All indications are that Willie Randolph will be retained by the New York Mets following their epic collapse. Newsday’s David Lennon reported this morning that the decision on Randolph’s future falls to GM Omar Minaya, who evidently still holds full autonomy over baseball operations. There had been speculation that Mets’ ownership led by the Wilpon family might step in here in the wake of the team’s humiliating freefall. It seems there are multiple individuals within ownership and management that would like to see Willie gone. Instead, according to Lennon’s sources, Minaya plans on standing behind his manager, who has two years and $4.25 million remaining on the the three year extension he signed last offseason.

Though perhaps not entirely rationale, it would not have been surprising had ownership decided to put Willie on the chopping block here. However, if the decision truly lies with Omar, as it appears it does, it’s an absurd notion that the GM could even consider axing his partner in crime here. Such a move would be the height of hypocrisy and cowardice for a man – heralded as the franchise’s savior as recently as six months ago – who is as much to blame for this debacle as anyone in the dugout. In fact, one could easily argue that it should be Omar, not Willie, on the hot seat today, awaiting his fate.

For as much as everything Omar touched seemed to turn to gold last season, it seemed conversely so in 2007. As good as Carlos Delgado performed on the field and in the clubhouse in ‘06, he was equally miserable in all facets this season. Spot starters such as Jorge Sosa and Jason Vargas proved as useless down the stretch this year as young and cheap acquisitions John Maine and Oliver Perez proved invaluable in ‘06 and beyond. And as veteran Jose Valentine’s presence on the field seemed to stabalize a young infield a year ago, veteran Luis Castillo’s arrival this season seemed to coincide with the infield’s collapse, despite Castillo’s strong play. It seemed that anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Omar and his Mets in 2007 – in many ways, a mirror image of the season prior.

Perhaps most damning are the fish that Minaya let get away last offseason. Brian Bannister is a Rookie of the Year candidate for the Royals this season. Hard-throwing Matt Lindstrom not only became a top arm in the Florida bullpen, but recorded key outs against his former team during the Amazin’s crippling final week. Heath Bell has been one of the top setup men in baseball this season. His San Diego Padres will miss the playoffs at no fault of Bell’s, who pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief in last night’s Wild Card tiebreaker, recording five strike outs along the way.

Meanwhile, what do the Mets have to show for these talented young arms? Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson arrived from San Diego and did nothing for this team. Jason Vargas arrived from the Marlins and pitched terribly. Ambiorix Burgos did his best Jorge Julio imitation upon arriving from Kansas City, before being demoted to AAA and undergoing Tommy John surgery.

In addition, the Post’s Joel Sherman points out today that 22-year-old catcher Jesus Flores was lost to the Nationals via the Rule 5 Draft, and the Mets were forced to turn to the likes of Mike DeFelice and Sandy Alomar Jr. when injuries felled Paul Lo Duca and Ramon Castro. Flores didn’t exactly make a push for an All-Star nomination this year, but performed admirably for a player that management evidently felt was more expendable than say, Alay Soler or Julio Franco, just to name a couple.

In truth, there are more than a few eyebrow-raising moves in Omar Minayay’s executive past, and Sherman is on the case today to outline them all. Via the Post:

Minaya had a dream season last year where nearly every move – big and small – worked en route to an NL East title. But was that an oasis in an otherwise checkered career of decision-making?

You will find executives around the game who say Minaya claims more credit than he deserves for finding Latin talent early in his career, notably Sammy Sosa. Plenty of officials who were around the Mets when Minaya was a top executive under then GM Steve Phillips swear Minaya, among other failed items, strongly endorsed Jeromy Burnitz and Mo Vaughn, and gave a tepid report on a young international free agent named Alfonso Soriano.

In Montreal, Minaya hid behind the threats that the franchise was going to be disbanded to make damn-the-future moves that included trading Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon.
…
What message did Minaya send by re-signing steroid offender Guillermo Mota or firing a hard-working hitting coach (Rick Down) in midseason and hiring a renowned loafer in Rickey Henderson, whose time as a Met player was underscored by indifference?

The magic of last year (Endy Chavez, Darren Oliver, etc) faded into the tragic of this year (Brian Lawrence, Aaron Sele, etc). Last year all the moves made Minaya a wonder boy.

This year’s decision and collapse make us just wonder about a GM who claims talent evaluation as his best skill.

Well put, Joel.