Fred Wilpon is getting defensive about the decision to let Willie Randolph go. He insists that it was very simply a numbers a game—not enough wins.

An article today in the New York Post by Mark Hale paraphrases Wilpon saying, “the former manager was well aware of what the winning standard was going to be when he was hired.” Wilpon suggests that although Randolph did a good job, when they looked at the numbers, he wasn’t meeting their winning expectation.

Apparently Wilpon was also very defensive of General Manager, Omar Minaya, suggesting that he’s “done a great job.” He outlines how the firing transpired. Minaya called Wilpon on the 15th saying that he wanted to have a meeting the next day, that he wanted to fire Randolph and two coaches, that he wanted to do it quickly and in person. He also said that he wanted to sleep on it. Which he did. The meeting was then held the next morning at 9 am where the decision was finally made.

What still isn’t answered is why the Minaya disregarded his own resolve and made the move through an email in the middle of the night.

This will no doubt be a famous moment for Mets fans to relieve for years—the night Willie Randolph got the axe by email. Maybe if the Mets can turn around a mediocre season, it will be a decision that one sort of smirks at, rather than disgusts in.

Omar Minaya, the Mets GM who issued the infamous canning, claims that he warned Willie Randolph several days before that the firing was on its way. Randolph claims that he got a totally different message, thinking that he was speaking of coaches that were going to be let go.

Additionally, Randolph feels that his ousting happened to early. He felt like he had a team that he could work with, a team that would find it’s groove this season and end strong.

It seems agreed in the press that Randolph’s middle of the night email firing was done in bad form. But now that it’s been done, what is in the future for Mr. Randolph?

In the New York Post today they quote Randolph as saying:

“Once you get a taste of managing, it’s pretty cool, and I want to get back into it. Depending on who is calling, I want to do it again. I’m not ready to retire. I’m going to enjoy myself for now. But if the phone rings, I’m going to answer.”

With Randolph gone, do Mets ticket holders have something exciting to look forward to in the coming months? There’s no question that the Mets have talent. Will the new Interim Manager Jerry Manuel, save this season? Time will tell.

Imagine being a manager for an organization where you read about getting fired in the newspaper ever day. Imagine how difficult that would be. You now capture a glimpse of the pressure that Willie Randolph is under.

Managers get let go all of the time. it happens in every organization. Sometimes the blame falls squarely on the manager. But often, in most cases, the blame is both the organization’s and the manager’s.

Every manager is forced to deal with the cards that have been given to him or her. No one likes to fail. But sometimes situations are un-winnable. So is Randolph to blame for his now imminent demise?

Sam Borden of the blog LoHud.com suggests that Randolph is somewhat to blame:

“A major-league manager’s job has less to do with tactical and in-game decisions than it does with perpetually motivating a group of egotistical, highly paid athletes to perform up to their given talents. Anyone who has watched the frequently lackadaisical efforts the Mets have offered recently knows that Randolph has failed on that count.”

But blame has got fall on other individuals as well.  There may be other firings needed.  There are going to be big changes needed to turn around this team that keeps disappointing Mets ticket holders.

On Tuesday night, at Shea Stadium, you could find the bullpen doing their part to contribute. They helped the grounds crew cover the field when a thunderstorm delayed the game for 61 minutes. Go Mets pitchers.

Did I mention that they gave up six runs in four innings against the Diamondbacks, giving up a 9-5 loss?

The Mets gave up four home runs. Three of those were given up by the bullpen in the last two innings. Talk about blowing it.

This is the fifth straight loss for the struggling New York Mets. For a while there it seemed that Willie Randolph was finding some really great successes to make the case for him to keep his job. But with this losing streak firmly in place, it’s not looking pretty for the beleaguered manager.

Even Randolph’s hope for getting Moises Alou back on the field, a player which he calls an “RBI machine” fell flat.  He didn’t return after the rain delay because his calf got stiff. This was just an additional disappointment adding up to 5 games of disappointment. What started as a really promising season is getting ever frustrating.

Maybe if pitching doesn’t work for the bullpen, they can get jobs on the grounds crew. Maybe Randolph is eying a maintenance job too.

It’s heartbreaking to see a great performance by a pitcher go unmatched by the hitters. But that’s exactly what happened to Mike Pelfrey and the Mets Thursday night.

Pelfrey only allowed one run in six innings. But the Mets only managed five hits and one run the entire game, allowing the Padres a 2-1 win. This was their third loss in 10 games, an improvement on the rest of the season, but disappointing nonetheless.

In spite of the loss, Randolph seems to be thinking positively about his team that performed well defensively. He felt good about keeping Pelfrey in his place in the line-up. And he kept him in even when things looked bad, pushing Pelfrey to be able to get through the ups and downs of a long pitching stretch, hoping he’ll be able to get to 120 pitches in a game at some point.

Randolph also had great praise for shortstop Reyes who performed well on Thursday, insisting in the Daily News: “He’s still an excellent shortstop. He’s going to win a Gold Glove someday.”

Even though these are great signs of a team with great potential, Willie Randolph cannot allow his ball club to lose games like this. You can’t keep a team to 2 runs and still lose the game. Mets fans demand more than this.

Will the Mets have a new manager? That’s the latest question to be considered by New York sports fans and the Mets Ownership. Why is this a question? They’ve got a $140 million dollar payroll, and not even a .50 record to show for it.

In addition to a less than awesome season with the Mets, Willie Randolph is taking heat for some comments about race. He suggested several days ago that his skin color might be a factor in the way the public and the media perceives his ability to run the team.

Ian O’Connor from The Record says that Randolph has good reason for suggesting this:

“As the de facto offensive coordinator of Joe Torre’s dynastic Yanks, Randolph was rejected as a candidate for one managerial job after another, this while every white bullpen catcher and his brother got a gig.

“Does anyone really believe that a white man who was a two-time champion Yankee as a player and a four-time champion Yankee as a coach would’ve waited as long as Randolph did before a franchise finally called his number? Especially when that man was considered a stabilizing force in those crazy George-Billy-Reggie, Bronx-is-burning days?”

Maybe Randolph has a point. Maybe if he was white, the vultures wouldn’t be circling quite so soon. But he also has to take accountability for the fact that for the last 160 games the Mets have gone 78-82. This is not good for an expensive team trying to sell Mets tickets.