Shocking but true: Mets fire Bobby Valentine!

[Fausto]

Gee, I didn't see this coming.

Link for now....no further details really.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Manager Bobby Valentine was fired by the New York Mets on Tuesday after a last-place finish in the NL East.

The team put together a $102 million payroll last offseason, bringing in Roberto Alomar, Mo Vaughn, Roger Cedeno and others, but struggled all year.

The Mets said they would formally announce the move, first reported by Newsday on its Web site, at an afternoon news conference.

According to the newspaper, Mets owner Fred Wilpon decided in the past few days to fire Valentine. Wilpon repeatedly had said he planned to keep Valentine and general manager Steve Phillips.

Valentine, who led the team to the 2000 World Series, just finished the second year of a three-year contract, and the Mets will be responsible for his 2003 salary of approximately $2.7 million.

The Mets finished 75-86, in last place in the NL East for the first time since 1993 and below .500 for the first time in six years.

Last month, Newsday reported that seven Mets smoked marijuana during the season, although the newspaper said Tuesday that Wilpon's decision was based on the team's performance in the past two seasons.

 

[Kevin]

The Mets wouldn't be able to win if Joe Torre was their Manager. The Mets always have these internal conflicts between players, so their rythmn is never in sync.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: kevin000
The Mets wouldn't be able to win if Joe Torre was their Manager. The Mets always have these internal conflicts between players, so their rythmn is never in sync.

yep, if your players don't get along it hardly matters who manages. maybe tyrone willingham could get them to play nice.

 

[Lounatik]

Yep, its the ol' "Fire The Manager" routine. Lets see:Jeromy Burnitz, brought in to protect Piazza, known strikeout king,with 135 whiffs and diminshing skills. Mo Vaughn, out of baseball for a year, new league, bigger pants.Whoosh!145 strikeouts and a measly first half.(In his defense, he did learn the pitchers a bit better in the second half.) Roberto Alomar,age,diminished skills etc. As you can see, Bobby Valentine was totally responsible for these wonderful acquisitons. Well, guess again, the moron Steve Phillips was the one to round up these douchebags and guess what? He gets to keep his job! And to make it all the sweeter, their entire rotation with the exception of Al Leiter, are free agents! Damn you to hell, Bobby Valentine!
This is coming from a dyed in the wool Braves fan who was looking forward to a little competition this year. I dont like Bobby Valentine and his annoying attitude, but I must say that if he is gone, Steve Foolips ought to follow him right out the door.


Peace



Lounatik

 

[FoBoT]

yeah!!
don't let the door hit you buddy!!

 

[Doggiedog]

You forgot Roger Cedeno who sucked ass too.

 

[Lounatik]

Yep, only 25 stolen bases.And this buffoon led the AL in steals a few years back! I can see Bobby Valentine filing his cleats down to nubs right now......

I liken this to when the Scrubs fired Don Baylor, who I personally think is a very good manager(I wish the Braves would have sent Bobby Q. Liquor upstairs and promoted him,but thats another story) Now the freakin Cubs fire Bruce Kimm. Why? Because their record was worse under him than Baylor!Changing the manager just to appease a bunch of primadonnas is probably the best way to ensure a losing attitude. Now the Mets are probably going to promote someone like Mookie Wilson or maybe bring Dallas Greene back(ha-ha) Either way, the Mets are in for some dark years ahead.



Peace



Lounatik

 

[Doggiedog]

Don Baylor is probably laughing his ass off at Bobby V now.

 

[wyvrn]

That's the problem with sports. The owner gets to stay even if 50% of the blame is his. The managers and general managers get the full responsibility for the success of the team, even though they rarely have anything close to 100% of the authority. Dallas Cowboys fans know this all too well with Jerry Jones, the self-proclaimed general manger, and his son who is the Director of Player Personnel. Their repeated bad drafting and ludicrous free agent miscues have resulted in the dismissal of Gailey,Switzer, and Mike Reilly.

 

[GizmoFreak]

Originally posted by: Lounatik
Yep, its the ol' "Fire The Manager" routine. Lets see:Jeromy Burnitz, brought in to protect Piazza, known strikeout king,with 135 whiffs and diminshing skills. Mo Vaughn, out of baseball for a year, new league, bigger pants.Whoosh!145 strikeouts and a measly first half.(In his defense, he did learn the pitchers a bit better in the second half.) Roberto Alomar,age,diminished skills etc. As you can see, Bobby Valentine was totally responsible for these wonderful acquisitons. Well, guess again, the moron Steve Phillips was the one to round up these douchebags and guess what? He gets to keep his job! And to make it all the sweeter, their entire rotation with the exception of Al Leiter, are free agents! Damn you to hell, Bobby Valentine!
This is coming from a dyed in the wool Braves fan who was looking forward to a little competition this year. I dont like Bobby Valentine and his annoying attitude, but I must say that if he is gone, Steve Foolips ought to follow him right out the door.


Peace



Lounatik

agreed. steve phillips should have been shown the door. he was a bigger part of the problem than bobby v. remember, this is the guy who screwed up the whole a-rod deal, when a-rod WANTED to play in new york.

 

[SaltBoy]

Crap. No more Bobby Valentine with his Halloween Costumes anymore!

 

[Passner]

How anyone could blame the Mets failure on Valentine is beyond ludicrous. Sign a bunch of old players, some of whom haven't been above average for seval years, for insanely high ammounts of money and you WILL stink. The miracle is that Bobby V helped the Mets contend in 2001 despite the worst offense in the NL and merely average pitching. They exceeded their expected statistical finish by 10 games, much of that was the sheer skill of Bobby V, who has had similar success with other teams.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Valentine is an experienced scapegoat, just like most managers.

I miss eating at Bobby Valentines sports bars in the dallas/fort worth area... They had great lunch specials! Plus they had this deal where you guessed the winners of each week's NFL games (handicapped) and you could win gift certificates, merchandize and even trips.

Maybe Milwaukee will hire him and he will open up a couple of restuarants there...

 

[MrDingleDangle]

ridiculus...like others said...phillips is the problem, not valentine..

 

[Stark]

who's gonna score the doobies now?