The big story upon waking up this morning was that the Mets fired manager Willie Randolph. This should have surprised no one, as there have been hints of this taking place since Memorial Day. It is not clear what the Mets were doing with this situation over the past several weeks. Why let the man fly to Anaheim and win for a third time in four outings and then fire him? Is it amateur hour in the Big Apple? Now, to be fair to the Mets brass, Randolph has disappointed as a manger. This team should have won the World Series in 2006 but lost in dramatic fashion to you know who in the NLCS (go here for a refresher). Then last season's record collapse did not do much for confidence. Many of the smartest baseball minds thought the Mets were a shoo-in to win the NL this year (like here), but this team has not played anywhere close to its potential. At 6.5 games behind the Phillies, who are about to cool off after a torrid stretch, with 90 to play it is not time to throw people overboard. Especially when Plan B is Jerry Manual, who makes Randolph seem animated and excitable. The season isn't over for the Mets, but they need to get it together fast. Buster Olney's take is worth a look here.
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It is June 17 and the Not-So Crappy Cardinals have the second best record in the NL. As much as I would love to say I saw this coming, I didn't. This team has been resilient, overcoming pitching injuries to continue winning. Without Pujols and Wainwright, the Cards managed to take a weekend series from the aforementioned Phillies. The keys to this teams success not named Albert Pujols has been the All-Star level play of Ryan Ludwick (.310/16/54), the solid hitting of Yadier Molina (.295/only 9 K), the emergence of Skip Schumaker in the lead-off spot (.310/4/25), and the surprising performances of guys who were once thought to be worthless as big league pitchers. This list includes Kyle Lohse (8-2/3.77), Todd Wellemeyer (7-2/3.67), and Braden Looper (8-5/4.34). Add Carpenter and Mulder (I do not believe Mark Mulder will ever be an effective big league starter again) after the All Star game and the Not-So Crappy Cardinals start to resemble contenders.
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Random utterances:
- Teams to watch out for: The Tigers have won 8 out of 10; the Padres have won 7 out of 10 and almost pulled even with the lowly Dodgers for second in a terrible NL West; the super annoying Yankees have won 7 out of 10 and are slowly poaching the Devil Rays.
- Biggest disappointments to date: 1. Tigers, 2. Mets, 3. Padres, 4. Dodgers, 5. Mariners
- Most surprising to date: 1. Devil Rays, 2. Marlins, 3. White Sox, 4. Oakland, 5. Pittsburgh/Baltimore
- Best players no one had heard of before the start of the season: Edinson Volquez, Shaun Marcum, George Sherill
For the older generation's take, go here.
1 comment:
Spot on with your surprises and disappointments, but I would have included your Cards in the surprises thus far. Pennats are won in August, so I think we will see some of these teams fall behind. Has anyone woken Jerry Manuel up from his 5 year slumber to tell him he's a manager again?
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