Willie Randolph deserved better. He deserved to be treated like a man and not twist in the wind for the past few weeks, while the Mets decided his fate.

And most certainly, he did not deserve to be fired under the pale moonlight.

At 3:13 a.m., the word came to the inbox on the computer: Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto are out and Jerry Manuel, Dan Warthen, Ken Oberkfell and Luis Aguayo are in.

No one is arguing with the decision and many of the Met followers felt this should have been done a few weeks ago. But to do it when New York was asleep was just disgraceful.

And even though the timing was wrong, the decision was the right one. No matter how anyone feels about Randolph the manager, Randolph the person was getting roasted every time his team lost a few games.

Maybe that’s why it didn’t matter what the team did in Anaheim last night, even though it had a 9-6 win over the Angels. It didn’t matter that the players ran hard and actually looked like they cared. And it didn’t matter that Randolph’s departure was announced during the wee hours in New York.

It was time to end any distractions and allow the players, front office, fans, and new coaching staff to move on and possibly salvage the season.

With the way the National League is construed right now, the Mets are still in the race. A hot stretch by the club will vault them back into the Wild Card race and possibly challenge the Phillies for the division. It would never have been accomplished with Randolph still at the helm, simply because any faltering would bring “Willie Watch” back into the forefront.

So now Manuel takes over. A capable baseball man, who led the White Sox to the playoffs in 2000, it’s the 54 year-old’s job to right this ship, while hoping his work will be good enough to take the interim tag off his title at the end of the season. It won’t be easy, but he has to relate to the players by showing a more personal side, which the stoic Randolph had trouble doing.

Oh, he will have help with Warthen, Oberkfell and Aguayo taking over for the departed Peterson and Nieto. And it could work. Back in 1999, Bobby Valentine lost his key lieutenants in June, lighting a fire under the club, all the way to Game 7 of the NLCS. And who could forget the job Buddy Harrelson did when he replaced Davey Johnson.

Maybe Manuel can relate to Carlos Beltran or keep Moises Alou on the field. Maybe Warthen can fix the bullpen and manage it so the relievers’ arms are not falling off in June. Maybe Oberkfell can help find Carlos Delgado’s swing. It can happen.

Yet, too many times it fails and maybe the 2008 Mets are not as good as the so called experts – including this space – believed and the beginning of the season. Too many miles on players, whose baseball cards were in their primes five years ago and not enough youthful enthusiasm running in the clubhouse.

So now everyone who wanted Randolph to go got their way and there are no more excuses. The spotlight falls upon general manager Omar Minaya, because if the Mets fail, it will be his skin in the line of fire.

And if Minaya goes, he deserves the same fate as Randolph – twisting in the wind under the pale moonlight.

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