Reese Kaplan -- The Time is Nigh

9 years ago the Mets engaged in perhaps their darkest hour as an organization when, after a late night victory over the Angels by the score of 9-6, the team committed its infamous 3:00 AM massacre (well, 3:11 AM to be precise) and fired embattled manager Willie Randolph.  At the time of the incident he sported a 34-35 record, trailing the first place Philadelphia Phillies by 6.5 games.  Ironically they had just won two in a row and were on the first game of a west coast trip which made the timing of the firing bizarre, not to mention waiting until 2 hours after game time when they perhaps mistakenly thought it could somehow slide under the radar of the east coast-based media.

Fast forward to present day and things are eerily similar.  The Mets have been underachieving which emphasized the already highly questionable decision making by the man who two managers later replaced Willie Randolph, Terry Collins.  The team stands with a 14-15 record, also one game under .500.  They too have recently had a winning period.  They also stand 6.5 games out of first place.  The parallels are there.

The difference now is that it appears Terry Collins has lost the clubhouse.  They’re winning in spite of him, not because of him.  We have players making their own healthcare decisions.  We have the recent photo tweeted showing a rather large sex toy in Kevin Plawecki’s locker when T.J. Rivera celebrated his “crowning” as player of the game.  Now we have the suspension of star pitcher Matt Harvey for violating team rules.

I actually applaud the front office for holding the player accountable (for once) but the man they pay to do just that is flailing helplessly as the team seems to function without direction, motivation or discipline.  They’re doing the right thing by making an example of Matt Harvey to let him know that a careless disregard for the rules won’t be tolerated.

The question now is why did the front office have to do that and why wasn’t the man in charge of the clubhouse able to engender enough respect from his players that following rules was regarded with the same level of respect most people give posted speed limits.

The Mets have the unique opportunity to right a PR wrong they made many years ago by planning properly and replacing Terry Collins in New York with a full complement of press available and all questions answered.  Oh, and it may result in actually winning, something Mr. Collins has still not been able to do in his NY tenure.  His current record stands at 495-506.  People say the reason he keeps his job despite that level of mediocrity is his ability in the clubhouse.  Now he’s lost that as well.  It’s time for him to go.  Make it happen.