Mets fans held their collective breath Monday as manager Willie Randolph entered, then emerged unscathed, from the owner’s office and was still the team’s manager. The Wilpon’s wanted to hear Randolph’s explanation of last week’s off field issues directly from Willie. The owners accepted Randolph’s apology and kept Willie in the dugout for the time being. The Wilpon’s are not eager to pay another manager a salary for not working like they did with Art Howe a few years ago. So unless the Mets situation really gets out of hand, Willie’s job is relatively safe.

Listening to talk radio it’s apparent most, if not all, Mets fans want Willie fired. Monday night’s 9th inning chant of “Fire Willie!” was eerily reminiscent of Knicks fans’ chants of “Fire Isaiah!” just a couple of months ago. (Reminder: Check out season ticket holder lists of both Mets and Knicks to see if they are the same.)

Is Willie the cause of everything negative in Metland or are the problems deeper than just the manager? While the manager manages the players on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse, the team is assembled by the general manager – and that’s Omar Minaya.

Reports lately have shown that the Mets clubhouse is divided. In one report Tuesday, the Mets clubhouse had Latin players watching TV while on the other side of the clubhouse the white players watched a different TV. This division has more to do with how the current team was assembled than how it is being managed … and that’s Omar’s fault.

Omar put this team together primarily through big money free agent signings and trades. Of the 25 men on the current roster only six (Jose Reyes, David Wright, Joe Smith, Aaron Heilman, Mike Pelfrey and newcomer Nick Evans) came up through the system. Only Reyes and Heilman played together for small parts of two seasons in the minors. When players come up through the system, they ride buses together, eat together, live together, chase women together, etc. This group of players never had that opportunity and the result is a divided clubhouse.

Compare the current Mets to the Yankees of the late 1990’s dynasty. The core of that team (Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada) all came up together as did role players Ramiro Mendoza, Andy Fox and Brian Boehringer. All the above were part of that 1996 title team. All were in Triple A together in 1995 and Double A and Triple A in 1994. Those Yankees players were together for several seasons, all putting their time in and developing into big leaguers together.

It’s very difficult to buy or trade your way to a World Series title by bringing in different guys from different organizations. You just never know if the personalities will mesh once they arrive in your clubhouse. It has become obvious that the team Omar has assembled hasn’t come together as he had hoped. Willie only manages what Omar has assembled.

Most teams are usually assembled with players from three distinct categories:
• young and upcoming players (rookies)
• established veteran major leaguers
• seasoned players on the downside

The rookies are there to provide youth and vitality; the established veterans own the bulk of the playing time and production; the seasoned veterans complement the two other groups. The seasoned veterans show the youngsters how to play in the majors and provide a needed boost off the bench, but they aren’t counted on to be full time starters.

Omar has assembled a team of seasoned players, most of whom have had decent to good careers but are now on the decline. These players on the downside, like Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo, are making big money this season. Other seasoned players include frequently injured players like Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou, who are productive when healthy, but cannot seem to stay on the field.

Where are the quality backups when these players are not performing or are hurt? The Triple A New Orleans roster is full of aging former major leaguers. That is why the Mets had to bring up Nick Evans, a converted first baseman, to play the outfield. In Binghamton the Mets have Fernando Martinez, 3B Danny Murphy and 1B Mike Carp, but F-Mart is not yet ready, Murphy is blocked by David Wright and the Mets seem unimpressed with Carp.

Many people have pointed to the Mets payroll of $140 million as an indication of Randolph’s bad job and a reason he should be fired. However, baseball games are not won by the team with the largest salaries, but by the team with the most runs. The Mets find themselves with too many players receiving those big salaries who are on the downside of their careers with back loaded contracts. While Willie Randolph appears to be the scapegoat for this underachieving, overpaid team, it’s Omar Minaya’s failures as GM that have caused this house to topple over.
Omar Minaya put this team together.

Not Willie Randolph.