Swarm Defense: Et tu, Omar?

This week, Swarm Defense takes a slightly different tack than normal. Most weeks, we look at something fun and simple in the New York related to sports. A professional or semi-pro event that you can go see on the cheap with some friends is the main fare of this column, along with sporting events and leagues that you can participate in yourself.

This week, however, we deviate from our regular format to discuss a poorly executed event in local New York sports, and it’s immediate ramifications, the recent firing of Willie Randolph and his coaches from the Mets.

While many commentators have said, and perhaps rightly so, that the firing of Willie was rooted in last September’s historic collapse by the Mets (more detail on that debacle here), he was nonetheless only fired at 3:15am Eastern Time this morning. The firing was poorly done in many ways, perhaps most notably that it came after the first game of a six game road trip to the west coast and that the team had just won their third game in four tries. It’s tough to see what made Omar Minaya, the Mets GM, so upset about his manager that Willie was forced to travel 3,000 miles to Anaheim, CA, and then beat the AL West leading Angles, all just in order to be fired. If it was simply to avoid giving him the ax on Father’s Day, well, that’s nice and all, but I doubt the frequent flyer miles were worth it to Randolph.

In the end, the team is owned by the Wilpons and led by Minaya, and if they wanted to fire Willie, such is their right. But where does it leave the team going forward? For one thing, it leaves them with a revamped coaching staff –- new manager, new first base coach, and new pitching coach –- leading the team into a seven-game homestand next week. The stretch of games is important to the Mets as the first three are against the last-place Seattle Mariners, a team that the Boys in Blue must take two of three from if they want to stay relevant, and the last four are against the Yankees.

Coming quickly down the pipe, then, is the first big test for interim Manager Jerry Manuel. If he can keep the Mets clubhouse together, which is no sure thing after the firing of a reportedly well-liked manager and a pitching coach who is highly-regarded throughout baseball, and have the team a game or two above .500 when the Bronx Bombers leave town on June 29^th, then they will be in relatively good shape. Perhaps the ugly and the mishandled firing of Willie will even be forgotten. If, however, Delgado continues to hit poorly and the bullpen’s slow-motion implosion gains speed over the next few weeks – two things more related to the GM’s player acquisitions over the past few years than any person’s managerial skills – Minaya just might find that his neck is next on the chopping block.

To purchase tickets to see the potential Mets meltdown against the M’s next week, click here. Discounted ticket specials are available for each game.

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