Late-Night Talk: Minaya Defends Timing Of Willie Randolph Firing

Mets Management Catching Heat For Handling Of Randolph Firing

TIME NOT ON THEIR SIDE: SPORTINGNEWS.com's Sean Deveney wrote the Mets announcement was "late enough to miss the Tuesday newspaper cycle, and early enough to be old news by morning drive-time." The Mets "lacked the guts to do this at Shea Stadium, to admit their mistake at home." Deveney: "Why wasn't this done in New York this weekend? Because the organization did not want to face its fans or the media that cover it? At best, this is a bizarre way to handle a firing. At worst, it's spineless" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/17). SI.com's Phil Taylor wrote if the Mets were "trying to lessen the media hit, they achieved exactly the opposite, since the news was being circulated through cyberspace within minutes of its release, along with well-deserved attacks from all corners on the callousness and absurdity of the timing" (SI.com, 6/17). In L.A., Bill Shaikin writes under the header, "When It Comes To Bad Timing, Mets Win Out." Randolph's firing was "handled clumsily" (L.A. TIMES, 6/18). In Philadelphia, Bill Conlin writes it "was not wrong to fire Randolph, but the timing and breach of baseball protocol were criminal" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 6/18). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said, "The way it went down was quite bizarre. ... Many of his players were told even later in the night in the team’s hotel lobby by New York sportswriters" ("PTI," ESPN, 6/18).

WILPONS CRITICIZED FOR HANDLING: In N.Y., Joel Sherman writes Mets Owner Fred Wilpon and COO Jeff Wilpon "could not have handled the dismissal of Willie Randolph worse than they did." The Wilpons "portrayed this as Minaya's decision alone, which leaves us depicting the Wilpons as dishonest, dumb or both. ... They have made [Yankees co-Chair] Hank Steinbrenner appear the level-headed baseball owner in town" (N.Y. POST, 6/18). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes the Wilpons yesterday were "taking the kind of beating usually reserved for" MSG Chair James Dolan. Several columnists yesterday said that the Wilpons "dropped a notch below Dolan on the Skill Sets meter" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/18). WFAN-AM’s Chris Russo said Fred Wilpon "should be embarrassed and disgraced the way the [Mets’] organization comes across today. They look like a minor league operation.” WFAN's Mike Francesa: "No matter how they handled this they were going to look bad, they were going to look indecisive, and now on top of that they look sloppy and they look like they don’t care” (“Mike and the Mad Dog,” YES, 6/17). In Albany, Brian Ettkin writes how the Wilpons "treated Randolph was shameful. You may not see blood on their hands, but their fingerprints are everywhere" (Albany TIMES UNION, 6/18). On Long Island, Wallace Matthews writes under the header, "Thank Wilpon's Kid For Another Mess." A source said Jeff Wilpon "has been remorseless in his desire to get rid of Willie." The source: "(Jeff) is a reactive young man. He thinks he is the baseball expert, and he decided that Willie was not the guy to lead this club" (NEWSDAY, 6/18).

Minaya Says It Was His Decision To Fire Randolph

METS A MESS: In N.Y., Mike Lupica writes the handling of the firing is "why the Mets look the way the Yankees used to on days like this. Like they have turned into the Queens version, the Flushing Bay version, of the Bronx Zoo." Lupica: "Management -- Minaya, the Wilpons -- has become the villain. Their record on the way they fire Randolph becomes more the story than the record of the manager since the middle of last season" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/18). SNY’s Brandon Tierney: "There is nobody on this planet that thinks the Mets handled this well. And I’ll tell you something else; they just provided a blueprint, a model for, not just every other baseball team, every other pro sport on a) how to embarrass a decent man, and b) how to embarrass themselves. It was awful” ("The Wheelhouse," SNY, 6/17). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser: “You read that the Mets didn’t want to fire him on Father’s Day because it’s a holiday at home. So they let him go to California and he wins a game and then they can him? It’s hard to think anything in the Mets front office is going well” (“PTI,” ESPN, 6/17). ESPN's Jackie MacMullan: "Maybe Willie Randolph needed to go, but good God, do it before he treks his way all the way out West. You embarrass him this way” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 6/17). ESPN's Buster Olney said "The Mets look horrendous for the way Willie Randolph was fired" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 6/17). Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal: “It was disgracefully handled, to say the least. … It speaks to the chaos and dysfunction in that organization right now and it reflects very poorly on what the Mets are about” (Fox Business, 6/17). In N.Y., Bill Madden writes, "Only the Mets, who have lost their way as an organization of unity, dignity and compassion, could make a manager firing look so cowardly, meanspirited and unjustified" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/18). ESPN's Olney wrote, "Even the writers of 'The Sopranos' could not have invented a more recklessly handled hit" (ESPN.com, 6/17).

TAKE COVER(AGE): In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes Randolph's firing for Mets-owned SportsNet N.Y. was a "news crisis, an all-day story, a one-story day and an occasion to use urgent, percussive music, as if war had been declared in Midtown." SNY staged an "amazin' marathon that didn't make the Mets [look] very nice in how they handled Randolph's firing." The coverage "focused largely on how Minaya and the Wilpon family let the Randolph death drag on so long that he had to fly to Anaheim to be fired rather than be dismissed in New York last weekend (or earlier)" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/18). On Long Island, Neil Best writes, "Journalistically, SNY reacted admirably, with blanket coverage of the sort seen on cable news channels during hurricanes, presidential elections or Lindsay Lohan rehabs." SNY produced shows at 6:00am and 9:00am, with reporter Kevin Burkhardt on camera, "making it clear the channel would not be bashful about addressing the peculiar circumstances of Randolph's firing." Burkhardt on the broadcast said, "The timing was brutal, to be honest with you. I think it was really bad. ... I think it's a raw deal." SNY also from 1:00-5:00pm broadcast a live show titled, "Special: Mets in Transition." The coverage was a "marathon perhaps unprecedented in local cable sports history in both length and intensity." Best writes the "level of vitriol on SNY did not always match that on the Internet or radio, and mostly, the Wilpons' names were kept out of it, but not entirely." It is "admirable that Mets ownership allows itself to be lambasted on its own channel. ... It would have been even more admirable for Mets ownership to get on its own channel and explain itself" (NEWSDAY, 6/18).

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