Just a heads up, tonight’s SI Yanks-Brooklyn Cyclones game will be airing on Snigh, first pitch is set for 7:00. Luke Greinke should be taking the mound for SI, but Pat Venditte will likely get the day off after tossing 3 scoreless frames yesterday. Ike Davis, the Mets’ first pick in this year’s draft (#18 overall), should be in the lineup for Brooklyn. (h/t MetsBlog)
Ponson, Giese set for historic double header
Friday may be a historic day for baseball in New York City, but the two pitchers the Yanks are tabbing to start are anything but. Prior to last night’s victory over the Pirates, Yanks manager Joe Girardi announced that Sidney Ponson will start Friday night’s game in Shea Stadium while Dan Giese will start the afternoon affair in the Bronx. Ponson will face Pedro, and Giese will face Mike Pelfrey. I’m holding my breath.
Hal ‘shocked’ by the rising sun
Hal Steinbrenner told Yankee reports that he was “shocked” by the Mets’ firing of Willie Randolph. Call it inept; call it embarrassing; one thing it ain’t is shocking. Meanwhile, Hal says that, once the firing blows over, the Yanks will figure out how to honor Willie this year. “Willie’s been a Yankee for a lot of years and he’s a great man,” the younger Steinbrenner said. “We need to let all the dust settle and see what happens here and go from there.”
Mets fire Randolph, two coaches
Despite winning three of four games and seemingly turning things around a bit, Willie Randolph got the ax this morning. The Mets finally fired Willie and his two of his coaches. Perhaps the Yanks can find a spot for the man shouldering all too much of the blame for the Mets’ poor play this year.
Open Thread: Fix the Mets, fix the Mets, step right up and fix the Mets
So let’s leave our Wang problems alone for a few hours. There are only so many times in one day we can discuss Wang anyway. Instead, let’s turn our attention a few miles south and east of Yankee Stadium, and let’s visit the Yanks’ bumbling co-inhabitants of the New York City baseball universe.
Heading in the 2008 season, the New York Mets and their fans had high expectations. While they were coming off an epic last-season collapse that saw them lose the NL East to the Phillies on the final day of the season, their off-season acquisition of Johan Santana as well as the return of Pedro Martinez had the Shea Faithful feeling pretty good about the team’s chances in the final season in the House that Robert Moses Built.
But things haven’t worked out as planned. Sixty-eight games into the season, the Mets find themselves at a disappointing 33-35, 6.5 games behind the Phillies and treading water in the playoff hunt. While Santana has made a difference — without Johan, this team would be dead and buried — these numbers don’t even begin to tell the full story.
From the get-go, this has been one of those epic bumbling Mets seasons for which this team is famous. They’ve lost countless players to injuries; Carlos Delgado has been terrible; the pitching has been inconsistent; and Billy Wagner has seemingly forgotten how to close out games, blowing four of his last nine save opportunities and three of his last four late-inning appearances. The team also did a marvelous job putting Ryan Church’s career and life at risk by rushing him back from a concussion.
Off the field, things have been no better. Since the Mets rolled into Yankee Stadium in May, Willie Randolph’s job has been hanging by a thread. The Mets’ Front Office has continually declined to give Willie any long-term vote of confidence, but they refuse to flat-out fire him, perhaps recognizing that this team’s poor performance rests more on the shoulders of Omar Minaya than anyone else. It was Minaya, after all, who opted to go with an old team; it was Minaya who didn’t shore up the pitching beyond Johan Santana and a whole bunch of question marks; it was Minaya who milked the farm system dry for the likes of Delgado, Ambiorix Burgos and countless other moves.
Meanwhile, another day has passed with the axe still hanging over Willie’s head but not quite ready to fall. His coaches may be dismissed; his ability to lead this team may be questioned; but no one in the Mets organization is willing to pull the trigger. The fans have noticed too with prominent Mets bloggers calling it a perplexing embarrassment.
So as we Yankee fans leave our troubles behind for a few hours, let’s discuss the Mets. How would you fix the disaster in Queens? Would you fire Randolph? Fire Minaya? Hold a fire sale of usable parts? The Mets can’t really improve through trades this year; they have nothing left. So something must give. What do you do?
An old friend returns to New York
MLBTR points to a MetsBlog report that the Not-So-Amazin’s have acquired old Yankee foe Trot Nixon to replace Billy Wagner as their closer. I’m sure that will solve all of the Mets’ problems. Meanwhile, if you find yourself as Shea this summer, make sure you remind Trot just how much we all loved him during his days on the Sox. And, yes, I’m being sarcastic.
When it comes to Cash, Shea Faithful put on the orange and blue blinders
Over at MetsBlog this afternoon, Matthew Cerrone jumped into the Brian Cashman fray. He pondered the idea of Cashman helming the Mets’ front office and wondered why current GM Omar Minaya isn’t shouldering more of the blame for the Mets’ failures.
Personally, I’m stunned that Minaya has received what amounts to a free pass in the New York media while Willie Randolph has become the whipping boy for the media. Omar Minaya put this team — this expensive, flawed team — together, and it stands to reason that the Mets’ struggles are as much his fault, if not more, than they are Willie’s.
Right now, that’s neither here nor there. The Mets’ problems are a Queens-based issue, and we’re concerned with the Bronx. But I did get a good chuckle out of the MetsBlog commenters who seem to hate Brian Cashman almost as much as some Yankee fans do. A sampling, if you will:
“No thanks. Omar Minaya blows this guy away.”
“I’d rather pick up Delgado’s option than hire Cashman to be GM.”
“Cashman is a bigger failure than Omar is.”
“Cashman’s team is one game under .500 while Omar’s is 3. Not a big enough difference to make me want Cashman. He’s a joke”
“He’s contributed nothing but one bad investment after another. This guy is a joke.”
“Cashman would be Horrible. Omar has done a pretty good job; it falls on the manager to get it done. Cashman has made mistake after mistake during his tenure. No more Yankee trash!”
So let’s review: Brian Cashman’s Yankees have won three World Series titles, were two outs away from a fourth, have made the playoffs every year during his tenure as GM and are the best team in baseball over that same period of time. Yet, somehow, because the Yanks haven’t won a ring, Cashman is “Yankee trash,” “a joke” and my personal favorite: “a bigger failure than Omar is.”
Now, I know that Yankee fans are divided on Brian Cashman’s effectiveness. Some see a series of bad moves and an inability to find starting pitching when starting pitching is at a premium. Others see a mixed record of good and bad moves as well as an increased focused recently on the farm system that has already begun to pay dividends.
Yet, for all his flaws, real or otherwise, Brian Cashman has been an effective GM. The Yanks have reached October, and their losing in the playoffs has less to do with his ability to put a team together and more to do with the Amazing Disappearing Yankee Offense in October. For all the guff Cashman takes, the Mets could do a lot worse to have him as their GM, and if the fans can’t see otherwise, I’m more than happy to see Cashman stick around the Bronx. And, hey, while we don’t all agree on Brian Cashman, at least we can all agree that Mets fans are just a little bit nuts.