Free Willie? You're An Idiot.

(NOTE: This piece was originally published Monday May 26th.)

As of right now, Willie Randolph is the manager of the New York Mets.

That statement SHOULD hold true come September.

And if Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon decide to part ways with the embattled Metropolitans' skipper, they need to be fair cut ties with their general manager, Omar Minaya as well.

But they won't.

The Mets are slumping and not living up to expectations. But after last season's collapse where they dropped a seven-game lead with 17 to play, its easier for New York's "other" team to fire Randolph than admit they took big chances signing hitters and pitchers that were closer to qualifying for AARP benefits than their collective primes back when they unleashed their "Our Team, Our Time" slogan for 2006.

That's the downside of reloading with a bunch of has-beens who get inked to long-term deals for that one big run.

The Mets are lucky they are where they are right now. Period.

After 2004, they axed manager Art Howe, whose best success with the Oakland Athletics came as one of general manager Billy Beane's Moneyball muppets. Randolph came to the rescue and managed the Mets to an 83-79 record--15 games better than Howe's previous campaign.

Then the Mets teased their fans by advancing to the 2006 NLCS, despite the fact that they were missing their ace, Pedro Martinez, their best post- season pitcher, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, their best middle-reliever, Duaner Sanchez, and were throwing former Pittsburgh Pirates castoffs such as Oliver Perez.

Yes, those Pirates.

Of course, it had to be Willie's fault his closer, Billy Wagner, left his manager with little faith that fateful series with the St. Louis Cardinals, having blown a 6-6 tie in the ninth inning of Game Two. Randolph chose to throw the reliable Aaron Heilman in the ninth inning of Game Seven, whose one mistake to (of all hitters) Yadier Molina propelled the Cardinals into the World Series.

Randolph took the blame for not winning a pennant in 2006 with a patchwork rotation of a future Hall-of-Famer (Tom Glavine), a rookie (John Maine), a castoff (Perez) and a maligned journeyman (Steve Trachsel).

That NLCS coupled with last season's collapse makes it easier to blame Randolph for this season's mediocre Mets.

It must be Randolph's fault Pedro the Great has spent more time on the DL the last three years than in the rotation. What? Did Willie force him into a Wii marathon in the clubhouse?

It's Willie's problem that Oil of Olay is only meant to hide Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez's age? Where's Barry Bonds' flaxseed oil when you need it?

Right. It's the Mets' manager who somehow can't motivate Carlos Delgado to hit above .220, or that Moises Alou is only a great hitter when he's not vacationing on the disabled list. It's his problem the Mets' farm system is ranked next to their cross-town neighbors in the over-hyped/overrated department.

All this, off set by those brilliant trades for Johan Santana, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. Man, that Omar is such a genius. It has to be Willie's fault.

Willie's fault that Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran aren't hitting to their potential. Willie's fault that Mike Pelfrey, Nelson Figueroa and Cladio Vargas have combined for 17 of their staff's 48 starts.

Maybe the Wilpons have a point. But it's hard for a manager to win games with aging journeyman jocks like Luis Castillo, Damion Easley, and Endy Chavez, and Delgado, and without Pedro, El Duque and Alou.

In 2006, the Mets surpassed expectations (managed by Randolph) and they've been paying for it ever since. Minaya finds the talent and Randolph manages it. It's the way most ballclubs operate unless you're the A's or the Jays.

But while Minaya rushed to plug-in aging former all-stars, Mets fans forgot what Yankee fans learned in the 1980's:

They can all get old at once.

That's not Willie's fault.

Unfortunately, it's his biggest problem.

The only thing Mets fans can blame Randolph for is believing he could confide his thoughts in a sportswriter--Ian O'Connor of the Bergen (NJ) Record--who has now become the center of a controversial New York baseball story for the second time since last October.

O'Connor was the lone writer who interviewed George Steinbrenner during last season's ALDS when Yankees lost in four games to the Cleveland Indians. Steinbrenner, who typically only speaks through his publicist, Howard Rubenstein, discussed Joe Torre's job status saying, "His job is on the line … I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series."

Last Sunday, O'Conner asked Randolph if race may have played a part in his critique as Mets' manager. Randolph responded.

"Is it racial? Huh? It smells a little bit."

Even though an elderly line-up and a patchwork pitching staff may be Willie's problems, they're hardly Willie's fault.

Unfortunately, he spoke to soon, to the wrong writer. Sure, any writer would have printed the same thing.

But its hard to believe Willie would have given the same story to any writer other than O'Connor. Even if he did have a tape recorder in his hand.

Sadly, where Minaya should get as much, if not, most of the blame, Willie's frustrations are now public, and have made him a target of Mets fans and ownership and an easy scapegoat for his general manager.

Huh? It smells a little bit.