The firing of Willy Randolph may not have been a big surprise to Mets fans, but kicking pitching coach Rick Peterson to the curb along with him was a different story. The pitching has been the Mets (only) strong point this season and he's been known to work wonders with both struggling youngsters and fading oldsters both in New York and at his previous post in Oakland. With the A's he worked with Zito, Mulder, and Hudson, all of whom proved to be solid starters while under Rick's tutelage; with the Mets, Perez, Feliciano, and Glavine all benefited from his coaching. He's known to be great at relating to each pitcher individually, helping them draw parallels between pitching and their personal life and interests - for example, with Zito he related pitching to surfing. He's a very cerebral dude and doesn't give up on any pitcher, regardless of how poorly they've been pitching.

All this makes me think about our dear Hughsie and I-Ken, who've been struggling (to say the least) to get the job done despite the fact that all the Powers That Be see a lot of raw talent in each of them. I wonder if Ricky P could work some of his magic on those two and turn them around? I know Dave Eiland is a popular hombre, but is he getting the job done? That's not a rhetorical question... I really don't know how effective he has been with his pitching staff. Hughsie's and IPK's performances this year lead me to question his ability to work with struggling youngsters. With Wang out - possibly for the remainder of the season (insert teary-eyed sad face here) - the Yanks desperately need Hughes and Kennedy to perform at least half-decently when they return from the DL Resort and Casino, and I'm just not sure Guidry is up to the task.

The Yanks have been playing very well lately, but they can't bank on the offense scoring 8+ runs every game or Mike "I'm Like a Box of Chocolates; You Never Know What You're Gonna Get" Mussina busting out steller starts every 5 days. Could Ricky be the man for the job? Should the Steinbrothers and the Cash Man start considering a change in their coaching staff? What dost thou think?