The Axe is Sharpening for Willie Randolph and His Friends

The Willie Randolph saga seems never-ending ... so forgive us if we try to portray it as "finally coming to a head". But the saga may be finally coming to a head ... sort of. From Adam Rubin's blog at the New York Daily News:

Sources have told the Daily News that principal owner Fred Wilpon and chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon have authorized Minaya to fire Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto. Bench coach Jerry Manuel would ascend to manager if Randolph is ousted, while Triple-A New Orleans manager Ken Oberkfell and pitching coach Dan Warthen would join the major league staff.

A team insider speculated that Randolph could survive a first round of firings, saying: "I think the coaches are in trouble. That may be the compromise for now."

On the one hand, I have found Rick Peterson's hype to be totally overblown in relation to the job his pitching staffs have done. Guys like John Maine and Duaner Sanchez have seen career upturns under Peterson, long considered to be a "pitching guru". But the bullpen over the last year or so have been mediocre to horrible ... and perhaps most damning is that guys like Heath Bell and Brian Bannister seemed to have found themselves after leaving Peterson's care. So firing Peterson wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

But big picture: The Mets have tried firing coaches before (remember Rick Down?) It hasn't worked. And as long as the coaches are fired and not Randolph, then the wolves will only leave the door for only so long. And that doesn't do any good for anybody. This situation only gets resolved if Willie is axed, or if he gets the "vote of confidence" for the rest of the season ... putting the onus on the players where it belongs.