A facade of change

So before I take a nap, I'll comment briefly on waking up at 9ish and finding out that the New York Mets, pre-dawn, have fired Manager Willie Randolph, PC Rick Petersen, and 1st Base Coach Tom Nieto.

In a classless way that many will discuss for months to come, I must say that I don't think this change is for the best. To be entirely honest, while Willie's record with the Mets met many ups and downs, I'm severely disappointed because of 1) The way the Mets Upper Management handled this situation and 2) I actually liked Willie at times. He made a lot of mistakes, but always seemed to have his head in the game. I guess my affinity towards him comes from the fact that I'm loud and can be 'in-your-face' and most of the time, that attitude never is progressive. I liked his calm demeanor.

The Mets fired him because they realized that this PR debacle had to be settled and they could go two routes: a) Stand 100% behind their man or b) Fire him. Obviously, it wasn't 100% so they kicked him out in a pitiful way. THIS CAT BEHIND ME WON"T SHUT UP...sorry. Anyway back to my thought. They kicked him out expecting that Jerry Manuel or Ken Oberkfell of AAA NOLA might be able to re-energize this team or maybe send a message to their overpaid ballplayers that we ain't kidding around anymore. I don't think this will work. I think the veterans will continue doing what they're doing while the young players - specifically David Wright and Jose Reyes - will act as if this is part of the game, which it is, but in reality be devastated over the loss of their well-respected patron. Willie was the grandpa of the bunch regardless of his age, and some are gonna feel stepped on. To quote Matt Cerrone of Metsblog.com, "As a Mets fan, I’m embarrassed this morning, and I feel a little dirty".

I hope I'm wrong and that the NYM end up turning this season around. I hope I'm wrong and the big players on the team will step it up realizing their job insecurities. We'll see.

Good Luck Willie...thanks for taking this team from Art Howe's bunch of misfits into something that the rest of the league recently considered a force to be reckoned with. By the way, in my opinion, Omar, you're next.