ATLANTA — Silence from ownership might have spoken volumes about Willie Randolph’s shaky job security today.
Randolph admitted he was rebuffed after reaching out to Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his son, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, to apologize personally for his racial remarks and criticism of the team’s own TV network.
Instead of hearing back from the Wilpons, Randolph was told in a phone call from GM Omar Minaya that Minaya was returning Randolph’s call on behalf of the owners.
Minaya also relayed to Randolph that the Wilpons wanted to meet with the embattled manager once the team returns from its current trip to Atlanta and Denver on Sunday night.
A team spokesman repeated to reporters for the second day in a row that the Wilpons would not comment on the controversy that continues to dog Randolph in the wake of his remarks and the Mets’ inconsistent play.
Randolph tried to downplay the snub by the Wilpons when asked about it before the series finale with the Braves.
“I reached out to both of them, and when I spoke to Omar after that, he said that they had gotten my call and that they would probably get back to me,” Randolph said. “But I don’t read anything into that.”
Randolph described his conversation with Minaya as positive.
“He was supportive,” Randolph said. “Omar and I are tight. I talk to Omar every day.”
If Minaya was supportive, he would appear to be one of the few people in Randolph’s corner these days with the Mets hovering disappointingly around .500.
The biggest criticism of Randolph is that the players don’t respond to his stoic, unemotional style, a knock that appeared to pick up steam with comments third baseman David Wright made to the team’s Web site after a 11-4 loss Wednesday night.
“I can accept losing,” Wright told mets.com. “Not easily, but every team loses here and there. But to go out and give the effort we’re giving, to go out and lose without a fight … I just don’t think we have the fire I would hope we’d have.”
Wright questioned the demeanor of a clubhouse that Randolph appears helpless to motivate.
“Losing like this, I hope, would ruin their nights,” Wright told the site after the Mets’ third straight loss to the Braves. “I want them to take it personally when we lose. I want them to be ticked off. If it was a matter of talent, it’d be different. If we just weren’t any good, I could put my head on the pillow at night and sleep. But to go through the motions every night …”
Randolph wasn’t as critical as Wright after Wednesday night’s loss but made it obvious that the Mets’ inconsistency is exasperating.
Randolph said his team appears to have gotten overconfident with its two-game Subway Series sweep at Yankee Stadium last weekend and came to Atlanta expecting to roll over the Braves.
“You can’t just assume that, because you had a couple of good games in New York, that you’re going to do the same thing here,” Randolph said. “We have not gotten the job done the first three games of this series.”
The Mets haven’t said anything about Randolph since Minaya gave him a tepid vote of confidence last Friday, and they have heightened the speculation by letting Randolph twist in the wind this week with their lack of public support.
The players have tried to tune it all out.
“We can’t pay any attention to that,” closer Billy Wagner said. “If we win, everything will take care of itself.”