Reese Kaplan -- Terry's Toxicity vs. Callaway's Culture

When Marc Carig wrote his scathing piece about the nature of the Mets clubhouse and the extent to which players were not nearly as enamored of lovable Terry Collins as the media would have you believe, many people thought it was a case of taking a gratuitous potshot and scapegoating.  I had written my own opinion that if that was indeed the case, how was the usually leaky front office able to keep this secret under wraps for so long?  Furthermore, why wait until September to bring it up…if the players didn’t like the manager (not a new trend concerning Terry Collins based upon his tenures in Houston and Anaheim) why not bring it to light sooner and thus pressure the team to make a change?

Now that the team has gone in a new direction with Mickey Callaway, Carig has doubled down on his September manifesto.  In a series of tweets this week Carig has said, “If you’re implying that I’m wrong — and I’m not -- Alderson himself acknowledged it was bad in there this season.  Alderson had exit interviews with all the players at end of the season. I imagine Callaway’s hire is a response to the complaints he heard.  After all the turmoil in the clubhouse last year, Mickey Callaway focused on communication and collaboration.  It got very bad once the veterans were dealt away.  Bad as in guys were miserable and resented the manager.  Frankly, it was hard not to notice. Very clear to me that Mets reacted to how toxic it got last year by bringing in a communicator.”

That’s a lot to digest and since Carig is the Newday beat reporter for the Mets with unfettered access to the clubhouse, he’s closer at hand than the rest of us when it comes to what actually goes on there.  Now it was clear there was a level of discontent ranging from Asdrubal Cabrera’s request for a trade, to Robert Gsellman saying he didn’t really care if he was called up after Sandy Alderson threatened to keep him down in the minors until he started pitching better, to the pointlessness of giving at-bats to players not likely to be a part of the 2018 team. 

Slowly others are whispering the same sentiments.  Mike Francesa, after the Mickey Callaway press conference, said one of the departing players confided in him that it was the worst clubhouse he'd ever been in.  

Now I don’t want to rehash the whole sad downfall of the 2017 team, but it does look more and more like Sandy Alderson’s hands were indeed tied when it came to keeping the fearless leader in charge of the lineup pencil as he himself has acknowledged that things needed to change.  He wanted a manager with a better grasp of analytics, a person who was a strong and positive communicator, and one who spent a significant amount of time talking about the importance of building a new team culture. 

Towards that end, there are a number of things that could be done to signal the Mets are indeed looking to do just that.  First and foremost, say goodbye to Asdrubal Cabrera and his me-first attitude.  I would make that decision based upon his declining health and poor defense as much as I would his selfishness.  Yes, he’s probably got another .275/18/60 season in him, but is maintaining the status quo what you want?   According to Carig it's pretty much a done deal he'll be back.  Yes, he can contribute with the bat and it's a cheap hedge against David Wright, but what about the change in culture that was the theme of the press conference?

I would also think long and hard about parting ways with free agent Jose Reyes.  His enthusiasm seems to be a positive thing when the club is winning, but his goofing around and smiling while the team is losing suggests he’s not sending the right message to his teammates.  Now it’s conceivable that a new manager might use him the right way as a utility player and pinch runner, but he doesn’t belong as a starter anymore despite the strong finish to his season.  Some will argue that Amed Rosario needs someone to show him the ropes.  I can understand that, but I’d rather that someone be a veteran who takes the game seriously.

Changing the clubhouse culture should also involve rewarding the players who succeed and benching those who do not.  How many times did we see the Skipper stubbornly stick to his trusted veterans when they were sub-Mendoza while other options just rotted away on the bench?  I remember clearly hearing, “You hit or you sit” yet that never came to pass. 

One of the most frustrating things to me this past year was the treatment of Gavin Cecchini.  On September 15^th he went 1-4 with a double against the Braves.  He followed that with a 3-4 night against the Braves and then the next game 1-4 against the Marlins.  Gee, by my math that’s 5/12 or a .417 clip.  A reasonable person would think, “Hmmn…should I ride this hot hand who obviously can hit when given the chance to play?”  TC, of course, benched him for the next week and then only got one more start on the final day of the season.  In total he got 77 ABs.  Do you want to know who led the Mets in ABs with 501?  It was a former Marlin, Blue Jay and Rockie who hit a not-too-robust .246 and is departing as a free agent.

Now there’s every possibility that Cecchini never amounts to anything more than a utility player despite being a first round draft choice, but how would you know unless he got the chance to play.  I only chose Cecchini because he’s the most obvious example, but over the years you could fill in the names of T.J. Rivera, Wilmer Flores, Justin Turner and others who despite their success didn’t get the full time opportunity to see what they could do. Even Matt Reynolds got 113 ABs and no one is going to confuse him with Corey Seager.  

If they are serious about a new attitude, then they should mean may the best man win…playing time dictated by results, not by salary, not by veteran status and not by draft choice position.  If the players see that those who deliver start and those who don’t sit, maybe they will start to get it and want to perform to the best of their abilities.  Here’s hoping Callaway doesn’t run out of tricks because unless Alderson and the Wilpons shock us again, there are a great many holes to fill and seemingly no inclination to spend to address them.  Therefore motivation and team culture become even more critical to any aspirations for success.