Opinion: I want Willie to Stay
For the record, I do not want the Mets to fire Willie Randolph, if for no other reason than I do not understand how he or any other manager is going to make Carlos Delgado turn quicker on an inside fastball, or make Jose Reyes keep his elbow in, or make Moises Alou younger and healthier, or make David Wright stop swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, or give Luis Castillo new knees.
I like Willie. He is not the greatest baseball mind of all time, but I do not think that is necessary.
Randolph was a blue collar, scrappy, under-appreciated competitor – like the Mets – always playing second-fiddle to the more popular, more expensive Dave Winfield and Reggie Jackson.
As a player, Randolph was well-respected for his hustle, hard-nosed style and his consistent play, while Winfield and Jackson, like the Yankees to the Mets, were glitzy, powerful and mainstays among the national conversation.
On the day he took over as General Manager, Omar Minaya promised that he would build a young, athletic, hard-working, sustainable team, with a strong minor league system, that could compete for a decade, ‘like the Braves.’
He has not done that, mostly because he was charged with bringing instant credibility to a struggling organization – and I’m not sure he could ‘win now’ and ‘build for tomorrow’ all in one motion. In other words, ‘Minaya did what he had to do,’ by relying on ‘aging, injured, unproductive and expensive players,’ as John Delcos wrote today on his blog for the Journal News.
However, had Minaya stuck to his initial philosophy, I believe Randolph would be considered among the best managers in baseball right now, instead of fearing for his job, because he embodies a gritty, New York, blue-collar sensibility that is making a come back in Major League Baseball.
