Former Mets manager Willie Randolph candidly shared his recollections of how he was fired and his thoughts about it in a highly interesting piece for the New York Daily News on Friday.
We’ve basically heard many of the details from Omar Minaya about the sit-down at the hotel, but it is interesting to hear Randolph’s side of the story. He figured Minaya was firing someone, but he thought it was two of his coaches — Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto — which makes sense considering all the press the potential firing of Peterson suddenly got that weekend. Of course, all three were ultimately dismissed.
What’s even more unique to the piece is Randolph’s overall thoughts about his job status and how his firing were handled. Obviously, Randolph certainly wouldn’t have guessed his managerial status so specifically as manager, but now that he’s no longer the Mets manager, he freely states that he thought he’d be with the team until the next Yankees series or the All-Star break.
As kind as Randolph is to Minaya in the retelling, I have to wonder if this affects his money with the Mets. As per his contract, Randolph is not supposed to badmouth the organization, yet he publicly criticizes the way his firing was carried out.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Minaya mentioned a talk he and Randolph had on Sunday. Randolph said what the talk was about, and it is particularly damning to Minaya.
I said to him, “Listen, I know you are under a lot of pressure, that there’s stuff going on. If you feel you want to do this now, go ahead and do it.
“But don’t make me get on the plane if I’m not the guy you want.”
That’s really specific, so part of me wants to question if that last sentence was actually said. But if it was, Minaya really handled this poorly.
The only real problem with the piece is Randolph’s byline. I find it questionable that Randolph actually wrote this, considering how journalistic the style of writing is. That lead is a well-executed, textbook lead. The story has a dramatic closing, and below the story, it says that the story was “told to The News’ Wayne Coffey.” So I find it more likely that Coffey wrote the story in Randolph’s first-person for dramatic effect. If that’s the case, that’s fine but not altogether honest.
