Mets Reportedly Fire Davey Johnson : Baseball: The manager who led the team to a World Series Championship will be replaced by third base Coach Bud Harrelson, radio station says.

New York Mets Manager Davey Johnson, who led the team to a World Series championship and two division titles, was fired today, according to the team’s flagship radio station.

WFAN, quoting an unidentified source, said Johnson would be replaced by third base Coach Bud Harrelson.

The Mets, in Cincinnati for a series against the Reds, would not confirm the report, but team spokesman Rick Lawes in New York said, “An announcement will be made later today.”

Neither Johnson nor Harrelson could be reached by phone.

Al Harazin, Mets senior vice president, told a reporter traveling with the team that “we have no statement right now.” He said there would be an announcement at 2:30 p.m. PDT.

Johnson was the winningest manager in Mets history with more than 90 victories in each of his first five seasons, the only manager in National League history ever to do that.

But the team struggled throughout last season, finishing second, six games behind the Chicago Cubs. It was speculated that Johnson needed to get the team off to a fast start this year to keep his job.

But the team, predicted by many to win the NL East, is 20-22, six games out in fourth place.

Over Johnson’s first six seasons, the Mets were 575-395, a winning percentage of .593 and 29 1/2 games better than the second-best team in that period, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mets won 108 games in 1986, when they won the World Series, and 100 in 1988, when they won the division. The team also had 98 wins in 1985, when they finished second to St. Louis in the National League East.

Nonetheless, Johnson was criticized for his laid-back style and it was suggested that the Mets victories resulted from an abundance of talent that included Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter.

But both Carter and Hernandez were hurt as they moved into their mid-30s and were let go after last season, when the team won 87 games and finished six games out. Gooden also missed the last two-thirds of the season with an arm injury, Strawberry slumped to .229 and Johnson himself predicted at the end of the season that he wouldn’t be retained.

Instead, he was kept on, although it was clear that the team had to get off to a good start. Moreover, two of his coaches, Bill Robinson and Sam Perlozzo, were fired without his input at the time he was retained.

Johnson’s defenders have blamed the front office for the Mets’ problems, pointing to trades that got rid of more fiery players such as Wally Backman, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson and Roger McDowell, all keys to the 1986 championship.

This season Johnson was criticized for his handling of the pitching staff, which began the season with six established starters.

They began the season with Bobby Ojeda, an 18-game winner in 1986, in the bullpen. Then Ron Darling, who had a career record of 87-55 entering the season, was sent to the bullpen after a slow start.

Darling and David Cone, who had a 20-3 mark two seasons ago, both have been publicly critical about the way they were handled by Johnson.

Harrelson, 45, was a favorite of Mets fans as their shortstop from 1966 to 1977. After retiring as a player with the Texas Rangers in 1980, he managed in the Mets farm system, where he had a 69-45 record and has been a coach with the team since 1985.