PORT ST. LUCIE – Willie Randolph doesn’t think the Mets’ collapse last fall requires drastic measures this spring.
Facing the media here yesterday for the first time since pitchers and catchers reported, Randolph said he plans to manage in spring training the same way he always has.
“I don’t think there are any major changes that have to be made,” he said during a state-of-the-team speech. “We went into a funk [last September]. It’s going to be a regular spring training.”
Randolph, who is signed through next season with a club option for 2010, shrugged off questions about his job security if the Mets – bolstered by the addition of Johan Santana – don’t live up to expectations.
Asked if this is a win-or-else season for him, Randolph said: “I don’t think like that. I think year-to-year, one at a time, and I think about winning.”
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Randolph said the starting spot in right field is newcomer Ryan Church’s “job to lose,” although the manager included an asterisk.
Church, acquired from the Nationals in the Lastings Milledge trade, hit .229 against left-handers last season – 58 points lower than his average against righties.
If Church hopes to avoid a platoon situation with Damion Easley and Endy Chavez, Randolph said he must show this spring that he can hit closer to his .254 career average against lefties.
“He’s going in as my right fielder, and we’ll see how it plays out,” Randolph said. “If he makes some adjustments, he’ll play against lefties.”
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Reliever Duaner Sanchez looks fit and is pitching without restriction, but Randolph said the Mets – at least early on – will proceed with caution.
Sanchez, a promising young right-hander, has been sidelined since July 2006 after damaging his pitching shoulder in a Miami taxi accident.
“I will take it a little bit slow with him, but he’s been out for a good year-and-a-half now,” Randolph said. “Holding back isn’t really who he is. We’re not going to treat him with kid gloves.”
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The Mets announced that veteran play-by-play announcer Wayne Hagin, whose last job was with the Cardinals, will join Howie Rose in their WFAN radio booth this season. . . . Retired catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., son of Mets third base coach Sandy Sr., has been hired as the team’s catching instructor.