Mets Owner Says He A"Screwed UpA" on Randolph Firing

Fred Wilpon, the owner of the New York Mets said yesterday that he “screwed up” by allowing general manager Omar Minaya to fire manager Willie Randolph after a West Coast game against the Angels, instead of waiting until the next day where the New York press would have been able to cover the story. With the three hour time difference, Randolph’s firing occurred after 3am on the East Coast. As reported by Bloomberg News (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079 sid=a9aggCxw_ba8 refer=amsports): “I know I screwed up,'' Wilpon told reporters at SportsNet New York's Manhattan studios. ``I should have said, `wait a second.'''[…]Minaya told Wilpon of his decision on Randolph after the Mets' doubleheader against the Texas Rangers in New York on June 15. Wilpon said he told Minaya that he couldn't let Randolph go on Fathers Day and that they should talk about it again early the following day.[...-``I wasn't smart enough to say, `you are going to cut the New York press out?''' Wilpon said. ``I didn't even think of it.'' Since the Randolph firing, his replacement Jerry Manuel has moved the Mets from being 6.5 games out of first, into a tie for the NL East lead. As an aside, don’t think that any regretful decisions on Wilpon’s part has him considering selling the Mets. Everything has a price, but not the Mets,'' Wilpon said. ``I'm never going to sell, my family is going to have this asset.'' Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29).