Mets fire Randolph as manager

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA (TICKER) —The New York Mets fired manager Willie Randolph early Tuesday morning.

Randolph became the first major league manager to lose his job this season, just hours after the club’s 9-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Bench coach Jerry Manuel, who previously managed the Chicago White Sox, will replace Randolph on an interim basis, according a statement released by the team at approximately 3:15 a.m. EDT. Manuel said he spoke to Randolph on Tuesday morning.

“It was a difficult conversation in the sense I know what he was feeling because I have been through it,” Manuel said. “As usual, Willie was very up-front. He was hurt, knowing how much he wanted to continue to do it.”

Pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto also were both been dismissed, with the team promoting Ken Oberkfell and Dan Warthen to fill those vacancies.

“It was a very tough decision,” New York general manager Omar Minaya said during a news conference Tuesday. I know this past weekend was a tough one with all the speculation with Willie’s job status.”

Minaya said he made the decision to fire Randolph because he wanted “closure” and did not want speculation about Randolph’s status weighing on his players’ minds.

“We could not go on the way we were this weekend,” Minaya said. “It’s not fair to the players. I had to make a decision.”

The timing of the firing has been widely panned by the media, as it came in the middle of the night. It also happened just one day after the Mets allowed Randolph to accompany the team on its West Coast flight. New York split a doubleheader with the Texas Rangers on Sunday in Randolph’s final home appearance.

“It was a quick decision because I promised Willie once I made the decision, I would let him know right away,” Minaya added.

Speaking to reporters outside his hotel Tuesday morning, Randolph said he was caught off guard by the dismissal, despite constant speculation in recent weeks that his job was in jeopardy.

“I’m just very disappointed that I’m not going to be able to fulfill what my dream is, which is to come here and help this team win a World Series,” Randolph said. “To the fans, I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to fulfill what I really said I wanted to do - get this team a world championship.”

Randolph’s job security had been unstable since September, when the club suffered arguably the biggest regular-season collapse in baseball history, blowing a seven-game standings lead to the Philadelphia Phillies with 17 contests remaining.

Things have not gone much better this season as the club has been mediocre at best - although Randolph’s firing came after the Mets won for the third time in their last four games. However, the team has been around .500 for most of the season.

“This decision was not based on just this weekend,” Minaya said. “This decision was based on how I see this team for the past year and a half. This team has underachieved. We need to go in another direction.”

Still, Randolph indicated that he had no clue he was going to be fired when he left Angels Stadium following Monday’s game.

“I was really stung by it,” he said. “I was surprised.”

The news of Randolph’s firing saddened New York Yankees first-year manager Joe Girardi, who was a player for the Yankees when Randolph was a bench coach with the team.

“I feel bad for Willie,” Girardi said. “Willie and my relationship goes back to 1996. Your heart goes out to Willie. I know how hard Willie worked and how badly he wanted it. Willie’s a winner. That’s why I believe he’s going to be OK.

Current Dodgers manager Joe Torre, for whom Randolph served under as third base and bench coach with the New York Yankees from 1996-2004, questioned the timing of the firing.

“The (Mets) just made a 3,000-mile trip out west. I would like to think that they probably knew what they wanted to do before they left,” Torre said. “It certainly is strange.

“I don’t think that there is ever a good time to be let go. It’s unfortunate. Willie is a good baseball man.”

Widely considered a preseason favorite to compete for the National League pennant, the Mets (34-35) are in fourth place in the NL East Division, 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Phillies (42-30).

With a team payroll of just under $140 million, the Mets have been booed sporadically this season by a fan base still reeling from the disastrous end to the 2007 campaign.

Randolph, 53, also came under fire last month following an inflammatory newspaper interview, in which the usually mild-mannered manager criticized Mets fans and the New York media.

The first black manager in franchise history, Randolph drew the organization’s ire for particular comments in the interview that criticized Mets television network SNY for its portrayal of his behavior.

Randolph also hinted at a racial double standard regarding coaches, managers and team executives specifically in New York.

A former player with the New York Yankees from 1976-88, Randolph eventually apologized for the comments, which prompted a meeting with Mets owner Fred Wilpon, COO Jeff Wilpon and Minaya on Memorial Day.

Though it was widely speculated that Randolph would be dismissed at that time, Minaya gave Randolph a vote of confidence following the meeting.

Randolph, however, revealed that the Wilpons had not guaranteed his job security through the rest of the season.

He signed a three-year, $5.65 million contract extension during the offseason. The Mets will have to buy out the remaining year and a half on his deal.

Randolph was hired by the Mets prior to the 2005 season and a year later guided the team to the NL Championship Series, where the club lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

A childhood Mets fan as a Brooklyn resident, Randolph has posted a 302-253 record with New York.

Manuel will begin his second managerial stint on Tuesday. Manager of the White Sox from 1998-2003, the 54-year-old went 500-471 during his six seasons.