Reese Kaplan -- Better Late Than Never

Perhaps the worst kept secret in sports, Terry Collins managed his final game as the leader of the New York Mets on Sunday.  He waited until his last game to play young infielders Gavin Cecchini and Phil Evans together thus underscoring how out of touch he was with the reality of the game.  Even when the games haven’t mattered for more than two months, he still thrust a 35 year old outfielder into the starting lineup rather than see what a younger player could do. 

When queried why he kept playing veterans he responded that he was trying to win ballgames.  That’s ironic on so many levels.  First, he was allegedly handed the reins because of his ability to develop and encourage younger players.  It’s highly unlikely they got much of a feel for what it’s like to be in the majors while watching the over 30-crowd play night after night.  Second, once the fire sale took place, it was clear that the Mets were planning for the future (assuming the future included a bevy of mediocre relief pitchers) but no one ever sent the memo to Terry Collins.  Night after night we got a steady diet of Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera and Nori Aoki.  This is not a criticism of these players, but an indictment of the idiocy of continuing to trot them out there every day when even the owners and GM conceded that 2017 was not the team’s year.

The number of pitchers who have fallen victim to various health maladies under his watch is frightening.  Do you remember how he abused Scott Rice?  He should be the poster child for what happens in a Terry Collins bullpen – the 31 year old rookie pitched to a respectable 3.71 ERA out of the pen during his first year where he was thrust into 73 games, then out of baseball a year later. 

Apologists for Terry Collins are quick to point out that he’s won more games than any other Mets manager (wrong – that was Davey Johnson).  Then they point out he shepherded them to the World Series in 2015.  Memories tend to be short.  The team had a 52-50 record in 2015 when suddenly the team acquired Yoenis Cespedes, Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed.  The rest, as they say, is history.  The difference between a good manager and a bad manager is that the former can figure out how to win when not handed All-Star caliber players.  The latter hovers around .500 or worse.  (The very same folks who sing the man’s praises fall to point out he’s lost more games by a margin of over 100 than any other Mets manager).

To the folks who still feel his 7 years controlling the lineup pencil are praise-worthy, I would submit as an analogy the pitcher Don Sutton who is in the Hall of Fame to the disbelief of many people who watched him play.  The term “accumulator” was often interjected into the conversation about Sutton who managed to last for 23 years, never won a Cy Young Award and only made 4 All-Star teams while failing to do so on 19 occasions.  Yes, Collins did win 551 games, but he also lost 583.  It’s a flawed analogy, however, because despite not even being the best pitcher on his own team most years, he actually managed to win.  The same can’t be said for Terry Collins.

Many Mets fans were incredulous that Collins lasted after the conclusion of his first contract.  After all, his team actually went downhill in performance under his so-called leadership.  However, as we have since learned his friendship with Fred Wilpon trumped all, including an organizational desire to win. 

A great many people are speculating as to who might be a worthy successor to the Skipper.  It’s not as if you’re replacing Connie Mack.  The bar has been set at limbo champion height.  They say that Collins will now assume an as yet to be defined front office role.  Let’s hope it’s like a corrupt union no-show job in which he will get paid but not actually have to try to do anything.  The less involved he is with the future of the team, the more likely they will be able to begin to reverse the damage already done. 

If not for the reprehensible manner in which the Mets’ whisper campaign turned him into a sympathetic figure, there would instead be dancing in the streets.  Another site carried a headline about “the reign of terror is over” but for me it’s simply a long overdue action that I’ve been waiting to happen since that first season ended in 2011.  I haven’t broken out champagne, lit a cigar or ignited fireworks.  He was only part of the problem, and I fully anticipate his supporters will not give whomever is handed the job an iota of benefit of doubt.  There’s no manager in baseball who can turn this mess into a championship team in a single year, but when something clearly isn’t working then you need to make a change.  All I wonder is what took so long?