Daily Archives: June 18, 2008
The Game:
The Mets (34-36) look to take the rubber game of their three-game series versus the Angels (43-29) tonight at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, starting 10:05 pm EST.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 1B Marlon Anderson
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- DH Carlos Delgado
- LF Trot Nixon
- 2B Damion Easley
- RF Endy Chavez
- C Ramon Castro
The Pitchers:
LHP Oliver Perez (5-4, 4.98 ERA) takes the hill for the Metropolitans.
RHP Jon Garland (6-4, 4.13 ERA) starts for the Halos.
How To Catch It:
Tonight’s game can be seen locally on
and heard locally on WFAN.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
Jose Reyes will be in tonight’s lineup batting leadoff, while Marlon Anderson will start at first base.
…meaning, last night’s situation involving his hamstring must not have been that bad…
The following clip is of me and Ted Berg talking about what fans can expect from Jerry Manuel, Ken Oberkfell and Dan Warthen:
In the last 24 hours, I have heard from people and read a ton of text about how the Mets fired Willie Randolph, which has been described as a ‘massacre,’ as, ‘dishonest,’ and as, ‘disrespectful,’ complete with people comparing it to a mob hit.
According to Omar Minaya, during his press conference with reporters yesterday, he had no choice but to break the news to Randolph at midnight, after a game in the team hotel, because he feared that once the decision was made known to ownership, it would leak and reach Randolph through a ‘third-party source.’
And so, instead of sitting in judgment of how it happened, journalists and fans would be better served by asking why it happened the way it did.
Basically, from what can be inferred in his comments, Minaya believes there is a breach of communication within the organization, which is not good.
It is this sort of fear and behavior that causes dissent, deceit and disastrous decisions, like during the last regime.
Oddly, in the fall of 2006, several reports commented on how tight-lipped Minaya’s regime had been. Yet, here we are, just a year and a half later, and Minaya is making inferences to the contrary, in public, on television, and using it as an excuse for the way he confronted Randolph.
This morning, WFAN speculated that Tony Bernazard and Jeff Wilpon are most likely to blame. During his interview with Minaya on WFAN yesterday, host Mike Francesa said he heard Bernazard was ‘gloating’ on Monday suggesting he already knew and was telling people that Randolph would be fired.
In fact, from what I can gather, people who work in various departments for the Mets were already aware of Minaya’s decision as early as the seventh-inning stretch on Monday.
What’s more, Mets Fans Forever wrote the following on its blog at 11 pm EDT on Monday, long before the press release or before any mainstream media outlet broke the news: “Sources close to Willie Randolph reveal that he has been fired after the game, or tomorrow…This is not a rumor. This is fact.”
Additionally, earlier in the night, around 6:45 pm EDT at Baseball Prospectus, again, long before the press release, Will Carroll reported that Rick Peterson had been fired, later adding, “Sources tell me that the decision was made prior to the game, but that Randolph was not informed until after the game.”
In other words, not only are their ‘leaks,’ but they come fast and to all sorts of writers, be it mainstream columnists or bloggers.
To me, as a fan, who wants to see the Mets operate in the best possible way, this idea of loose-lips is far more significant than Willie Randolph’s ego.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pirates OF Xavier Nady may be placed on the disabled list with a Grade 1 sprain in in his left shoulder.
Nady injured his shoulder when he crashed into the right-field wall Saturday night while trying to catch a fly ball.
He is hitting .310 with 28 extra base hits and 49 RBI in 66 games for the Pirates this season.
In a recent report for the Post-Gazette, Dejan Kovacevic wrote that the Pirates are far more likely to trade Nady than OF Jason Bay, assuming either become available.
However, in his latest Rumblings & Grumblings column for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark wrote that neither player is likely to be traded as the Pirates attempt to finish around .500.
Meanwhile, according to the Daily Herald, citing ‘a source within the organization,’ 1B Richie Sexson will soon be released by the Mariners.
Sexson, 33, is batting just .209 with 27 HR and 88 RBI in his last 178 games, while striking out 165 times.
Tagged Xavier Nady |For player reaction to yesterday’s events, including quotes from David Wright, Billy Wagner, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, among others, check out David Lennon in Newsday and Bart Hubbach for the New York Post, as well as the Daily News.
To hear what the Phillies think, including quotes from Charlie Manuel, Brad Lidge, Jimmy Rollins and others, read Brian Costello’s report for the New York Post.
According to Wayne Coffey, in the Daily News, Willie Randolph’s personal friends are not very happy with how things went down yesterday.
In Newsday, media critic Neil Best claims that the media really ‘stoked the fire,’ with regards to how Randolph’s firing was covered.
…as i mentioned yesterday, i thought the perception of ‘outrage’ was a little out of control…i mean, you would have thought the actual reporters had been fired at midnight…it all came off as beyond personal…very weird…
…i think SNY did a great job with commentary, but even they were a bit overboard with the dramatic music that led in and out of every commercial…while watching it, you might have though the President had been assassinated…
Moving beyond the question of why Willie Randolph was fired and how it was handled, 
the next head-scratcher is why Jerry Manuel – and not Ken Oberkfell – was named the interim manager.
Yes, Manuel has previous managing experience, and in fact was named the 2000 AL Manager of the Year. But, he’s not the type of guy who will light a fire under anyone’s backside, and was not known as an on-field tactician – in the AL no less, where the strategy compares to a game of checkers. In other words, Manuel is basically the same manager as Willie Randolph.
Randolph’s removal should not have been a ‘change for the sake of change.’ It should have been a calculated move to turn the Mets’ season into a winning direction. If you have the foresight to announce the firing right after the tabloids go to press, you should also have the sagacity to put the right guy in place: Ken Oberkfell.
Oberkfell is many of the things Randolph was not. He’s fiery, aggressive, and has many years of minor league managerial experience. He’s managed at nearly every level of the Mets’ organization and therefore is more than familiar with their top prospects.
In fact, rumor has it that Oberkfell is also a trusted advisor to Tony Bernazard – a stark contrast to the questionable relationship he had with Randolph.
So why has Oberkfell been promoted to, essentially, look over the shoulder of Jerry Manuel? Is he around as a consultant, or a manager-in-waiting? If Oberkfell is the guy who the Mets believe can change the tone of the team, why wait to give him the reins? He spent 16 years in MLB clubhouses as a player, and has been managing for another 16 years, so he’s far from ‘green.’ Clearly his time is now.
What is more disconcerting is that Oberkfell’s new role is the caretaker of batting gloves (a.ka., first base coach), while Luis Aguayo was installed in the more prominent position of third-base coach. Why in the world was Aguayo — previously the Mets’ “Field Coordinator” — given such an important job?
Maybe the team’s decision makers are unsure of how Oberkfell will handle the media circus of New York. But, after watching the way they bungled this managerial change, he can’t do any worse.
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
I’m with you, Joe. Like I said yesterday, I have talked with people who have played for Obie, I have talked with people who have covered Obie, and I have even talked to Obie, and the sense I get is that he’ll make a terrific major league manager, assuming he wants the job.
There is some indication he is more than happy about the idea of simply being a coach right now.
The thing is, if a new manager is brought it during the off-season, who will bring in his own coaches, I fear that the organization will lose Oberkfell altogether.
According to John Delcos, in the Journal News, “By the end of this trip, the Mets will have traveled 21,611 miles since the beginning of May.”
…basically, that is like flying around the entire planet…
…at any rate, the good news here is that the Mets will not make a single trip to the West Coast in the second half, while other teams will…in fact, the furthest they will travel is Houston on a short road trip…so, hopefully that helps…
…the popular belief among fans and reporters seems to be that, now that Willie Randolph is out of the picture, if the team doesn’t win, Omar Minaya should and will be in trouble…
However, in a Q&A with SI.com, Jon Heyman says that Minaya is not in jeopardy of losing his job, adding:
“I believe Omar has a very good rapport with the Wilpons and I think they very much want to work with Omar. The nature of baseball suggests that the GM always has a much longer leash than the manager for a variety of reasons, one of them being that it can sometimes take years to implement an overall plan.”
Nevertheless, in the Daily News, Mike Lupica writes that the next ‘nightmare’ could be Minaya’s.
Meanwhile, also in the Daily News, Bob Raissman details Minaya’s ability to ‘spin,’ adding that he is, ‘‘Spoken like a man who has earned a doctorate in jive.’
…minaya’s press conference was brutal, but honest…he dedicated himself to three talking points, a) it was his decision to fire Willie Randolph, b) the media forced him in to making a decision by putting pressure on his clubhouse, and c) he told willie at midnight to avoid any one finding out from a third party source…
…other than that, minaya was knee deep in spin tactics and honest filibustering, which is all totally expected…
By the way, the following audio was created by a friend of a reader of MetsBlog, and edits together every time Minaya said, ‘OK,’ during his press conference with reporters yesterday:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Tagged Omar Minaya |To watch video of Jon Stewart during last night’s Daily Show, commenting on how Willie Randolph was fired, click here.
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