As the anticipation mounts into the afternoon hours in New York City as to whether or not Willie Randolph will stay on as manager of the Mets or not, Hot Foot sent a mole out to LAX to see if Willie was on the trip to Los Angeles with the rest of the team, and this is what was seen through the binoculars from a bush on the south runway.

With all the buzz coming out of the New York Daily News last night about how the Mets could be on the verge of firing pitching coach Rick Peterson and first-base coach Tom Nieto, I just can’t help but wonder what is wrong with this organization. Last year, when the team was in a rut, Omar Minaya made the move to fire hitting coach Rick Down in an attempt to appease the fans. It clearly did nothing and perhaps made the situation only worse, as the Mets ended up making one of the biggest collapses in history.

Omar is going to keep Randolph here as long as he possibly can, even if it means firing the team’s coaches, because it will keep him here that much longer. The longer Omar waits to fire Willie, the more time he buys to keep his own job. If Omar does come around and finally fire his manager, the attention will move to the general manager and the fans will be calling for his head next.

Go ahead and fire the coaches. Put these coaches out of jobs to buy yourself time until the end of the season to fix what you screwed up in the first place by putting an old, overpaid, and overrated team together. Fans are sick of this team losing, are frustrated and want changes to be made, and the easiest change to make is the manager or coaches. This is so ass-backwards, but it’s simply the way it is. Instead of getting rid of the guy that has put this organization where it is right now, or the players that aren’t performing on the field, go ahead and fire the manager or coaches.

Delgado will still be Delgado. Perez will still be inconsistent. Alou will still be out for more than half the season.

It won’t make a difference with the play on the field. The team was just simply not built right.

The Mets have acquired outfielder Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash and a player to be named later.

In 181 at-bats in Triple-A, he is hitting .309 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. Over his 11 year career, 10 of which were with the Boston Red Sox, Nixon has recorded 136 home runs with 554 RBIs and an average of .275 with a .364 on base percentage.

Can’t get much worse than Fernando Tatis in the outfield. Maybe Omar can call up his old buddy Shawn Green and convince him out of retirement too.

Finally nice to see a come-from-behind win for once. The Mets really needed a dramatic finish for both the fans and themselves.

Matt Lindstrom’s fastball is really fast. What a pitcher. Last season, he registered 102 mph on the radar gun in a game against the Pirates.

Jorge Sosa has found a new home in Houston. The Houston Chronicle reports that Sosa signed a minor-league deal with the Astros and will report to Triple-A Round Rock and will work with highly respected pitching coach Burt Hooton in his road back to the majors.

In other former Met news, Nationals catcher Jesus Flores hit his first career grand slam, leading the Nationals to a 6-4 win over the Padres yesterday.

Having three left-handed relievers available to come out of the pen is a valuable commodity, and this trio of Scott Schoeneweis, Pedro Feliciano and Billy Wagner are doing a fantastic job so far this year. In 59.2 innings collectively, these three have combined for a 1.37 ERA, with 45 strikeouts.

Finally, does anyone want to take a guess on how long it takes Keith Hernandez to mention how much he loves the new behind-the-plate camera angle in tomorrow night’s game?

Former New York Mets starting pitcher Geremi Gonzalez was struck by lightning in the neck and killed in his native Venezuela on Sunday night while riding a personal watercraft in Lake Maracaibo at the time.

He has been out of baseball since 2006, but did join the Toronto Blue Jays during spring training 2007, but didn’t make the final roster. He moved to Japan and pitched in five games last year for the Yomiuri Giants.

Gonzalez was 33, also played with the Cubs, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers as well. He finished his career with a 30-35 record in 131 games (83 starts) and a 4.93 ERA.

This team is currently under .500 (74-75) since June 1st of 2007. Yes, just about 150 games that totals out to, and the Mets and under .500 in that timespan. Obviously, some blame has to be towards the players, but you would be wrong not to point blame in the direction of the current coaching staff as well.

Willie Randolph is clearly no genius when it comes to managing a bullpen, and the in-game managerial mistakes are becoming a constant trend these days. He is simply losing his players, not physically, but mentally.

What is the solution?

I propose the Mets front office give the rest of the month to Willie to show signs of a turnaround. That’s three games against the Yankees on the road, three against the Braves on the road, three against the Rockies on the road, three against the Marlins at home, then four at home against the Dodgers. I would call that a fair chance to prove that you’re better than a .500 team.

If Willie fails to do so and this team remains to seesaw their way through May, there should be no choice but to find an alternative and hope for the best. At the very worst, you will get a head start on a possible manager option for 2009, but with four months of baseball left to play, and with the team still in contention, that is clearly not the motive. The passive, laid back style of play is simply not working right now and the way Billy Wagner has made his presence felt through the media regarding this awful play proves that Randolph is losing his players trust.

Perhaps the best option is right under their nose and could be Triple-A manager Ken Oberkfell. After bouncing around the independent leagues hoping to land a managerial position with a minor league affiliate, Oberkfell caught on with the Phillies organization when then-Phillies GM Lee Thomas gave him a shot with low Class A Piedmont in 1997. He remained there until 1999, leading the Boll Weevils to the playoffs in 1998.

After parting ways with the Phillies, the Mets picked him up and brought him in to coach their then Class-A affiliate, the Capital City Bombers. After one season with them, Oberkfell took over Class A St. Lucie, leading the team to the playoffs in 2002 and winning the Florida State League title in 2003.

In 2004, he moved up to coach Double-A Binghamton, and finished 10 games over .500, making the postseason.

He moved up again last year, this time to Double-A Binghamton, where the B-Mets finished 10 games over .500 and made the postseason. Counting this year’s appearance, Oberkfell has four consecutive playoff berths at three different levels.

He has managed the club’s AAA affiliate for the past three seasons and is currently in his fourth season managing the team. In his rookie season (2005) as a manager in the Triple-A level, he was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America, winning the International League’s south division with a 79-65 record by 14 games.

This man has undoubtedly paid his dues with the organization to receive consideration for the job. If the Mets don’t improve over the next few weeks, could we be hearing this man’s name more and more as the team’s coaching staff becomes more in question?

Carlos Gomez was named the Twins starting center fielder to begin the season. So far, Gomez has a .269 average with two home runs, 12 runs batted in and he is currently tied for the American League lead in stolen bases with 16 on the season. An interesting stat on Gomez’s line shows 33 strikeouts and only four walks so far in 131 total at-bats. He also hit for the cycle this past week.

Philip Humber, who was the Mets first-round pick in 2004, third overall, started out the season in Triple-A Rochester. He is 1-4 with a 5.29 ERA in seven starts, also appearing in three games in relief.

Kevin Mulvey, first pick of the Mets in the 2006 MLB Draft, also started out the season in Triple-A Rochester. Mulvey is 2-4 with a 4.03 ERA in seven starts and currently has 36 strikeouts, tied for ninth best in the International League.

The young 19-year old Deolis Guerra is pitching for the Fort Myers Miracle in Class-A Advanced. So far this season, in six starts, Guerra is 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA.

Mets manager Willie Randolph stated that the team has yet to pick a pitcher to make the start against Washington on Wednesday and that they’ll probably call up a minor leaguer.

Among the options include Brian Stokes, Adam Bostick, Tony Armas Jr. and Claudio Vargas.

Stokes pitched on Friday, which would put him in line to make a Wednesday start. He has been very up and down in his last few starts. In his May 4th start, he couldn’t make it through two batters, giving up six earned runs. His start this past Friday was much better, with Stokes going 8.1 innings, giving up just four hits and one earned run for the 3-1 win.

Bostick is 2-1 with a 3.89 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched (8 starts).

Armas Jr. is 1-3 in seven starts with a 3.02 ERA in 28 strikeouts. Armas last pitched last Tuesday, going six innings and giving up three earned runs.

Finally, Claudio Vargas, who signed on with the team just over one month ago, is 1-1 in two starts with a 4.91 ERA for the Zephyrs. Vargas last pitched Thursday, May 8th.

In a recent article on MLB.com, Adam McCalvy notes that four teams have made offers for Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Derrick Turnbow, who was recently cut by the team The Mets were not one of the teams despite recent reports.

Failing to find equal value in a trade, the Brewers have placed him on irrevocable waivers in an effort to get him to the minors.

What could the Brewers really be asking in return for Turnbow? Since 2005, he has fallen off the face of the earth with a 6.15 ERA in 130.2 innings pitched. I think I’ll pass on Turnbow. While Jorge Sosa and Aaron Heilman have had a shaky start, I’d rather save the trading chips that the Mets still have for a more valuable need and not a gamble llike Turnbow.