You clearly heard about all the drama surrounding Willie Randolph and the wrongful axing peaceful separation of the Mets organization and most of its coaching staff. One of the men without a job is Rick Peterson, the former pitching coach. But Peterson might not be out on the streets for too lengthy a time.
This is because a previous stop on his resume -- Oaktown. Namely because of a certain pitcher he coached there.
However, when asked what type of relationship they had, Zito noted that as far back as college, he and his family hired Peterson for private coaching. When the A's drafted Zito, Peterson was their pitching coach.
"I had success from the start there in Oakland," Zito said. "There's a lot to be said for your first coach in the big leagues, too. He moved me on the mound and did something also with my hands, stuff like that, stuff I still do today."
Now, this is primarily speculation, as noted by a no comment from Zito. However, it does make a ton of sense. The likely move -- because clearly Dave Righetti is doing a good job -- would be to pay Peterson to coach Zito, and Zito only.
Randolph gave an answer straight from Crash Davis's script on dealing with the media.
"I am very disappointed that I was not able to fulfill my dream of winning a world championship with this team. I will miss my players."
Peterson, on the other hand, kept up his persona as a man who comes to the game from a different point of view.
"I appreciated the opportunity (the Wilpons) gave me. They welcomed me into their home, and sometimes homes go through renovations. I am the hardwood floor that is being ripped out and replaced with Tuscany tile. Hopefully, the Tuscany tile will do better than the hardwood tile. ... I am walking out of here in peace."
Pretty classy, all things considered. Peterson's comments, I mean, not the Tuscany tile. For me, hardwood is always the way to go. You just have to remember that no matter what your decorator says, Victor Zambrano doesn't go with anything.
Peterson's psychological style never seemed to be embraced by many of the men he tutored with the Mets. Still, I wonder if the Giants might want to see if he can help former pupil Barry Zito do some renovations on the mansion they thought they were buying.
The news was hardly unexpected, though it's a little surprising to hear that players learned of Randolph's fate via text messages from beat reporters ("WILY WUZ CANNED. LOL!"). Our own Mullet brilliantly satirized Randolph's job security on his personal blog throughout Monday's game, joking that "The Wilpons and Omar Minaya have refused to shoot down the notion that the Mets coaching staff will be replaced by the cast of 'The Hills' for Tuesday night's game."
Instead of Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag, though, Jerry Manuel (Randolph's former bench coach) will take over as the Mets interim manager. He'll be joined on the big league staff by Ken Oberkfell and Dan Warthen, the manager and pitching coach of Triple-A New Orleans, respectively, as well as field coordinator Luis Aguayo. None of these promotions were unexpected.
Now that Minaya has purged the Mets dugout of scapegoats, the only one left to blame is himself. We've already seen on GM get canned this week; is Minaya close behind?
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."
SI's Jon Heyman is reporting today that Willie Randolph could be gone from the Mets head coaching position as soon as this weekend. Although Omar Minaya does love Randolph, it is entirely possible that the Mets, desperate to make any sort of play (have you considered Doc Rivers as a motivational speaker?) will fire anyone at this point.
Willie Randolph's status as Mets manager is extremely tenuous now. General manager Omar Minaya is seriously considering changing managers and at least a couple of the team's coaches, sources told SI.com.
A Mets official indicated that nothing was expected to be decided today regarding Randolph's status. But that doesn't preclude something from happening later this weekend. Front-office sources indicate his hold on the job is shaky, at best.
Should Randolph be fired, bench coach Jerry Manuel will take over, sources told SI.com.
[...] Minaya is also weighing other changes, which could include removing hitting coach Howard Johnson and pitching coach Rick Peterson, sources indicate. Some organization people believe sweeping changes must be tried in order to jump-start the disappointing team.
I think Randolph will be gone by the All Star Break unless the Mets go on a tear. It's stupid for two reasons. First, because there is still a half season of baseball left and while the Phillies are hot, well, you saw what happened last year. And second is, this team is not that good.
The reality is, though, that the zoomed in microscope of New York adds enough pressure that if push comes to shove -- and it just about has -- Minaya will save his own hide via a standard knee jerk sweep job of the coaching staff.
Billy Wagner threw the coaching staff under the bus over the weekend when he criticized Willie Randolph's usage of the bullpen and said pitching coach Rick Peterson "has no experience talking to a bullpen." Not surprisingly, those words came back to haunt him as soon as they appeared in newsprint, which prompted him to seek out Randolph and Peterson first thing Sunday morning to apologize. From the New York Daily News:
Wagner said the quote was accurate, but taken out of context - he meant that pitching coaches and managers can't understand the emotional toll of blowing a save because they haven't experienced it. Regardless of the latest comments, Randolph appears to have become agitated by Wagner's outspokenness and Paul Lo Duca's weekly radio spots.
"He came to me first thing in the morning," Peterson said. "... What I will say is I have a very close relationship with Billy. Very close."
Obviously Mets fans could probably care less about the apology now when the sting of missing the playoffs is still so fresh, but it's good that Wagner got that out of the way. Had he not addressed it, it would have festered over the winter and become a recurring topic during spring training considering it's easy for the media to put the spotlight on the slightest sign of discord when trying to explain one of the most monumental collapses in recent memory. Sorry, No Photos
Tom Glavine's already dug the Mets a 5-0 hole and departed to a chorus of boos in the top of the first inning but regardless of the results in Shea and Philadelphia today it figures to be an interesting offseason for the Mets. Their limp toward the finish line exposed some serious problems behind the curtain. Players sniped at Willie Randolph for his languid demeanor yet none of them stepped up into the leadership void themselves. Carlos Delgado's swing slowed down creating a hole in the middle of the lineup, Lastings Milledge earned the ire of fans and management for his rap album and never earned a starting job and every call to the bullpen was a game of Russian roulette.
"We've been throwing four innings a night - for months!" Wagner told the magazine. "Our pitching coach has no experience talking to a bullpen. He can help you mechanically, but he can't tell you emotions. He has no idea what it feels like. And neither does Willie. They're not a lot of help, put it that way."
Willie Randolph trusts his pitching coach, Rick Peterson. Why wouldn't he? Pretty much everyone who comes to the Mets goes from "much maligned" or "borderline talent" to a successful and serviceable major league pitcher. John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Jorge Sosa are just three examples of pitchers who have improved vastly under the tutelage of Peterson.
But just because Randolph trusts him, doesn't mean he fully understands his methods. And Randolph certainly doesn't want those methods tried out on him.
"Rick's style is totally different," Randolph said. "You'd have to talk to him about that to get all that. He just is very much prepared. He knows mechanics and he knows how to prepare his team to go out there and pitch.
"He's into those biomechanaics," he added, then making a sound like a ghost on Halloween -- "Oooo. He's one of those real deep cats. He's into all that spiritual stuff. You've got to talk to him about that because he's too deep for me. And when he talks I can't hear him anyway. He whispers.
"Asked if Peterson puts his hand on Randolph's shoulder when they talk like he does when calming one of his pitchers, Randolph said, "No, I don't let him touch me. I might turn into a leprechaun or something."
Now why would Rick Peterson do that? We all know that Peterson uses his mystical powers for good, and not evil. But if you're walking by Peterson, and he starts muttering something about blue diamonds, green clovers, purple horseshoes or yellow moons ... run!!!!!!!
Florida on Monday sent a scout to Hi Corbett Field to watch Jorge Julio, who retired six of the seven batters he faced in two scoreless innings against Colorado regulars. He walked Kaz Matsui.
Florida, which has no proven closer on its roster, again is expected to have the lowest payroll in the major leagues, and it remains to be seen if the Marlins would accept Julio's $3.6 million salary in 2007.
Oh that pesky salary thing.
Julio was traded for Kris and Anna Benson at the start of the '06 season (John Maine was the "throw-in" on that deal), and was immediately known around Mets fan circles as "Armando Jr.", which would be a compliment except that the comparison centers around the worst traits of Armando Benitez ... the hangdog look in his eyes after giving up a 500 foot bomb, with the voice of the Snickers commercial seemingly popping into your head saying "wanna get away?" But after a rough start, Julio was doing some good things under Rick Peterson's guidance before being traded for Orlando Hernandez just a couple of months into the season. Julio had 15 saves and a 3.83 ERA in Phoenix, but isn't being guaranteed the closers role for the Diamondbacks with Jose Valverde ready to be handed that role ... again. The Marlins could use a closer with some credentials instead of depending on guys such as Taylor Tankersley (who's battling injury problems), Henry Owens (who was converted from catcher), and Matt Lindstrom (who's a hard thrower but kinda has a Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn motif to him).
In the wake of their firings early this morning, 
Mets GM 
SI's 
Tom Glavine
Willie Randolph trusts his pitching coach, Rick Peterson. Why wouldn't he? Pretty much everyone who comes to the Mets goes from "much maligned" or "borderline talent" to a successful and serviceable major league pitcher. John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Jorge Sosa are just three examples of pitchers who have improved vastly under the tutelage of Peterson.
Could Jorge Julio be on his way to his 
