There Goes Schneider, Here Comes The Throw To The Plate…

I recently blogged about the varying reports suggesting that coaches Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto are on the chopping block. While I ponder the merits of such a move, I’m bewildered by the fact that Sandy Alomar’s name isn’t included on that short list.

While some of us can certainly make a strong argument for keeping Rick Peterson or Tom Nieto, is there one Mets fan among us that could make even a weak argument for keeping Sandy Alomar?

I believe we can count at least a half dozen times this season where Alomar either goofed by not sending a runner home, or worse yet sending a runner home with the odds clearly stacked against him scoring. Yesterday’s decision to send Brian Schneider home against the powerful arm of Milton Bradley was not only a terrible one, but it may have been one of the worst calls I have seen in the Omar Minaya era.

How Sandy Alomar stays in the good graces of this organization is beyond me. At least in the case of Rick Peterson I can point to some success stories when I see the apparent improvement in pitchers John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, Scott Schoeneweis and recently, Oliver Perez. And even Tom Nieto dishes out some of the best pats on the ass in the league…

But what in the world can I say in Sandy Alomar’s defense? He is a terrible third base coach who makes poor decisions with alarming regularity. I will give him some credit for stepping in front of Jose Reyes to protect him during that Marlins brawl in the last series of the ’08 season, but aside from that, can anyone convince me that he’s a keeper?