The Mangled Firing of Willie Randolph

Although the New York Mets’ season hadn’t been going well and there had been rumors of a shakeup, the firing of Mets’ manager Willie Randolph seemed to surprise the media, the fans, and Randolph.   The way Randolph was dispatched was hardly a textbook firing.  What’s worse is this firing had almost nothing to do with Randolph’s performance this year.

Two years ago, Randolph came within one game of taking the Mets to the World Series.  Last year, the Randolph-led Mets experienced a stunning collapse, losing 12 of their last 17 games to blow a seven game lead over the Phillies.  While owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon and General Manager Omar Minaya appeared to be on the verge of firing Randolph, they instead retained him for another season.  This year, almost until the bitter end, this leadership-challenged trio continued to say Randolph had their support.  That was never the case.

When you lose confidence in an employee–certainly a key executive–the relationship should end then and there–not eight months later.  Doom surely set in before the ’08 season started.  Any mistake Randolph made this year was magnified.  Every decision was second-guessed. 

This isn’t the first time a manager has been fired in the middle of the season, and it won’t be the last.  What makes this different is the weird way, even for the sports world, the firing was handled.

Though the decision to fire him had been made, Randolph was flown with the team from New York to LA to win his last game, giving him three wins out of his last four games and a record of 34-35 (only six games out of first place).  He was fired after the game in LA at 3:00 a.m. EST.  It’s little wonder that the front office’s evolving explanation about the firing has been ridiculed.

Regular businesses handle significant terminations just as stupidly.  They let the perfect time for a discharge pass, muddle along, foster confusion, and finally do the termination when it might well be better to wait and see how things end up over the next few months.  It’s like the powers that be finally flip a coin.  Heads, he stays.  Tails, he’s fired.

Willie Randolph will be alright.   He effectively receives separation pay that makes one think of the lottery.  The employees left behind should be worried.  They don’t have that kind of financial security.  They’re the ones who still have to work for knuckleheads. 

Firing is always difficult.  While it rarely leads to litigation in a situation involving a big dog with big separation pay, it’s “the thing” that leads to litigation when a normal employee is involved.  That’s when the knuckleheads need to be reined in.  Don’t tell someone he has your support when it’s not true.  Don’t delay a firing.  Don’t fly someone 3,000 miles and then tell him he’s fired in the dead of night.

There is one good thing.  As far as we know, Randolph wasn’t waterboarded before he was fired.