As a Yankee fan, it was strange seeing Willie Randolph take over as coach for the cross-town rival Mets. However, as a Yankees fan it was even stranger seeing the Mets franchise treat Mr. Randolph the way they did. One might anticipate the wrath of Mr. Steinbrenner to come down with the iron fist over failure but the classless way Mr. Randolph was let go by the Mets was downright embarassing to fans of baseball.
As Yogi Berra would said, “Managers are hired to be fired.” In Willie’s case, that couldn’t have been more true. Willie revitalized a franchise that was struggling to regain its identity after being disposed of by the Yankees at the turn of the Millenium. He brought an over-acheiving bunch to within one game of the World Series and managed the same staff through last season’s monumental collapse. He didn’t choose the personnel, just oversaw them, and in-as-such being held responsible for fundimental ineptness is to some degree unfair.
Granted, these players collectively earn a whopping $138 million combine and are completely underacheiving their worth, making for a terrible return on investment for the Mets ownership. However, blaming the manager for the players inability to perform is unrealistic in this case. Unfortunately, Willie learned all too well from the Yankees organization the idealism in protecting the players and worked very hard to sheild them from the wrath, thus throwing himself under the bus instead.
Lets consider some stats for a second. First, the disabled list and injury report, from the season’s beginning, it’s been a rotating roster of stars and role players including Vargas, Castro, Burgos, Alou, Gotay, Sanchez, Hernandez, Wise, Martenez, Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Sneider, Pagan, Alou again, Anderson, Wise, Castillo again, Church, Santana, Alou again and Reyes again. Now, I am well away every team goes through these types of stresses, but seriously, some of these injuries it would be difficult for any manager to work around. For example, Alou i supposed to be a cornerstone of both the offense and the outfield and he’s had 49 at-bats this season, and is a DL-prone roster space even at best unable to achieve what his current contract bears. Pedro Martinez has also been a DL riddled roster space and the fact the Mets continue to look for him to be at the top of their rotation is not only ill-fated, it is also sad considering his history. Orlando Hernendez is a similar situation to Martinez, and seriously, unlike Alou, no disrespect to either, when they are on they are dominating, but both are no better than fillers in a roation’s fourth or fifth positions not backstops to the ace. Removing those three players from the lineup severely criples an already shaking team.
Lets then begin to discet the hangover the Mets are suffering, perhaps, from last year’s late season collapse, which, by the way wasn’t Willie’s fault, it was his staff, his player specifically, not showing up for work, either by injury or mentality.
Hitting. WTF?!?! On paper, this team could produce 900 runs easily and challenge that of the Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers on-paper production potential, making the mets one of the few run-driven teams in the NL. What happened? Ask the Yankees and the Tigers the same question, they just aren’t hitting. What’s terrible about the Mets is the way they lack production, ways that no manager could ever hope to counter. Not amount of shuffling can undo no one on the team have a .300 batting averag, and no one with an OBP of over .400. What complicates it further still all but one player with an OPS under .850 and that one player is the only having batted in more than 50 RBI. In a lineup that has in theory, according to the management that built the team, is a great balance of power and speed. If that is power and speed, than they might want to look up the definion of both because only two players on the team are even showing speed on the basepads and neither is lightening at stealing bases or stretching for extra base hits in this lineup.
Lets factor in further, pitching… although the team average ERA is just over 4, which is tollerable, the relievers are averaging over 5. When you take into account the use of the relievers considering the injuries in the starting rotation, that is a tough pill to swallow due to the depth of use for the relief and their inability to hold leads for an inept hitting staff. Then, a closer that blows multiple saves by giving up not just big runs but multiple big runs over the course of the opportunities this year makes it even more difficult. Considering some of the starters are carrying the team in ERA that’s a problem, especially when you barely have 4 starters with double digit starts (and only one with a truly winning record) going into mid-season. Most teams have a full staff of five and even with injuries the Mets faced they haven’t indroduced quality tallent into the system, unlike how other teams, including the Yankees last year when they ran through 10 starters in the first 30 potential starts.
Then again, this is a team with a completely depleted farm system, one that was raped on the bet that Santana would become a savior to a pitching staff that desperately needed more than an ace, it needed a staff of arms, peroid. Not only could they not bring up starting pitching to help the back of the rotation, they couldn’t bring up relievers to bail out their middle relief or anyone at all to hit the ball and give Wright and Reyes something else to work with in the lineup. Yes, wrapping up Wright and Reyes as two dynamic and youthful players was one of the only good decisions the franchise made as of late, then again, those two might represent the two most underpaid players on the team, if not good arguements for underpaid players in the NL and perhaps the league at their respective positions considering their output, not matter how lackluster it could be perceived.
The seats are still being filled at Shea, at least for now, but if this is a potential introduction to a team rebuilding it could be a scary first couple of years in the new CitiPark, then again, the fact that it is CitiPark and not Shea could bring fans in-and-of-itself much like Camden Yards did for the rebuilding birds only a few hundred miles away a few years ago. The real question is, with the Mets management is this really a prelude to rebuilding or will they chase elder statesmen in hopes of filled seats and more lackluster seasons that are more determined by the coaching fireworks that the onfield explosions of their players?
The most interesting thing about moving Willie now is this, his replacement is bench coach Jerry Manuel, who is stoic and reserved, much like Willie. Most of the time, when teams make mid-season changes, they opt for drastic changes in on-field management, not more-of-the-same mentality. Mr. Manuel is a smart baseball guy, like Willie, with much the same background as Willie, save for the fact that he had the opportunity to produce as a manager and not just on a staff the way Willie had. But stylasitcially, the similarities are there and the ability for one to potentially out-manager the other in a fickle town such as New York is suspect. Interim might be all that Manuel is, regardless of what inspiration he provides in the short term for a group of players more often confused about what is happening around them than their salaries should reflect.
The Mets woes aren’t about who is at the helm of this group of potentially overpaid misfits, it is about what they are able to drag out of those misfits. Unlike the Red Sox franchise that bought a World Series ring earlier in the millenium and then found their way to developing a full-team philosophy in earning their second one within five years, the Mets are struggling to just find out how to piece together wins with the team they purchased and are now left with next to nothing to develop the next series of wins they will need to cement their worth and any hope of continuity in the franchise.
The first step might be doing away with Omar Minaya and his spend-crazy, half-baked mentality of staffing and look toward the development of players that brought them the likes of Wright and Reyes while filling in short term gaps not with over-priced free agents, but more of a tactical approach at team philosophy like the way othe franchises utilize smaller free agent budgets. Keeping up with the Jones of the Yankess, or the Red Sox or Dodgers or whomever else the Mets believe they must keep up with will require smarter moves. Yes, the Yanks have to answer for Carl Pavano, but they also have to clap about their previous development of Posada, Jeter, Pettite and Rivera and happy with the likes of Wang, Cabera, Cano, Huges, Chamberlain etc from their system, what do the Mets have left to get excited about or potentially move forward with for future acquisitions that will both provide wins and drive fans?
It is unfortunately tough for Mr Randolph that the Mets lost patience with him, and probably more unfortunate for the fans that it happend as well, for even if the Mets as a franchise can find a way to resurrect their season, they lost one helluva great manager to a series of complete and total blunders by the franchise that are possibly irreparriable unlike those rifts left by the likes of the Yanks handling of Ruth or Berra or Martin back in the day. Willie is always welcome back in pinstripes back across town and the fact he never walked away from the Yankees franchise with anything but respect and awe means his legacy despite the illegitamate years with the Mets will always be as a Yankee, this decisively taking away any chance the Mets can make good of this unfortunate failure.
What will be left is Omar trying to figure out what to do with Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado in the short term contractually, undo the damage of Alou and to a lesser degree Orlando Hernendez and Wagner on the staff and build upon the little left of Wright, Reyes and crew without alienating them the way they did the coaching staff the last two years.
~ by thedoormouse on 17 June 2008.
Randolph Revisited
As a Yankee fan, it was strange seeing Willie Randolph take over as coach for the cross-town rival Mets. However, as a Yankees fan it was even stranger seeing the Mets franchise treat Mr. Randolph the way they did. One might anticipate the wrath of Mr. Steinbrenner to come down with the iron fist over failure but the classless way Mr. Randolph was let go by the Mets was downright embarassing to fans of baseball.
As Yogi Berra would said, “Managers are hired to be fired.” In Willie’s case, that couldn’t have been more true. Willie revitalized a franchise that was struggling to regain its identity after being disposed of by the Yankees at the turn of the Millenium. He brought an over-acheiving bunch to within one game of the World Series and managed the same staff through last season’s monumental collapse. He didn’t choose the personnel, just oversaw them, and in-as-such being held responsible for fundimental ineptness is to some degree unfair.
Granted, these players collectively earn a whopping $138 million combine and are completely underacheiving their worth, making for a terrible return on investment for the Mets ownership. However, blaming the manager for the players inability to perform is unrealistic in this case. Unfortunately, Willie learned all too well from the Yankees organization the idealism in protecting the players and worked very hard to sheild them from the wrath, thus throwing himself under the bus instead.
Lets consider some stats for a second. First, the disabled list and injury report, from the season’s beginning, it’s been a rotating roster of stars and role players including Vargas, Castro, Burgos, Alou, Gotay, Sanchez, Hernandez, Wise, Martenez, Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Sneider, Pagan, Alou again, Anderson, Wise, Castillo again, Church, Santana, Alou again and Reyes again. Now, I am well away every team goes through these types of stresses, but seriously, some of these injuries it would be difficult for any manager to work around. For example, Alou i supposed to be a cornerstone of both the offense and the outfield and he’s had 49 at-bats this season, and is a DL-prone roster space even at best unable to achieve what his current contract bears. Pedro Martinez has also been a DL riddled roster space and the fact the Mets continue to look for him to be at the top of their rotation is not only ill-fated, it is also sad considering his history. Orlando Hernendez is a similar situation to Martinez, and seriously, unlike Alou, no disrespect to either, when they are on they are dominating, but both are no better than fillers in a roation’s fourth or fifth positions not backstops to the ace. Removing those three players from the lineup severely criples an already shaking team.
Lets then begin to discet the hangover the Mets are suffering, perhaps, from last year’s late season collapse, which, by the way wasn’t Willie’s fault, it was his staff, his player specifically, not showing up for work, either by injury or mentality.
Hitting. WTF?!?! On paper, this team could produce 900 runs easily and challenge that of the Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers on-paper production potential, making the mets one of the few run-driven teams in the NL. What happened? Ask the Yankees and the Tigers the same question, they just aren’t hitting. What’s terrible about the Mets is the way they lack production, ways that no manager could ever hope to counter. Not amount of shuffling can undo no one on the team have a .300 batting averag, and no one with an OBP of over .400. What complicates it further still all but one player with an OPS under .850 and that one player is the only having batted in more than 50 RBI. In a lineup that has in theory, according to the management that built the team, is a great balance of power and speed. If that is power and speed, than they might want to look up the definion of both because only two players on the team are even showing speed on the basepads and neither is lightening at stealing bases or stretching for extra base hits in this lineup.
Lets factor in further, pitching… although the team average ERA is just over 4, which is tollerable, the relievers are averaging over 5. When you take into account the use of the relievers considering the injuries in the starting rotation, that is a tough pill to swallow due to the depth of use for the relief and their inability to hold leads for an inept hitting staff. Then, a closer that blows multiple saves by giving up not just big runs but multiple big runs over the course of the opportunities this year makes it even more difficult. Considering some of the starters are carrying the team in ERA that’s a problem, especially when you barely have 4 starters with double digit starts (and only one with a truly winning record) going into mid-season. Most teams have a full staff of five and even with injuries the Mets faced they haven’t indroduced quality tallent into the system, unlike how other teams, including the Yankees last year when they ran through 10 starters in the first 30 potential starts.
Then again, this is a team with a completely depleted farm system, one that was raped on the bet that Santana would become a savior to a pitching staff that desperately needed more than an ace, it needed a staff of arms, peroid. Not only could they not bring up starting pitching to help the back of the rotation, they couldn’t bring up relievers to bail out their middle relief or anyone at all to hit the ball and give Wright and Reyes something else to work with in the lineup. Yes, wrapping up Wright and Reyes as two dynamic and youthful players was one of the only good decisions the franchise made as of late, then again, those two might represent the two most underpaid players on the team, if not good arguements for underpaid players in the NL and perhaps the league at their respective positions considering their output, not matter how lackluster it could be perceived.
The seats are still being filled at Shea, at least for now, but if this is a potential introduction to a team rebuilding it could be a scary first couple of years in the new CitiPark, then again, the fact that it is CitiPark and not Shea could bring fans in-and-of-itself much like Camden Yards did for the rebuilding birds only a few hundred miles away a few years ago. The real question is, with the Mets management is this really a prelude to rebuilding or will they chase elder statesmen in hopes of filled seats and more lackluster seasons that are more determined by the coaching fireworks that the onfield explosions of their players?
The most interesting thing about moving Willie now is this, his replacement is bench coach Jerry Manuel, who is stoic and reserved, much like Willie. Most of the time, when teams make mid-season changes, they opt for drastic changes in on-field management, not more-of-the-same mentality. Mr. Manuel is a smart baseball guy, like Willie, with much the same background as Willie, save for the fact that he had the opportunity to produce as a manager and not just on a staff the way Willie had. But stylasitcially, the similarities are there and the ability for one to potentially out-manager the other in a fickle town such as New York is suspect. Interim might be all that Manuel is, regardless of what inspiration he provides in the short term for a group of players more often confused about what is happening around them than their salaries should reflect.
The Mets woes aren’t about who is at the helm of this group of potentially overpaid misfits, it is about what they are able to drag out of those misfits. Unlike the Red Sox franchise that bought a World Series ring earlier in the millenium and then found their way to developing a full-team philosophy in earning their second one within five years, the Mets are struggling to just find out how to piece together wins with the team they purchased and are now left with next to nothing to develop the next series of wins they will need to cement their worth and any hope of continuity in the franchise.
The first step might be doing away with Omar Minaya and his spend-crazy, half-baked mentality of staffing and look toward the development of players that brought them the likes of Wright and Reyes while filling in short term gaps not with over-priced free agents, but more of a tactical approach at team philosophy like the way othe franchises utilize smaller free agent budgets. Keeping up with the Jones of the Yankess, or the Red Sox or Dodgers or whomever else the Mets believe they must keep up with will require smarter moves. Yes, the Yanks have to answer for Carl Pavano, but they also have to clap about their previous development of Posada, Jeter, Pettite and Rivera and happy with the likes of Wang, Cabera, Cano, Huges, Chamberlain etc from their system, what do the Mets have left to get excited about or potentially move forward with for future acquisitions that will both provide wins and drive fans?
It is unfortunately tough for Mr Randolph that the Mets lost patience with him, and probably more unfortunate for the fans that it happend as well, for even if the Mets as a franchise can find a way to resurrect their season, they lost one helluva great manager to a series of complete and total blunders by the franchise that are possibly irreparriable unlike those rifts left by the likes of the Yanks handling of Ruth or Berra or Martin back in the day. Willie is always welcome back in pinstripes back across town and the fact he never walked away from the Yankees franchise with anything but respect and awe means his legacy despite the illegitamate years with the Mets will always be as a Yankee, this decisively taking away any chance the Mets can make good of this unfortunate failure.
What will be left is Omar trying to figure out what to do with Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado in the short term contractually, undo the damage of Alou and to a lesser degree Orlando Hernendez and Wagner on the staff and build upon the little left of Wright, Reyes and crew without alienating them the way they did the coaching staff the last two years.
~ by thedoormouse on 17 June 2008.
Posted in Opinion, sports commentary
Tags: Alou, anderson, baseball, baseball stats, Beltran, Burgos, Castillo, Castro, Church, delgato, fielding, Gotay, Hernandez, hitting, Martenez, mlb, national league, new york mets, new york yankees, Pagan, perez, pitching, Reyes, Sanchez, Santana, Sneider, Sports, Vargas, willie randolph, Wise, wright, yogi berra