MLB Weekly

Willie Randolph: We start off with more criticism of New York Mets manager Willie Randolph, who was my favorite player growing up. I have not seen one good thing written about Randolph's managing skills since he got the Mets job in 2005.

However, this is really unfair for Randolph because there isn't one manager in the game who hasn't been criticized for their moves. If you win you are considered a great manager, if you don't then you get criticized.

Joe Torre was a god when he won 4 championships in 5 years, then he didn't win won for 7 years and he was considered old and lazy. Terry Francona was a dope for the first half of 2004 but now that he's won 2 championships he's suddenly a good manager? I certainly don't think so.

Just for the record, here is Randolph's record as manager since joining the Mets, 273-223, which is a .550 winning percentage.

The Mets should be lucky to have Willie as their manager, the team stunk before he was there, and I think some criticism should go to their GM Omar Minaya. Minaya hasn't been able to supply the Mets with a good pitching staff since Randolph has been the manager and has made some costly trades.

In all honesty, I don't feel like the Mets had that great of a team last year and was not surprised that they missed the playoffs. In fact, according to their projected record based on runs scored for 2007, they actually won 2 games more than they should have won. In 2006, they won 6 more games than they should have.

So maybe the problem is not Randolph but instead the fans bloated expectations for this team. It will be interesting to see what happens this season with the Mets and Randolph. I would suspect that because of the high expectations this team has due to the Johan Santana acquisition, that Randolph needs to at least make the World Series or he will get canned.


Phil Hughes: Yankees phenom pitcher Phil Hughes has struggled recently and SaberScouting has some video and a break down of his mechanics, here is an excerpt of the analysis:

But, the bottom line is right now is that from what I can see, Hughes is pushing against that front leg and not driving over and through it. Hence, the reason for the less aggressive looking follow through with his leg that I pointed out above. The problem is not arm speed, nor is it arm angle or the way his hands are breaking, at least from what I can tell. Through 75% of his delivery, essentially nothing has changed. The leg lift and follow through certainly appear different, though.(SaberScouting)

Definitely an interesting analysis and it does look like Hughes is pulling through on his follow through, which to me means he may be trying to over throw the ball. Perhaps he hears all the talk about his velocity drop as well and is trying to prove he can throw as hard as he was in the minors.

Joe Girardi: Girardi is already catching hell for his managerial decisions after he let Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez in Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox. Girardi let Mussina pitch to Ramirez with two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd instead of walking him to face Kevin Youkalis.

I have to agree that this was a bone headed move. You can't let Manny beat you in that situation and it makes me question Girardi's thinking going forward, especially since he has said that he would make the same move again if it came up. Aslong as Mussina was pitching, then walking Manny is the obvious move, I really don't see any other option there.

Other Links:

Check out this really good interview that talks about the Negro Leagues.

Also, check out the blog of former Blue Jays outfielder Jesse Barfield.