After weeks of speculation, the New York Mets fired manager Willie Randolph. 

Bench coach Jerry Manuel takes over on an interim basis for Randolph, who led the Mets to within one win of the 2006 World Series. They got off to a strong start again last year but plummeted down the stretch and have been unable to rebound.

A preseason favorite to win the NL pennant, the $138 million Mets (34-35) had won two in a row when Randolph was let go early Tuesday morning -- making him the first major league manager to get fired this season.

Pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto also were dismissed in an enormous overhaul that was revealed in a fact-of-the-matter Mets news release at a stunning time -- about 12:15 a.m. PDT (3:15 a.m. ET), nearly two hours after New York's 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

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Let me preface this by saying that I always have, and always will hate the New York Yankees. The team referred to as the Evil Empire might not live up to its billing any more.

The Yankees currently sit six games back of first place Boston and are only four games over .500. Pretty mediocre. Are we starting to say the end of the Yankee dynasty, which started (at least THIS dynasty) in the mid-90s?

Probably not. But, I can make a case that there might not be as many reasons to hate the Yankees as before. No longer will any team just concede the AL East or the AL pennant to them. Boston won the AL East last year, en route to ANOTHER World Series title for the Yankees nemesis. In fact, for all this talk of the Evil Empire, the Yankees haven't even been to a World Series since 2003. Sure, they've won 90 or more games every year since then, but the competition has either caught up with the Yankees or the dynasty is coming to an end.

If you look at their current roster, they are an old team. Their elite players are all over 30 years, with many being in their late 30s.

Their younger players, excluding Joba Chamberlain, haven't panned out. Melky Cabrera is just average. Phil Hughes has been unimpressive. Ian Kennedy has been a train wreck. Darrell Rasner has yet to prove himself and outside of Robinson Cano, their offense lacks youth.

In order to maintain the dynasty, the Yankees have had to decimate their farm system along the way, so their is no fountain of youth to tap into. So, with the Yankees' six games and their best pitcher Chien-Ming Wang out for most of the season now, could THIS be the year, the Yankees finally miss the postseason? We can only hope so.