New York Mets 2008

[Bruce300]

Well what do you think now that Willie got fired? I agree he's not the one who takes the field, I was surprised that he didn't get fired after the Mets '07 collapse. They've been tough to watch lately. Do you remeber the game last year in sept, when Wright picked up a hot grounder and failed to tag third for a force play, I can't remember who they were playing, but it was a bad mental error, and he stood there and hit his head with both hands...that's how they've been playing this season, it kills me. Injuries don't help of course, maybe this will help. Firing the manager in this case, what many front offices have done in the past, is just to send a reality check to the players. I liked Willie, but it's a business. I remember when the Yankees traded lefty Doc Medich to the Pirates to get him, Willie's been part of the NY baseball scene for a long time now. I wish him well. Now who will Omar hire to replace him?

 

[sonny10305]

I am devastated

I dono yet what to say, my God, this news kills me
I don't think he should have been fired. I am not as upset about Peterson, I thought the startrers were coming along. but I wanted Willie to stay.
I don't think the players support this and will feel responsible for his firing

Jerry Manuel takes over on an interim basis , Yeah, he's gonna turn things around
Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto also were fired.
We know now why Omar went to LA yesterday.
Dan Warthen, will be the new pitching coach. and Luis Aguayo, comes up as a Mets field coordinator.

I gotta go out and hit some balls, maybe get the frustraton out.

 

[HPNJ2006]

I went to bed early last night so I didn't see the news until I awoke this morning. I agree with sonny. If anyone had to go it was Peterson. You can't point the finger at Willie and say he's responsible for all of this. I don't know what more to say for now.

 

[HPNJ2006]

Double post, sorry!

 

[sonny10305]

I went to bed early last night so I didn't see the news until I awoke this morning. I agree with sonny. If anyone had to go it was Peterson. You can't point the finger at Willie and say he's responsible for all of this. I don't know what more to say for now.

Seriously, what the hell is Manuel gonna do??
If they needed to fire Willie so bad at least give us someone who will make a differnce. it would not change my opinion abouit what they did to Willie but at least I could try and get behind whom ever it was.
Tonights game is goinfg to be tough to watch.

Read Willies mind here

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU FLY ME TO LA AND THEN FIRE ME
YOU PIECE OF CRAP".

 

[JackFTwist]

manager had to take the responsibility at some point and this was the point


Manuel will do a great job for the Mets

 

[sonny10305]

I can not get my head around the Omar handled the firing

After the game last night, Omar.who did not attend the game but waited like a rat at the hotel for the guys to get back, called them into his room after midnight and fired them. What a cowardly, low, insensitive and bizarre thing to do. I guess he made the decision to fire Wille before the LA trip but did not want to do it in NY to avoid any criticism that might follow. Well guess what MaLIEen you will be criticized and should be tarred and feathered and run out of NY. You had all the right to make the choice to fire Willie after all I know it was either him or you, but the way he handled it will go down in history as the one of the worst firings in baseball history. Omar is dead to me. I can only hope he is next and soon.

As for Manuel, I have decided to give the guy a chance, after all he was with Willie a while and the guys should be comfortable with him. I just don’t see him making much of a difference as say Valentine did when he fired up the team after taking over. HEY, there’s an idea, bring Bobby back.

So who’s the new bench coach? Ken Overfell would be my choice but they might just move sandy over or even HoJo. But my money would be on Ken.

Omar has a press conference today at 5PM on SNY we should learn more then. Let’s see if he can justify to the press how he handled Willies firing.

 

[Sausy]

Off today,so I got up late and woke up to this.The Mets had been winnning lately...why was it urgent Omar fire him now?Doing it overnight smacks of corporate cowardice.i lost a lot of respect for him.i don't like this move at all,especially when the Mets are playing better.They couldn't let Willie even stay to coach in the last All Star Game at Yankee Stadium.Awkward,callous and classless.If Jerry Manuel fails,Omar Minaya should not be around to name his successor...he fucking built this club with its uinherent flaws.

Jack,I hope you are right about Jerry Manuel,but his low key style ultimately did him no good.I think the players(the ones who really give a damn anyway)feel responsible,and I hope this ultimately doesn't make them press more.Winning organizations are stable ones,Mets better remember that.

 

[sonny10305]

Sausy, I hope you read my post above about what Omar did in the hotel after midnight last night.

 

[sonny10305]

I have finally turned my phone back on after having to turn it off cause of all the calls about Willie. It started with a text from my dad at 6AM saying Willie is gone! Everyone and I mean EVERYONE hates the way this thing was handled. When I first posted my thoughts here early this morning I was not sure how many people agreed with me but man, oh man, Willie has become a martyr.

I have been thinking about my boys and how they are coping with this. I think we need a captain now more than ever, someone who will rally the guys together and get behind and support Manuel, and that guy is David Wright. I expected him to be wearing a C on his uniform opening day at Citi Field but I would hope he will be the guy who gets the guys going now.

I also hope Willie will decide to coach in the All Star game, cause he still can if he wants to.

 

[Sausy]

I have finally turned my phone back on after having to turn it off cause of all the calls about Willie. It started with a text from my dad at 6AM saying Willie is gone! Everyone and I mean EVERYONE hates the way this thing was handled. When I first posted my thoughts here early this morning I was not sure how many people agreed with me but man, oh man, Willie has become a martyr.

I have been thinking about my boys and how they are coping with this. I think we need a captain now more than ever, someone who will rally the guys together and get behind and support Manuel, and that guy is David Wright. I expected him to be wearing a C on his uniform opening day at Citi Field but I would hope he will be the guy who gets the guys going now.

I also hope Willie will decide to coach in the All Star game, cause he still can if he wants to.

Hey,I feel the same way about how it was mishandled,mangled,bungled...I was reading something in the Daily News today saying to the effect that Willie has come off looking better and Minaya and the Wilpons look like assholes.Willie has become looser and more sympathetic imn recent days.Who wouldn't feel bad for a guy whose every move,every word is being analyzed and judged as to what finally will do him in as Mets manager.

Love the David Wright as captain idea.The guy he is,he won't campaign for it or push it now but he is the face of the Mets,the heart of the team and has the kind of universal respect and appreciation that the role should go to him.Manuel does deserve the chance to get this club back on track to be one of the powerhouses of the NL,he did do a good job in the past with the White Sox.Certainly a named captain or not,having David in Jerry Manuel's corner can only help.

I do hope as well Willie can serve as a coach,though not sure if his being fired would preclude that.

Sausy, I hope you read my post above about what Omar did in the hotel after midnight last night.

I definitely did,sonny.Reading that made my blood boil,esecially after the press conference today where he repeats again and again how Willie is his friend,he was his hire but it was the toughest thing to do,blah blah blah.Why now,when I grant you things may have gone off track again,but the Mets were starting to play better and you don't make changes like that when things are more stable.Doing this in the dead of night was a low blow and classless.

I just don't like it ....Minaya could have fired Peterson and Nieto and said that unless the club falls out of contention,Willie will be given the opportunity to see if he can right the ship and remain as manager.Changes had to be made,but this club isn't maddeningly,frustratingly mediocre and unmotivated solely because of Willie.This is the club Omar Minaya assembled,very flawed it certainly is.

I think Jerry Manuel has the right idea,and where I think Willie was too reticent to make waves,he does seem more proactive and willing to confrnt the difficulties this club presents.He is DHing David Wright tonight,and it's good to give him a night off from the field having played every inning out there this season.He also wants the players to confront the collapse of last September and the inability to recapture a winning,spirited approach this season rather than put it behind them.Learn from failure and do everything in your power to avoid it,to gain a resolveand strength from confronting and overcoming that 800-pound gorilla on their back,that historic collapse.


Tonight's game is starting off very dismayingly.Talk later and finish my thoughts,I'm so bummed.

 

[Absolut]

At least you guys didn't lose to the Royals!!!

I am going to KC next weekend to see the Cards/Royals series in KC at Kauffman Stadium - which, btw, is freaking beautiful....

I cannot wait for the Mets to play the Cards!!!

Can I have a love/hate relationship with sonny and sausy???



I guess we'll see!!!

 

[Sausy]

At least you guys didn't lose to the Royals!!!

I am going to KC next weekend to see the Cards/Royals series in KC at Kauffman Stadium - which, btw, is freaking beautiful....

I cannot wait for the Mets to play the Cards!!!

Can I have a love/hate relationship with sonny and sausy???



I guess we'll see!!!

Sorry to hear about the Cards losing to KC,Abs.We have a new manager and reverted back to our losing ways against the Angels tonight,6-1.With Santana pitching.Reyes had a meltdown tonight in the first,and got into it with the new manager ex-bench coach Jerry Manuel.Good things ahead,it seems!

Hope you enjoy the series in KC,and the Cards give 'em payback.It's a beautiful stadium from what I see on tv,but being in St. Louis and actually seeing Busch Stadium during the meet,from several angles....they did such a great job ,such a wonderful place for Cards baseball!

Cards vs. Mets....we gonna have fun!I can't wait either,and I'm sure sonny is getting all excited too!

Love/hate with you,Abs?Ah,even if the Cards win,we love you too much to think of any hatin'!Sonny's more physically demonstrative,though as you know!

 

[sonny10305]

So I listened to Omar MaLIEen’s news conference and had difficulty believing much of what he said.
First, I am convinced that firing Wille was not his choice but pressure from up top.
Second, his excuse for firing Willie at the time he did was pathetic. I simply do not believe that ridicules story. He said it is a matter of “Standard procedure” to fire managers in hotel rooms, seriously, he actually said that. Then he said he never fires managers in uniform. WHAT!!
That must be Omar’s SOP and not in the real world of baseball.
As to the time of the night the excuse gets even more moronic, he claims to have made the decision to fire Willie on Monday morning (lie) and so he went to LA to tell Willie and to be sure the info leaked out, he told him right after the game. Afraid the info might leak out?? If he made that decision that morning and told no one, who was going to leak it?? Why couldn’t he make that decison a few hours earlier and tell Willie before the LA trip? The whole thing just reeks; the whole Mets organization looks really bad right now. My dad says this is the worse firing since Yogi Berra.
Once again and for the last time I must say that the problems with the team are not all Willies fault, not by a long shot, the firing was unjustified. Willie was a good manager; as a matter of fact he ranks second in Mets history right behind Davy Johnson. Willie was 302-253 or .544. In 2006 under Willie, the Mets had best record in the NL East at 97-65. Yeah, I know there was the end of the 07 season, but the players had a lot to do with that, it was not all Willie.
Omar built this team and while there were a lot of positives there were also failures. A lot of our guys are getting old and Omar has not kept his promise to build a good farm system and I am very down on him for that. We have little in the way of younger guys to take over for the older injury prone guys.
But enough about all that. What’s done is done, but I will look forward to the countdown to the fireing of Omar MaLIEen

So Manuel had his first game as manager and it did not go so well. Santana was less than brilliant and the team played mediocre ball at best. The Mets first inning was terrible with Delgato and Eisley bumbling along. But I never expected the Mets to do all that well against the Angels, at least not at this time. So I expected the loss of at least 2 of the 3 games. Lets be real here, the Mets have had a rough couple of weeks with all this Willie drama, and worse of all that grueling schedule flying out to LA so much in such a short period of time, My God, what masochist made up that schedule. The schedule will get better now which will help a lot. I going out and buying a nice shinny new broom for our series with the cards.
Oh man, Abs is gonna make me regret writing that,
hide me Sausy

Now the positives, as much as I hate listening to Omar babble on and on, just how many times did he end a sentence with “OK”?, I loved Manuel’s comments. He got my juices flowing, I think he is going to have more success with the bull pen, which I gotta admit Willie was not very good at. I also thought he handled the Reyes situation extremely well, Reyes acted like a spoiled brat and Manuel was right to take him out of the game. I also liked very much seeing Manuel go into the clubhouse shortly after to talk to Reyes. He handled that perfectly. Later Reyes returned to the dugout to give Manuel a hug and said later that he understands that Manual was just trying to protect him and understood that and apologized to Manuel. Wright on the other hand apparently did not mind being put in as the DH; we all know how David hates to be out of the line up and often begged Willie not to leave him out of a game. But this way everyone won cause David got some rest not having to play 3rd but still stayed in the game. A perfect solution which does not present it self very often since we have no DH in the NL so it was a good time to take advantage of that and I was happy to see David take the assignment. A win win.
I have no strong opinions about the other new coaches; I guess Sandy is a good choice for bench coach, although I was surprised they did not give Oberkfell. Maybe it would have been to much pressure for Manuel to have a former AAA manager breathing down his neck waitin to take over if he fails.

So I have a new manager to watch and second guess, I got to know Willie so well that I often knew what plays he was going to make, I did not always agree but it was a lot of fun “working with him”. It changes the whole complexity of the game by watching Manuel manage and trying to get inside his head. To tell the truth when I first heard about Manuel taking over I was not happy, I did not think he could get the job done, but after listing to him talk and watching him lat night, I have some renewed confidence in him. I have even more confidence in Warthen
I have really good feeling about him.

 

[Sausy]

Sonny,I wholeheartedly agree with your take on Minaya.It distreeses me to read so many newspaper articles about how little respect and credibilility the Mets front office has.The Wilpons have the lion's share of the blame for not demanding accountability and cohesion....and if they are no longer allowing Minaya to make his own decisions,they should can him and replace him with someone who klnopws what he is doing.The organization looks bad...did you see the pic of poor Mr. Met on the Post cover today?


Glad to know everything is good now between Reyes and Jerry Manuel.That simply was an atrocious first inning and for one night at least the Mets reverted to the alarming form that has plagued the club all year.Reyes,Easley,Delgado...so much to scatch your head over.Santana was very ordinary,not an encouraging sign(though it was pointed out one of the few clubs to figure him out were the Angels).



The interleague schedule has been weird....Yankees facing the Mets,NL West and Central teams,Mets facing the Yanks,AL West and Central teams,both clubs going all over the place.Usually it is against just each other and one particular division in the other league.It's a mess right now.



Can't wait to join you sonny in coordinating our broom sweep vs.the Cards next week.I ain't afraid of Abs,and all you gotta do is bat your Italian stallion eyes at him and he'll melt like buttah!



Jerry Manuel just might be thre right guy for the job.He certainly seems to have a fiery competitiveness under that calm exterior and is creative,resourceful and intelligent and appears to command the respect of the players.I hope he does well and the Mets start getting some of their swagger and confidence back.I don't know about Warthen but he does seem to have a good feel for the pitching staff and we'll see if he can improve the consistency of the staff overall.

 

[JackFTwist]

and congrats to JM for his first win as Mets manager!

you guys will love him, the calm and steady after all the frenzy

 

[sonny10305]

Can't wait to join you sonny in coordinating our broom sweep vs.the Cards next week.I ain't afraid of Abs,and all you gotta do is bat your Italian stallion eyes at him and he'll melt like buttah!

Oh man we are gonna have our fun with Abs, and he's gonna love it


Jerry Manuel just might be thre right guy for the job.He certainly seems to have a fiery competitiveness under that calm exterior and is creative,resourceful and intelligent and appears to command the respect of the players.I hope he does well and the Mets start getting some of their swagger and confidence back.I don't know about Warthen but he does seem to have a good feel for the pitching staff and we'll see if he can improve the consistency of the staff overall.

I am so ashamed for not having the confidence in our boys to win the angels series

The bullpen came through last night allowing one hit over the final four innings.
Sanchez pitched a perfect ninth and Wagner, pitched a perfect 10th.
Of course we had the usual drama with Perez, he had me worried a little after he almost blew it.

I am more impressed with manuel every day.

Manuel spent yesterday afternoon working with David Wright for over 4 hours Jerry rapidly fired balls to the plate during a session that lasted three times longer than a typical early workout.
It paid off, Wright delivered the game tying single in the ninth inning driving in Reyes with his third run of the game. That set up Easley to win it, 5-4, with a homer in the 10th.
As I understand it, After beginning the session by having Wright swing at every pitch regardless of location, Manuel had Wright identify the part of the plate where he preferred to hit a pitch. Manuel placed a ball on the plate at that location, then had Wright identify the height of the pitch he preferred. Manuel then returned to behind a protective pitcher's screen and forced Wright to increase his selectivity by having him swing at pitches only in the zone he identified. I LOVE THAT!!!
my boy David must have had one of the best days as a Met yesterday spending so much time with manuiel, I know David had to have loved that.

and congrats to JM for his first win as Mets manager!

you guys will love him, the calm and steady after all the frenzy

You called it first Jack, I had my doubts but you said Jerry would be great and so far I am impressed with his handling of my Mets.

 

[Sausy]

I am so ashamed for not having the confidence in our boys to win the angels series

The bullpen came through last night allowing one hit over the final four innings.
Sanchez pitched a perfect ninth and Wagner, pitched a perfect 10th.
Of course we had the usual drama with Perez, he had me worried a little after he almost blew it.

I am more impressed with manuel every day.

Manuel spent yesterday afternoon working with David Wright for over 4 hours Jerry rapidly fired balls to the plate during a session that lasted three times longer than a typical early workout.
It paid off, Wright delivered the game tying single in the ninth inning driving in Reyes with his third run of the game. That set up Easley to win it, 5-4, with a homer in the 10th.
As I understand it, After beginning the session by having Wright swing at every pitch regardless of location, Manuel had Wright identify the part of the plate where he preferred to hit a pitch. Manuel placed a ball on the plate at that location, then had Wright identify the height of the pitch he preferred. Manuel then returned to behind a protective pitcher's screen and forced Wright to increase his selectivity by having him swing at pitches only in the zone he identified. I LOVE THAT!!!
my boy David must have had one of the best days as a Met yesterday spending so much time with manuiel, I know David had to have loved that.





You called it first Jack, I had my doubts but you said Jerry would be great and so far I am impressed with his handling of my Mets.

I still feel bad about the way the Mets handled the Willie Randolph firing as Minaya,Tony Bernazard and the Wilpons really looked unprofessional and low class....but Jerry Manuel has done a really impressive job of showing he is both in charge and highly flexible,openminded asnd creative.David must have really had both a great challenge and a lot of fun with that one...and it's good to see him not pressing so much and just being the David Wright everyone knows.

Perez is too prone to causing us Mets fans agita,but thankfully the bullpen was rock steady and Wagner was all business again.We'll have to see how they handle the Rockies,but the season is far from over and they can give it a good fight at least.

 

[sonny10305]

I still feel bad about the way the Mets handled the Willie Randolph firing as Minaya,Tony Bernazard and the Wilpons really looked unprofessional and low class....but Jerry Manuel has done a really impressive job of showing he is both in charge and highly flexible,openminded asnd creative.David must have really had both a great challenge and a lot of fun with that one...and it's good to see him not pressing so much and just being the David Wright everyone knows.

I dono who this Tony Bernazard dude is, he gets to involved with the players and I know Willie did not like that, also Tony has a reputation for being just being bad guy who can be trouble. Omar better watch his back. I would like to see Tony maybe build up the farm system, something Omar has not been doing.
I agree Jerry seems to be getting through to his boys; there are a lot more smiles in the dugout these days. I even saw Maine smile last night. Jerry continues to work with the boys doing BP, he worked with David a second day yesterday and also with Schneider. Manual has also told his coaches that he wants input from them every day; he expects them to observe and make recommendations. How about that 5-2-4-6-5-6 double play on Friday Good stuff going on there.



Perez is too prone to causing us Mets fans agita,but thankfully the bullpen was rock steady and Wagner was all business again.We'll have to see how they handle the Rockies,but the season is far from over and they can give it a good fight at least.

We won the first game with Colorado and it was awesome, everyone playing hard and contributing.
Delgado seems to have found himself with homers in back to back games. He isn’t pulling but going the other way. The offense was awesome, Chavez, Wright and Nixon contributing big time.
Schneider continues to bungle in his base running again last night he made a stupid move, plus the dude can’t run, Wright said as a joke, Brian seems to be carrying a piano on his back when he’s running.
We beat up the big bad Aaron Cook (member that complete game) Maine had a decent outing and the bull pen came through again, even Heilman!
Perez still scares me, Manuel jokingly said, his foot is on the top step of the dugout as soon as Ollie starts his warm-up. Perez leads the league in walks, but he also seems to pitch better with Schneider than he does with Castro. He also seems to do ok with Lefties but he has a lot of trouble with righties, especially with his breaking ball away, have you noticed that? Basically the kid only has two decent pitches, slider and fastball, although I guess he does change speeds with that slider. He needs a good pitch against righties, maybe a split finger, I dono.

The Phillies lost again and we are now 4.5 games out. Plus we are at .500 again.

I can’t wait for that Yankees series next weekend. Friday we have a double header, with the first game in the afternoon at Yankee stadium, and then they get on buses and head to Shea for the night game. Baseball at its best, a subway series preview??? Yeah I know, calm down Joey, your starting to salivate.

 

[gambit2212]

It's been a while since I've posted but I felt I should reflect here the e-mail that I sent to the Mets after the firing of Randolph.

I have been a Mets fan my whole life. I was at the heights of joy in '86 and have survived many a lean year before and after. But in all my years as a fan, I have never been embarassed to have been a Mets fan until now. To fire Willie Randolph in the manner in which they did it is despicable. Randolph has been a class act his whole career both as player and coach and should have been treated as such. But IMHO, he was a scapegoat for Minaya's failures as a GM and was fired to blame someone for front office failings.

When Omar was hired, he promised to make the Mets younger and more athletic (instead they are one of the oldest teams in baseball with the most players spending time on the disabled list). He promised to rebuild the minor league system (once rated as middle of the pack and now rated near the bottom). He promised to make us less reliant on free agency (and we went out every year for high priced free agents...forcing us to give up compensation picks). And he promised to reduce the payroll and instead ballooned it up to the third highest in baseball at $138mm and subject to the luxury tax for the first time (which we may get out of paying due to a loophole from our new stadium payments).

Is it Willies fault that his starting lineup includes players well past the playing stage of their careers? No, Omar brought in Moises Alou (49 at bats this year for what? $5-6mm?), Carlos DelGado and his .241 batting average, Luis Castillo, who can't stay healthy and when he can play, barely lays the bat on ball (most often going for drag bunt hits), a bench with an average age of 34 and a starting rotation with Pedro and El Duque counted on to go a full season. Not to mention nearly fully depleting the farm system. The Mets became what I despise...a flawed copy of the 2001-2007 Yankees.

They made a move to energize the team and transform the negativity surrounding the club. So they did what was easy, instead of what was right. Hence my embarrassment.