“Adios Wilfredo”

Around 9:30AM this morning, I received a text message from my good friend, TheGoldfishCowboy.  I struggled to open my eyes and figure out what the hell was going on.  I finally got things figured out and the text read, “Adios Wilfredo.”  I’m not going to lie and pretend I knew what that meant at such an early hour.  Finally, after about three minutes of intense thought, I realized what had happened: The Mets had finally fired Willie Randolph. 

The time of the move was a bit surprising.  The Mets had just embarked on a 10 day West Coast road trip.  Why wouldn’t he be fired before they took off?  He was fired early this morning, around 3:15 EST, or just a few hours after the Mets had just beaten the (AL West Division leaders) LA Angels.  It’s a little odd to fire a guy after his team puts up a 9-spot, isn’t it?  Obviously, Willie was getting the axe sometime in the near future, but couldn’t he have gotten the courtesy of getting fired after a loss at least?  What if that was the win to spark a little run?

To make sure, I’m definitely not saying the Mets should have kept Randolph.  The Mets have been in a rut since September of last year.  There’s nothing wrong with a new voice, a change in culture of a team that has been struggling for the better part of nine months.  The more important firing was that of pitching coach, Rick Peterson.  He needed to be fired for two reasons; the pitching (especially the bullpen) was mediocre at best, and his perm-mullett was beginning to be a little hard to look at during mound visits.

Look, Willie Randolph didn’t get treated right in New York, but he came from the Yankees, so he should have known something like this was possible.  I wish nothing but the best for Willie and I have no doubt he’ll get another job somewhere.  But, I also really hope that Jerry Manuel puts a spark into this team.  They have a top-5 payroll and really shouldn’t be under .500.  Also, Jerry Manuel wears really cool glasses.