Written by Adam Adkins (Contact & Archive) on June 20, 2008
You all know by now that they, 1) fired Willie Randolph, 2)... in the middle of the night, and 3)... after Willie pointedly asked Minaya if he was going to do it, to ‘not let me get on this plane’. You stay classy, Omar.
As a Yankee fan, I know full well how owners can be wild and usually beyond obnoxious, and I’m not by any means defending George’s actions in the past... but he was rarely shady about his firing of managers. He liked the spectacle. He never tried to duck the attention.
Honestly, Omar, didn’t you realize that the circus surrounding you and your manager was front page-show opening news for a few weeks? Come on, you idiot. At that point, after you let him dangle—again, stay classy Omar—there was no chance for you to avoid the media when you canned Randolph. There wasn’t.
What you did was just toss a gallon of gasoline—not cheap—onto the fire... you had built weeks before. Unless you’re really, really, unmercifully dumb—and, given the roster you assembled, it’s possible—you must have wanted the attention.Â
And if you wanted the attention, you had to at least consider the possibility that the attention would be mostly—completely—negative. What, did you think the Post would run a headline of ‘Omar, The Martyr’ and George King would wipe your slate clean because you fired big bad Willie Randolph? Get out of town.
... No, really. I’m sure that fool Freddy Wilpon won’t fire you, because hey, he’s makin’ money, Omar’s makin’ money, so what’s the problem?
Anyone else think it’s smart to blame the National League—they’re old-fashioned—for Chien-Ming Wang’s foot injury? Hankenstein did.Â
(Don’t think I am defending the Steinbrenners by what I wrote above... they’re clearly insane.)
Anyway, Wang is out for a long time, anywhere from until late August, to mid September, to... well, see you next year. Either way, this clearly hurts the Yankees, and I’m not sure it won’t be a deathblow. It’s really hard to replace an ace, even though Wang isn’t your typical ace.
Possible replacements for Wanger include Dan Giese, who pitched well when called upon, Kei Igawa, who... well... you know. Phil Hughes could replace him, but I’ve lost faith. Same with Ian Kennedy.
As for the CC Sabathia option... I don’t think the Indians are offering.
[Editor’s note: The Yankees also signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract Wednesday.]
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