They need guidance. I remember during spring training when a reporter asked Willie if he talked to the team about the collapse and he said that he felt he didn’t need to. I would think that after the worse collapse in history, it should have been at least talked about. Trying to move past it is one thing, but just bottling it up is another.
Willie has said in the past that he does not hold team meetings. he has also stated that he does not scream, yell, or throw chairs, other than that 1 time reported last year. what, to me, speaks volumes, is that during their collapse last year, the only team meeting held was called by Marlon Anderson. the pinch hitter! the man who wasn’t even on the team for a large part of the season!!
The ship was sinking and nobody called the crew together to try to bail water.
That’s what Graziano suggests. I had read that he had gotten into some players’ faces during the collapse (or at least, he claimed he had,) to no avail. Anyway, it’s pretty clear this isn’t working. I’m just amazed that a dunderhead like Terry Francona seems to have the formula.
You know I don’t really remember Willie really coaching a very National League style game effectively.
I would keep him untill the end of the year. I really don’t think a new manager will make much of a difference. Castillo is still old, Beltran has no protection and recovering from a knee operation to pile onto his general Beltran pain. Alou is a trip to the DL waiting to happen, and Delgado, well we all know.
That said, give him a year. Its not very likely that who ever they can bring in now will make the difference.
Wait next year, so you can have a wider pool of candidates to chose from. I would love Tony Perez. The guy catches his own pitchers during warm-up! Talk about know what the guy has for that day.
I mean Tony Pena.
no reason we can’t get pena now
Well if you get him know, he has to go through the “getting to know my players phase”, which is something that happens during spring training and not in the middle of a season.
The big problem with Willie (if you follow him day-to-day) is that he still thinks he’s in the American League! He doesn’t play small ball when it calls for it (when was the last time you saw a squeese play or safety squeese with a runner on third and less than two out?). He just too stubborn (there goes that word again) to change his old-Yankee-AL ways.
Do you really expect a National League team to be any better than 500 playing under American-League rules?
I think this next 7 game stretch will be a sign of what to expect from this team. I don’t think 4-3 is good enough. I’m not one of these fans that thinks they ened to win every game but they need to go at least 5-2 over these 7 games.
Get hot, take your day off and then go into your key May series of 4 game sin Atlanata, including the double-header.
I thought the same thing…we really need to see them kick this homestand in the ass.
At the end of the day, 3-3 road trip is great, and a 14-12 April is better than bad, but I need them to make me believe.
I generally go with the philosophy of, if you win 2 of 3 at home and go .500 on the road, you win 95 games.
Had that Pitt game not been rained out and they had won, they would be on pace of winning 2 of 3 at home. they are 2 games under .500 on the road which means it is really a one game swing.
so in other words, they are right where they need to be in my opinion of they can stay consistent.
you maintain this pace by beating up the weak teams and playing good enough against the good teams. 4-3 at home against the Reds and nats is just not acceptable. at least 5-2 is necessary.
right with you…the math is fine, but - for me - the vibe is not.
I’m baffled that absolutely no one has noticed that the Mets schedule so far has been considerably more challenging than that of Florida or Philly. Both of those teams have faced inferior competition and racked up impressive records against sub-.500 teams, while struggling against teams with better records.
The Mets, by contrast, have played most of their games against stronger competition. Obviously, the schedule will equalize as the season progresses.
I bring this up because if the Mets had, say, three more victories, the calls for Willie’s job would be more muted, to say the least. it’s too soon to make a valid judgement about Willie’s performance this year. (Yes, I do get the point about his record stretching back to last season).
I don’t fault bloggers for not noticing this. But it does perplex me that sportswriters (who are, like, paid to figure stuff out) can’t be bothered to do basic research.
No, I’ve noticed, but I honestly see a style of play that’s a problem. There have been countless debates as to whether “lifelessness” or “crispness” just mean “winning,” but I don’t think that’s the case.
I really don’t blame Willie too much for this team, after all they have only (3) starters - right now (2) that the team can believe in ( Maine & Santana) you have figs and perez and Pelfrey? I mean come on. those guys are at best are number (5) starters. The starting pitching is awful and the hitters, I hope start warming up or this team is destined for mediocrity
I think things like having more errors than hits against the Pirates really stick out. Noboduy suggests they should win all their games, not even against weaker competition, but giving away a game like that to weaker competition is alarming.
Lose to Pittsburgh 4-3 in a crisply played game, and you’ll get less hand wringing.
But that Pittsburgh game, and the Figueroa loss to the Dodgers really make a fan question the character of the team, and whether the manager is getting the most from his players.
. . . and, note that Graziano’s column is really about the past 142 games of Mets’ baseball, not just this year’s first 30. We’re 71-71 over that stretch. Two or three games and we’re 74-68, which is OK, but . . . .
if the mets had two more victories last year we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.
if the mets had three less victories this year we might not either because he might already be gone.
Free Willie!
Matt, I completely agree with your assessment. I only hope that making an assessment by Memorial Day and potentially (hopefully) making a change leaves enough time to right the ship and/or turn it around.
I like Willie as a manager, but as you said, his style suits the team from two years ago now, not this one. His style is too Joe Torre and suited for team of accomplished professionals, not this group that seems to need a little help in the motivation department.