sanity courtesy of Bob Klapisch

by Greenpoint Ian on Jun 18, 2008 7:30 PM EDT

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/mets/Klapisch_.html

This is one of the few articles on the Randolph firing that isn't nonsense, and that anecdote at the beginning is telling. I first thought it might be Wagner, since he's obviously the most mercurial personality on the team, and is a "veteran", but Wagner has been great this year (the last few appearances notwithstanding). It was probably Delgado.

Now Carlos obviously isn't the most outgoing, fun guy in the world, but he's never been known as a notorious asshole in the Sheffield or Kent mold, so it got me wondering who the hell ever thought Randolph was capable of managing a MLB frachise. He lost everyone on the team save David Wright (who would probably be happy to play for Kim Jong-Il) and never showed an ounce of sense as a tactician. My best guess is that the Mets hired him for his "winning intangibles" and his "New York" personality or some shit like that without once considering if he had the personality to handle the egos of major league players.

Look, the way the Randolph situation was handled was piss-poor, but the guy should never have been managing in the first place. It all comes back to a front office that has no idea what it's doing.

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I like it.

As fucked up as the method and timing was with this firing, I suppose we can all start getting back to realizing it was what we wanted in the first place.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 18, 2008 9:00 PM EDT reply actions

THANK YOU

That’s the point I’ve been trying to make. The odd method/timing is overshadowing the fact that we’ve wanted him gone for a while now.

by JoshNY on Jun 19, 2008 12:44 AM EDT up reply actions

best article yet

This is really the most intelligent take I’ve seen yet in print on the Randolph firing, and along with the Olney blog piece I linked to in the fanshots, one of the few that gives me a sense of some of the behind-the-scenes team dynamics, power plays, etc., that led up to it. I actually sympathize with a lot of the ranting that’s being done about how poorly the firing was handled, but it’s nice to see a little more thought and information coming out after the initial reaction subsides. Recommended.

by anonymous on Jun 18, 2008 9:06 PM EDT reply actions

Good Piece But the 2006 Playoffs Comment Was a Cheap Shot

I am not a big Klapisch fan but I think the column for the most part hits the current issues with Willie head on. However, the reference to the 2006 playoffs is a cheap shot.

Klapisch and many others seems to forget that Randolph lost both Pedro and El Duque just before the start of the playoffs and had no starting pitching outside Tom Glavine. His rotation was Glavine, John Maine as a rookie, Steve Trachsel with nothing left and Oliver Perez, he of the 6+ ERA in 2006. As bad as Willie was down the stretch in 2007, he was, in many ways, masterful getting them to within 2 innings of the WS in 2006. I actually thought he was going to be a really good manager after 2006 but I was wrong.

Willie clearly lost the clubhouse somewhere in 2007 and the team needed to make a change. In retrospect they should have made the change at the end of last season and saved us all this drama.

by millsy on Jun 18, 2008 10:29 PM EDT reply actions

I disagree

First of all it’s unfair to say Willie was completely incompetent. His winning % here was in the order of .550. People say well anyone could do that with this talent, but he did and deseves credit. Willie had plenty of flaws, and we’ve documented those, but this team is also flawed. We have a left fielder that never plays, a first basemen who is severe decline a second baseman and catcher who are next to useless offensively and overrated defensively, a 4/5 starter that up and down, a bullpen that is not very good right now. How does firing him solve that. IMO Klaps piece is more of the psycholabble spouted on WFAN.

by DoctorK16 on Jun 18, 2008 11:09 PM EDT reply actions

I'm with you

I don’t think firing him was the right move.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Jun 19, 2008 6:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Agree Willie Was Not Incompetent

In fact, he did a pretty good job in 2006 especially with no starting pitching in the playoffs.

This team has some major flaws which no manager can change. However, I think it is clear that Willie had lost the clubhouse for whatever reason and once that happens it is very hard to fix. I loved Bobby V but that clearly happened to him in the summer of 2002 when the team quit on him and lost 13 straight. When that happens you almost always have to change managers.

I feel bad for Willie. I liked him and overall he did a pretty decent job despite his sometimes questionable strategy. I am sure he will get another manager’s job somewhere.

by millsy on Jun 19, 2008 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Great article

Thanks for posting!

by ams258 on Jun 19, 2008 9:52 AM EDT reply actions

Let's jump in the wayback machine

Let’s go back to the fall of 2004 for a moment.
The Mets were supposed to be in a semi-rebuilding mode. They were going to move forward by building around the young talent and avoid the high priced older players of the Phillips regime. Omar was brought in for that reason and Willie was given a shot in spite of his inexperience because they felt he could work well with younger players.

Then, without warning, the organization did a 180. Beltran got a long term deal. Pedro got four years. By the next season Delgado and LoDuca were on the roster. Now instead of a young team growing along side a developing manager, you had a team of veterans playing under a person with little experience.

My point to all this is that we forget that the organization did a huge disservice to itself, Willie Randolph, and the fans by not knowing what direction it was going in when Omar was hired. It is a pretty good bet that a manager with no experience or track record is going to have a tough time gaining the respect of of high priced veterans. Once they made the decision to hire Willie, they should have allowed him to manage players he could control. If they had decided in 2004/2005 that they wanted to win now then Willie was the wrong hire.

The entire Willie Randolph era just goes to demonstrate the organizational incompetence that has historically plagued the Mets. It is an organization notorious for indecision, without a long term philosophy, and no commitment to a process. The tortured manner in which the Randolph firing took place is the latest highlight.

With all that said, Willie wasn’t the best or worst. He gets too much credit for 2006 and too much blame for 2008. (He deserves a lot of blame for the mismanagement of the bullpen last year) I never liked the hire because I always had a sense that he was not the most trusted or respect member of the Yankees staff and that is why he always got passed over for jobs. I’m glad he is gone, but I know full well that Manuel will have almost no impact on the outcome of this season. The role of the manager in baseball is vastly over valued and the GM will have more to do with the success of the team. If certain players get healthy and/or perform at close to their projections in the second half the Mets will win. If not, they are .500 team.

by Reg Dunlop on Jun 20, 2008 9:53 PM EDT reply actions