Bye Willie Randolf..(but more important Rick Peterson)Hello Jerry Manuel

[LVJimmy]

Since you seem to have a good handle on the Mets, would you say then if Minaya is not incompetent, then at the very least his sense of intuition in building a team that is ready and able to win now is not as good as that of some GM's?

Bottom line, the team was overrated at the beginning of the season...if you go position by position on that team, it's not that good.

Other than Wright (having a down year at that) and Santana, is there a great player on the Mets?

[savage1]

Bottom line, the team was overrated at the beginning of the season...if you go position by position on that team, it's not that good.

Other than Wright (having a down year at that) and Santana, is there a great player on the Mets?

OK-then who specifically do you blame for this, and should Randolph have been fired and if so, should it have been done sooner?

[kbsooner21]

Bottom line, the team was overrated at the beginning of the season...if you go position by position on that team, it's not that good.

Other than Wright (having a down year at that) and Santana, is there a great player on the Mets?

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran

[LVJimmy]

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran

Beltran is great? 33 and 112 is slightly above average IMO and nowhere near where a guy making 18 million should be

Reyes, has great potential, but is far from great IMO...he was .280, 12 and 57 last year...lol...I know he's a leadoff hitter, but those are nowhere near "great" numbers

[LVJimmy]

OK-then who specifically do you blame for this, and should Randolph have been fired and if so, should it have been done sooner?

You can't blame Willie for expecting Alou, Pedro, etc to stay healthy...they are injury prone so that goes on the GM

As for guys not supposedly playing up to their potential, again, I think this team was overrated to begin with (again, the GMs fault, not Willie's)

I will say though that last year's collapse is def on Willie...I'm not sure if he deserves all the blame, but he deserves some

I guess what I'm saying is Omar should've fired himself

[savage1]

You can't blame Willie for expecting Alou, Pedro, etc to stay healthy...they are injury prone so that goes on the GM

As for guys not supposedly playing up to their potential, again, I think this team was overrated to begin with (again, the GMs fault, not Willie's)

I will say though that last year's collapse is def on Willie...I'm not sure if he deserves all the blame, but he deserves some

I guess what I'm saying is Omar should've fired himself

I agree that at the very least both Randolph and Minaya should have been relieved of their duties at the same time.

[ctt8410]

Beltran is great? 33 and 112 is slightly above average IMO and nowhere near where a guy making 18 million should be

Reyes, has great potential, but is far from great IMO...he was .280, 12 and 57 last year...lol...I know he's a leadoff hitter, but those are nowhere near "great" numbers

I hate counting stats like RBI, but you called Beltran slightly above average with 33 and 112 while calling Wright great with 30 and 107 last year in 50 more at-bats.

[LVJimmy]

I hate counting stats like RBI, but you called Beltran slightly above average with 33 and 112 while calling Wright great with 30 and 107 last year in 50 more at-bats.

Wright's BA was .50 pts higher and his OBP was also .40 higher which means he was always on base for beltran. Look at Reyes' OBP as a leadoff hitter...not good.

[ctt8410]

Now those stats I can agree with. I'm not a Reyes apologist, but his OBP is better than perennial crappy leadoff hitters like Juan Pierre.

[LVJimmy]

Now those stats I can agree with. I'm not a Reyes apologist, but his OBP is better than perennial crappy leadoff hitters like Juan Pierre.

I think Reyes has a lot of potential, but he needs to stop pointing to the sky and play ball

[Three Jack]

Since you seem to have a good handle on the Mets, would you say then if Minaya is not incompetent, then at the very least his sense of intuition in building a team that is ready and able to win now is not as good as that of some GM's?

I am not sure I agree with that but based on his track record with the Mets, it is difficult to debate the point. Although he did a very good job with Montreal and no budget. He kept them very competitive although the did not win.

[LVJimmy]

I think Reyes has a lot of potential, but he needs to stop pointing to the sky and play ball

lol, already showing up the new guy

[Three Jack]

3J, I'm curious to know your pre-season opinion of each position starting player and pitcher.

I though Johan, Pedro and Maine would combine for 45+ wins (Johan for 18-20, I thought Maine woul dhave a breakout tyoe year with 16-18 wins and Pedro for 12-14). OP was a wildcard, El Duque always hurt but serviceable if healthy and Pelfrey was an unknown. I thought there starting pitching, if you would grade them, would be a B with the assumption that OP would be solid as a #4. No one in baseball outside of maybe 2 teams have reliable #5's so having a question mark there was not a huge concern for me.

In the pen, I thought they were solid...I thought Wags would duplicate last year and be very solid- and he was until 10 days ago. I had hopes that Heilman woul dbounce bcak to '06 numbers and he hasn't (Peterson needs to take a hit on this). Feliciano is solid but I did not think much of Schoenweiss and Smith. Sanchez was an unknown due to missing a year and a half.

As for the everyday 8...I thought he right side of the infield was below average...at least Castillo can turn the DP with the best of them but his range is limited, Delgado is a liability in the field and both are past their prime at the plate. Resigning Castillo for 4yrs/#32 million was not a smart move. I give Reyes more credit than you do...and when he gets on, the Mets offense typically does well. He is the one who makes the team tick and I think he has great potential. One of the better players in the league with the potential to be great. I also give Beltran more credit than you do...I think he is one of th ebest in the game. You mention his offense but he is great defensively. Again, as is the rest of the team, he is not living up to my expectations and is off last years pace, although he has gotten warm the last 3 weeks. Wright is a stud. I had no issue with signing Alou at the time...in my mind, $7 million for a guy who you expect 140 games from and to put up numbers even shy of last year woul dhave been a bargain...but it failed miserably. I thought the Chavez/Pagan 4th OF plan was solid...Pagan got off to a good start, then got hurt and Chavez forgot how to hit. Church and Schneider have been better than I thought, but they can't keep Church on the field.

I thought 88-90 wins.

How's that?

[Three Jack]

So Willie meets with the media today....

Nonetheless, the ousted skipper complained he didn't have enough time to turn around the Mets, who lost their first game with Jerry Manuel as manager last night and fell to 34-36 on the season.

"I felt all along this team would play better and we would eventually get into the season and do really well," said Randolph, wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt with a Negro League design on it.

"In my mind this happened way, way too early."

Too early? TOO FREAKIN' EARLY???? .500 baseball for the last 170 games and its too early????