Mets Owner Fred Wilpon finally spoke on the Willie Randolph firing and Omar Minaya's current status as General Manager.

An excerpt from the Associated Press article:

Mets owner Fred Wilpon knew on Sunday that Willie Randolph would be fired on Monday, after flying to the West Coast to manage one more game.

Wilpon said today GM Omar Minaya made the initial decision to fire Randolph after the doubleheader split against Texas at Shea Stadium. After speaking with ownership, Minaya made the final call Monday.

Wilpon, asked if he regretted sending Randolph to California, "You can always look over your shoulder and think things like that, but the intent here clearly was to respect Willie. To do it in person. It's never easy to fire anybody. Omar took a lot of time. We took a lot of time listening to him and thinking about it. He wanted to respect Willie, and that's what he did."

Wilpon praised Randolph's performance as manager but agreed with Minaya's decision to replace him.

"It's all a matter of performance," Wilpon said, "Recognize, Omar gave Willie a chance to be in this position. He had never been a manager in the major leagues or minor leagues. I think Willie did a good job. The results of the last say 14 months were not up to what we thought it had to be."

I've been hoodwinked. Bamboozled. Led astray and misinformed by the rabid New York sports media. Since the collapse, I've been hearing about how this clubhouse has a Latin contingent that was hell bent on booting Willie Randolph, an African American, out the door. Article after article, column after column and on every WFAN radio show since September, has made a living spewing this Met "Latin Mafia" and its disdain for all things not Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton or Bachata.

Last week I read in the Daily News that Tony Bernazard is the "Godfather" of the "Latin Mafia" and hand-picked Jerry Manuel to manage the Mets after Willie Randolph was fired. All over the radio and in print sports writers and personalities have been saying how the "Latin Mafia" finally had 'their guy' leading the team. By 'their guy' they meant Latin. I heard Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts mention that Manuel can reach these guys because he "speaks their language."

There's only one problem: Jerry Manuel is AFRICAN AMERICAN!!! Holy conspiracy buster Batman! So you mean to tell me that the "Godfather" Bernazard and his "Latin Mafia" subverted one African American in favor of another? Adam Rubin of the Daily News wrote today that Manuel is the "second African-American baseball manager in New York sports history." So I did a little research after being knocked for a loop and found out that Manuel and Ken Williams formed the first African American GM/Manager tandem in baseball history.

This clearly means that the "Latin Mafia" and the "Godfather" aren't all Salsa all the time as has been reported. I must admit I bought into the media swirl. Does this mean that Willie Randolph wasn't unfairly booted and undermined by Bernazard? no. However, it does mean that you don't have to be Latin to gain the trust of the players on the Mets and you don't have to be Latin to speak their language.

Some of the coverage of this team is overblown, especially the "Latins Only" club and I hope that Met fans drop this issue for good. The media left out the fact that Manuel is Black just so they could string out the "Latin Mafia" storyline as long as possible or they just looked at his last name and made a distinction based on that alone. There is a Mets vs. the World vibe right now and I hope the team embraces that energy.

I am firmly behind Jerry Manuel, not because he's Black but because he's a gangsta! 

Former Cincinnati Reds General Manager Wayne Krivsky has been hired by the Mets as Special Assistant to GM Omar Minaya. Krivsky will be in charge of Major League scouting.

Krivsky is in his 32nd year in a Major League front office. He was mostly recently the General Manager for the Cincinnati Reds from the start of the 2006 season through April 23, 2008.

Before joining the Reds, he spent eight years as the Assistant GM for the Minnesota Twins. The Twins won three straight AL Central titles from 2002-2004. Wayne originally joined Minnesota in 1994 as a special assistant.

 

Last night the Mets played their most solid game of the year. In defeating the Rockies, the Mets displayed an energy we haven't seen in years. Tremendous defense in the outfield with Chavez and Trot Nixon making huge catches and timely hitting by the offense with 2 out RBI hits to key a 5 run rally in the 2nd inning.

The team has a new vibe and energy about them and it's nice to see. Firing Willie Randolph was the right move despite the fact it was handled in the most unprofessional way possible. That being said, the Mets have responded well and Jerry Manuel seems to have a solid grasp on the pulse of this team.

Manuel has made several philosphical changes that I like. First and foremost is demanding maximum effort and respect out of Jose Reyes. Manuel confronting Reyes in the locker room sent the message that Reyes will no longer be treated with kid gloves. Another aspect of Manuel that I like is playing Damion Easley at 2nd base again after his game-winning homerun in against the Angels. Here's the quote from Manuel:

“He hit a game-winning home run, I ain’t going to take him out. You’ve got to perform. This is a business of performing, and if you’re performing and doing the things that we want you to do, it’s important that you be rewarded. I like a little something to push a player. I like that little competition. Fire them up a little a little bit, get him going. It’s all good.”

Can you feel that 'gangsta'?

Manuel seems to be a light-hearted and genuine man. Hopefully that translates to Met wins. An unnamed Met player seems to like Manuel's style based on this quote to John Harper of the Daily News:

One uniformed Met who didn't want to be identified said of Manuel's transition to manager this week: "He's just really good with people. He listens to what you're saying and he's not threatened in any way by it. He just seems to be real natural as a leader."

Well, so far so good. The Mets look to continue winning against the Rockies tonight at 8:05pm ET.

Pedro Martinez 2-0, 5.31  vs. Ubaldo Jimenez 1-8, 4.85

In an interview with William C. Rhoden of the New York Times, Willie Randolph commented on his firing and specifically, the timing of his firing:

On Sunday, Randolph said, he asked Minaya to pull the trigger if that’s what he had in mind. “I actually asked him,” Randolph said, “I said: ‘Omar, do this now. If you’re going to do this, do this now. I know you’ve got a lot of pressure on you, but if I’m not the guy to lead this team, then don’t let me get on this plane.’ I did say that to him.”

Asked if he believed Omar Minaya made the decision to fire him, Randolph questioned that and said:

“I have my doubts. Let’s just leave it at that. I have my doubts.”

Randolph on his reaction to his firing said:

“I didn’t see this coming,” Randolph said. “When I spoke to Omar the day before I knew there might be some changes, but I got the feeling I was safe. I thought that maybe to the Yankees series or at least to the All-Star break.”

It sure looks like this isn't going to go away anytime soon. The firing of Randolph could possibly cause more damage to this team than the collapse of last season. Everyone knows that Randolph and Minaya are very close. Minaya actually said he loved Randolph. How did a post-game conversation where Randolph asked to be fired, only to be given the impression he had some time to right the ship, then fired a day later.

There is now a cloud hanging over the top of this organization. The media has picked up on the fact that Randolph was undermined by Bernazard and now Minaya could be too.

You get the feeling that Randolph was just the tip of the ice berg. If the Mets don't start winning a lot of games, beat writers will make it their business to get the behind the scenes drama on the front page daily.

Here's hoping the team starts winning because with the collapse of 2007, the Ryan Church debacle, and Reyes pouting like a girl on the field, what would the Mets become if the fallout gets any worse?

Some quotes from Mets General Manager Omar Minaya from the Mike and the Maddog radio program this evening;

When asked if Ownership influenced his decision Minaya replied....

"I am the decision maker and it was 1000% my decision to fire Willie Randolph."

When questioned about the timing of the firing after the team won 3 of 4 Minaya had this to say...

"I made the decision Monday morning based on the cloud of uncertainty and the Willie watch that was going on this weekend"

He continued...

"The faces of the players from Friday to Sunday made me realize I had to make a change"

Would you have done anything differently?

"I don't see how I couldv'e done it differently"

Asked to explain why Tony Bernazard was sent to Anaheim and was seen speaking to Jerry Manuel and gloating that Randolph would be fired when Bernazard and Willie didn't get along Minaya answered...

"Thats just the perception, my staff takes trips with the team and Anaheim and Colorado was Tony's trips."

Minaya added this interesting comment...

"We invested a lot of time talking with Willie about baseball, myself and Tony, because Willie never managed. We'd spend hours meeting just the three of us and we'd go 'hey Willie what about this, hey what if that happens' Sometimes we disagreed, the only teams I've seen agree on everything were losing teams."

Here are quotes that stood out to me...

"It's standard procedure to fire a manager at the hotel room. I wanted to make sure that Willie heard the news from me and not from a reporter or someone else."

"I made a decision on someone very dear to me." Minaya replied when asked about how he felt about Willie Randolph.

Some quick thoughts...

Minaya stated he made the decision on his own yet he said he told Willie after the game before a reporter or someone else told Willie first. Other than the Wilpon's, who would know that Willie would be fired less than 24 hours of Minaya making the decision alone?

Bill Madden of the Dailynews writes that Jeff Wilpon and Bernazard made the decision to fire Randolph and Minaya was just the messenger. Bernazard was seen by multiple sources gloating and congratulating Jerry Manuel on the field in Anaheim.

It makes no sense for Minaya to fire Willie as soon as he got off the team bus unless he was trying to get Willie before the news got out. Since that is true, then Minaya wasn't the only person who knew and probably wasn't the person who made the decision.

Minaya's comments inadvertently revealed that he knew the news had spead throughout the Mets organization. Pedro Martinez stated that Equipment Manager Charlie Samuels pulled him aside in th hotel lobby and told him Willie was getting fired.

Minaya clearly liked Randolph and even stated that he loved Willie. Very tough to believe that Minaya made this decision.

What's done is done and a new era begins. A Met win will go a long way tonight.

I had hoped to channel Mike Lupica or Joel Sherman with my first contribution to the Metwork, however, the news of perhaps the most bungled firing in New York baseball history forces me to simply rant.

Is there anyone with any soul running the Mets? This team that aspires to be baseball royalty, constantly displays a mind-boggling lack of direction and worse, a lack of integrity and heart.

We desire to watch the Mets play with fire and heart and integrity and when they don't we boo and rant and rave because that's what fans do. We've wondered where the spark of the 2006 Mets had gone and who was to blame. Was it Willie's laid back style, was it Minaya and his desire to load the team with every player taking arthritic medication? The firing of Randolph has shed some light on what is truly wrong with Mets.

The very top of the Met organization is replete with gutless, heartless, soulless decision makers that continue to embarrass the fans and themselves. A Met source leaked to the press this weekend that Pitching Coach Rick Peterson, Hitting Coach Howard Johnson and First Base Coach Tom Nieto would be fired before the team left for Anaheim, California. Omar Minaya denied that and the team left New York, coaching staff intact. Randolph does the pre-game press, manages the game, wins the game, does post-game press, takes a bus to the team hotel 2 hours after the game. In the hotel lobby Randolph is told to meet Minaya in Minaya's hotel room, not in a conference room, where he is fired by Minaya. The slime doesn't end there.

Longtime DailyNews Columnist Bill Madden appears this morning on ESPN's Mike and Mike radio show and reveals some interesting information. Madden stated that Fred Wilpon felt that Willie fleeced him during contract negotiations after the 2006 season. Madden goes on to say that Minaya had effectively squashed any firings this weekend in meetings with Ownership only to be dispatched Sunday night to fire Randolph. Madden then says that Tony "the Knife" Bernazard is the "godfather to the Latin players" and has built a relationship with Jeff Wilpon that is clearly growing in strength. Madden gives the impression that Bernazard leaked the names being discussed and fast tracked Willie Randolph's firing by lobbying Ownership to do so behind Minaya's back.

This may or may not be true but Madden is a respected Columnist with solid sources. The key here is that there is a much deeper break down in the Mets front office than there is on the field. You can't ask a team to play hard with integrity and honor when there is an underhanded fight for control going on in front of those players. You are what your leaders are in every aspect of life and baseball is no different.

The Mets may have needed a change but the way they went about that change is gutless. In making this change they have shown a slim that used to be associated with that team in the Bronx. Much worse than that is the impending battle for control between Minaya and Tony "the Knife" Bernazard.

Madden gave this warning to Minaya, "watch your back." I have a better warning for him, watch your soul.

 

According to espn.com the Mets fired Willie and Rick Peterson at 3am.

I really don't get it.  Will Jerry Manuel give Wagner better command of his fastball?  Will he make Alou, Delgado, and Pedro 10 years younger?  Obviously the Mets are under-performing, but I don't understand how Willie's is to blame - he's dealing with what management gave him. 

I wish I had hours to write about this, but I don't.

Pedro Martinez made his comeback last night, giving up three runs through six innings and getting the win in the land of Rice-a-Roni.

It's about time for the Metwork to make its comeback too.  I'm looking for people who are funny, good writers, and care about the Mets more than their significant others.  If this is you (or your significant other) and you would like to contribute to the Metwork, please email me at christasbox@gmail.com. 

In honor of Lost finally returning to my life last Thursday (okay, I'm a few days behind reality), and the Mets finally finding a way to get a couple of hits in a row in the 4th inning of yesterday's game against the Braves, here are some other people and things who have been lost and/or found....

1.  LOST:  My computer.  The bastards at HP have had this thing for the past 3 weeks and my loaner barely does word processing.  Hence, the dearth of posts.

2.  LOST:   Jose Reyes.  Last April Reyes hit .356 with 17 stolen bases and 26 runs.  So far, he's hitting .237 with 5 stolen bases and 13 runs.  I haven't been able to catch any games lately due to Lost item #1, but from what I have read it seems like he can't get the ball out of the infield.  Can't someone make up some more handshakes with the guy?  I know they're all probably sick of the tens of handshakes they have to memorize for Jose, but it's worth it.  (Though, to be fair, at least Reyes isn't as bad as Troy Tulowitzki, who's hitting a mere .157... that's basically a county away from the wrong side of the Mendoza line.)

3.  LOST:  John McCain's priorities.  Actually, wait, can you lose something you've never had?? (Sorry, I know I shouldn't talk about politics, but I just...can't... resist.)

4.  FOUND:  Carlos Delgado (hopefully).  Knocking two out of the park against John Smoltz is a great way to silence your critics, Carlos. And for the record, this whole "curtain call controversy" is beyond me.  If you're going to boo a player for a month straight, don't expect him to jump up and pound his fist in the air when you finally stop.  Carlos Delgado is not Armando Benitez, Braden Looper, or Mo Vaughn - he's a leader (see:  him talking to Heilman in the dugout on Saturday), and he gives a shit about the team.  End of rant.

5.  LOST:  My fellow Metworkers and likely the readership of this blog.

6.  LOST:  Ramon Castro.  No, really, where is he? Don't get me wrong, Raul Casanova had a great game yesterday, but I'm genuinely concerned for Ramon's well-being. Come back, Ramon, I miss hearing the Imperial Death March.  The last I heard of him, he was in "extended spring training" working on his hamstring, but I'm beginning to think that "extended spring training" is on the same farm that my parents brought my old dog Sam when I was 6. 

7.  FOUND:  A little less hatred for Chipper Jones after reading this.  Larry said if he could take back one comment he made in his entire career, it would be saying that the Mets fans could go ahead and put on their Yankee gear.  Thanks, Chip!  We appreciate your apology 9 years later.  I do find it surprising, however, that Larry wouldn't take back whatever comment he said that got that Hooters waitress to bang him.  I feel like that's probably had a bigger impact on his life than talking smack about Mets fans, but who am I to judge?

(Yes, I will continue to bring up the Hooters-waitress-adultery-thing every time I talk about Larry Jones both on the Internet and in real life because it's such a hilarious cliche.  I guarantee you I can fit it into every conversation in which Chipper comes up.  Seriously, try me.)

So the Metwork had been very quiet in the offseason months... I took some finals, watched my fantasy football team suck, and eagerly awaited the 2008 season. 

October:  As I may have mentioned before, I stayed away from anything that would show baseball.  Halloween was ruined, as I couldn't dress up as any baseball character without hearing it from someone (although, in retrospect, Jose Canseco could have worked..).  When approached by a Phillies' fan about the Mets collapse, I replied with my favorite clever retort - "Yeah, well here's an interesting fact, the Mets won as many post season games as the Phillies did!"  This was usually met with sympathetic laughter, as it was not nearly as clever as I thought it was.

November:  When we all went around the table saying what we were thankful for, I said that I was thankful that Guillermo Mota would not not be a Met next season.  And that there is no way Jose Reyes could have a worse month than he had in September.  My family was not pleased at my "frivolous" priorities.  I was not pleased with the lack of home-made pumpkin pie.

December:  I asked Santa for Johan Santana and a bicycle.  Instead Andy Petite admitted to using HGH.  Not everything I asked for, but better than the Christmas I got the gift certificate for a make-over.  How are you supposed to take that??

January:  January 29 - You know what happened, I know what happened.  Finally the Mets pulled the trigger.  Santa delivered on his promise.  I really liked Gomez, I did.  I love speed, so he's my type of player.  But the fact that the Mets didn't have to give up F-Mart is beyond amazing.  Also, I skied in West Virginia.  There were mullets, but there were also $3 Miller Lights.  And a girl in front of us for the lift pass named Channel.  Seriously.  Channel.  In West Virginia.

February:  After days of making me sweat and using up all my cell minutes, Santana was signed until 2013.  That's truly all I remember about February - the rest was spent trying to recover from those 72 hours of tense horror.

March:  I went to Thailand and pontificated on the virtues of baseball over rugby to drunk Australians.  I drafted my fantasy team and managed to have no Phillies, Braves, or Yankees on my team.  I tried to forget about 2007.  That first pitch on March 31st nearly did it for me. 

Thank god baseball season is back. 

Tonight the Mets kicked the crap out of the Marlins, 13-0.  I won't lie, I didn't catch any of this game past the third inning and it's a little too late to watch the replay on MLB.tv, so I'll just do my best...

- Carlos Beltran went 3-4, with 2 runs scored.  He is apparently the only offensive contributor to my fantasy team, so thanks for that Carlos.  Beltran hit one off the top of the wall in the 5th that was initially ruled a home run, but then was overruled to be called a ground rule double.

- David Wright was 3-5 with a 3-run homerun.  Everyone joined in on the fun tonight - every starting position player had a hit and Ryan Church contributed big time by going 3-5 and notching his first homer as a Met.

- Oliver Perez limited the Marlins to 5 hits through 6 innings while striking out 8... almost making me forget that Pedro will be out 4-6 weeks for the hamstring injury.  Almost.

The Phillies have yet to win a game and are in last place... just saying.  Yes, Tim Redding (who??) one-hit the Phillies tonight and outpitched Cole Hamels.  The Nationals are in first place at 3-0, so it might be time to start preparing for the apocalypse.  I know it's the third game of the season, but still.... I just think it's always good to be ready and pick up some canned foods and freeze dried ice cream. 

Tonight the Mets beat the Marlins 7-2 on OPENING DAY.  Did you find yourself wishing the Mets had this run production on September 29th of last year?  Because I sure did.  I swear.. 2007 is like herpes... you might temporarily forget about it, you might try to suppress it, but it always comes back to haunt you.

- Also, did anyone notice that JOHAN SANTANA was wearing a Mets jersey tonight?  It was unreal.  Santana went 7 innings and struck out 8.  Other than the Willingham 2 run HR he seemed untouchable.

- Heilman was back to his old self, shutting down the Marlins in the 9th with two strikeouts. 

- My God.  Could the polos in the announcers' booth be any worse?  I was watching the game with friends and was embarrassed by what SNY was making Gary, Keith, and Ron wear.  Come on.  Let them put on a suit.

- David Wright was 2-4 with 3 RBI.  Carlos Beltran, aka, man of terrible haircut but great away from Shea numbers, was 2-5.  Jose Reyes who was SAFE despite being called out stealing in the 6th inning, was 2-4. 

Thank god baseball is back.  Tomorrow I will let you all know what I was doing this off season.  It won't be pretty, but then again, neither is Dolphin Stadium. 

With that football mumbo-jumbo behind us, we can finally settle in with what's really important:  pitchers and catchers in sunny Florida.

In case you hadn't heard, the Mets traded for and signed the greatest pitcher in the sport.  And good thing it happened when it did, especially with the Schilling news coming out today.  The nuts and bolts of the story is that Schilling has a serious shoulder injury that requires surgery which would end his year, and Schilling has said this will surely be his last.  The Sox are trying to void the 8 mil of his contract.  If Theo had known about this last week, you can be sure the ante would've been upped a pretty penny for Santana -- namely Ellsbury AND Lester?  Who knows, but Johan's a Met, and also a damn good salesman.  Here's a MetWeird to get you juiced for spring training:

In the wake of posting a couple of articles over on Hotfoot, I've received some e-mails wanting to know why there has been so little activity here on the Metwork.

A couple months back I basically changed careers--i.e., went from the non-profit industry to the decidedly for-profit film industry.  The hours have been crazy, and the opportunity to consistently blog just isn't there anymore.

As I am basically the administrator of this site, when I disappear so does pretty much everyone else.

That being said, I'm in the process of sniffing around to see if anyone is interested in taking over the reigns.  Needless to say, if Omar continues to make trades like the one he made the other day, the Mets blogging community is going to need a voice with a sense of humor.

If you're interested in administering the site, drop me me line...

Back to work now... no rest for the weary...

ESPN is reporting that the Mets have traded Lastings Milledge for Nationals' OF Ryan Church and C Brian Schneider.

I am absolutely baffled by this move.  It really makes no sense to me AT ALL.  Hopefully this is part of some genius plan by Omar, but if not.... well....

I don't even know what to say.  And let's not forget about the Milledge People!   What's going to happen to the Milledge People?  Do they turn into the Church Boys?  This is horrible.

(But Lastings, call me when you get to DC!)

Yes, we know someone won the World Series tonight.   We also happen to know it wasn't the Mets.

More details on where we've been shortly...

Jeez, seems like they're ripping off the plot off Live Free or Die Hard.

Just to put it out there... we're only one game away from a potential CLEVELAND ROCKS World Series!

Let's go Indians!

Although, SOX ROCKS does have a certain appeal as well.

Lets go Red Sox!

After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the NLCS and winning 21 out of their last 22 games, the Colorado Rockies will make their first ever appearance in the World Series. 

21 out of 22?  Now THAT, Willie Randolph, is what I call a "nice little rhythm."

ESPN is reporting that Dusty Baker has agreed to a three-year deal to manage the Cincinnati Reds, beginning with the upcoming season. 

The Metwork geek department is getting pretty hot and bothered as casting of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek "reboot" nears completion.   A few days ago we were all blown away to learn that Eric Bana had signed on to play to the film's villain, but today J.J. went boldly where know man has gone before---casting Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg as Scotty.  Sure, there's zero resemblance, but you have to admit that's some pretty inspired casting.  Also announced today:  Harold and Kumar's John Cho has been cast to play Sulu. 

As for Kirk---all signs point to relative unknown Chris Pine.   Still no word on Bones.

Here's a complete list of the casting to date complete with imdb profile links:

Spock:  Zachary Quinto

Uhura: Zoe Saldana

Chekov:  Anton Yelchin

Sulu: John Cho

Scotty:  Simon Pegg

Old Spock:  Leonard Nimoy

Nero (The Film's Villain): Eric Bana


In Final Talks:

Kirk:  Chris Pine

Unknown:
Leonard Bones McCoy

The Baltimore Orioles have parted ways with Leo Mazzone after 2 years.  Because it appears he was the problem.

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?

According to ESPN the Mitchell Report will be released between October 31st and the end of the year.  It will list "well known" players.  "This is going to be enormous ... it's going to be a huge story when these names come out."

Well this is what every news agency in the world has been waiting for.  I'm going to be honest, I'm seriously scared that Mike Piazza is going to wind up on this list....which would just be terrible.

Former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to raise awareness about global warming.

Now that Gore has his Nobel Peace Prize that leaves only "blowj@b from Angelina Jolie" and "my very own rocketship" on his list of unreasonable demands to jump into the 2008 presidential race.