It was 3:15 a.m. here on the East Coast, 12:15 a.m. in sunny California, when New York Mets manager Willie Randolph learned he was out of a job.
Mets general manager Omar Minaya apparently didn't make a cross-country flight for nothing, but he did let Randolph travel 3,000 miles from home before finally deciding to end the months of speculation about Randolph's job status -- after a win, no less, over the L.A. Angels.
And so ends a disgraceful chapter of baseball history in New York, one that could end in a total collapse of the what will always be the city's No. 2 team. The Mets have assured themselves back page headlines ahead of the rival Yankees for the next few days, but this wasn't what they had in mind. Minaya's midnight firing of his manager couldn't come off any worse for fans of the club, the media members who cover the team or potential candidates to replace Randolph on a long-term basis. Bench coach Jerry Manuel takes over for now, his performance likely to be rated on a game-by-game basis.
Randolph presided over equal parts glory and disappointment for the franchise. The Mets were one game from the World Series in 2006, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in a seven-game battle in the National League Championship Series. New York also suffered through one of the worst choke jobs in baseball history last September, blowing a seven-game lead with 12 to play and falling out of first place in the NL East to miss the playoffs entirely. Randolph's demeanor didn't change in either circumstance. He was steady, soft-spoken and solidly behind his players throughout. Randolph never made negative public comments about his team, the sort that would be sensationalized and eaten up by New York fans that swarm to controversy like bees to honey. He simply did his job to the best of his ability, and apparently it wasn't good enough.
Manuel is very much the same man as Randolph. He's quiet, self-assured and prepared to do the job for as long as he has it. Manuel was the manager of the Chicago White Sox from 1998-2003 and earned the American League Manager of the Year award in 2000 after guiding Chicago to a 95-67 record, best in the AL.
The one thing that Manuel didn't have to endure in Chicago was Minaya, a gutless eel who assembled this overpaid, overrated roster like his own personal fantasy team. Minaya brought in crumbling players like Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou and expected them to be cornerstones of a New York revival, despite the fact that they are all well past 30 and injury-prone. He's brought in players well past their respective primes like Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley and Trot Nixon, expecting them to be stop-gap remedies for the holes that pervade his entire roster. Minaya's payroll this year is $138 million and his starting pitching is still laughable, a motley crew that includes Nelson Figueroa, Claudio Vargas and Oliver Perez. How was Randolph supposed to enjoy any extended stretches of success handing the ball to one of those bums every five days?
And as for the farm system, Minaya has allowed that to slide into the abyss as well. He shows little to no regard for developing young talent, trading away most of the players that he billed as top prospects for more expensive veterans. Jose Reyes and David Wright were there before Minaya took the job -- he can't take credit for drafting and developing them. Remember Lastings Milledge, supposedly the next Manny Ramirez? How about Carlos Gomez and three other supposed studs who were traded for Johan Santana? Maybe Mike Pelfrey and John Maine are future stars in the rotation, but Pelfrey has stunk the joint out this year and Maine's second-half stumble last season helped contribute to New York's meltdown. Of course, Minaya has a track record of being fleeced when it comes to young players. This is the same man who, as GM of the Montreal Expos, got robbed by the Cleveland Indians while trying to get an inflated Bartolo Colon and his inflated contract in a deadline deal. The price? Only Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore. Yikes. Not exactly a track record of success, is it?
So what have we learned from all this. We know that Minaya can spend money with the best of them and receive little in return. We know that the Mets are full of aging veterans with little coming in terms of prospects. We know that agreeing to be the manager of this club subjects you to scrutiny from the public and very little support from your bosses. Sounds like a great place to be, doesn't it?
