Peter Hyatt - 5 Things You Need to Know About Terry Collins

Newsday recently published an article about the divided clubhouse in Flushing and the controversy surrounding Terry Collins.  

There are five things you should know about Terry Collins:  

1.  Terry Collins is a losing manager. 

 In spite of the run of 2015, his 7 seasons produced a losing record.  

He is not a mediocre manager; he is sub mediocre.  .486 overall winning percentage.  .500 is mediocre.  

 Recall the many bizarre decisions he made in 2015...that worked much to the surprise of all. This "magic", or going against odds in general, returned to statistical likeliness in 2016 and 2017, just as it failed in the years before 2015.  What seemed like ridiculous tactical moves, such as we saw in his pinch hitting, proved ridiculous before and after 2015. Why? Because they were odds-poor shocking moves that returned to statistical norms.

2.  Terry Collins was a weak leader which gave way to divisive factions in the clubhouse. Baseball is a team sport that takes team, over superstar, to win. It is made up of competitive men and whenever leadership is abdicated, competitive factions arise.  This is true of any societal gatherings.  You've heard, "nature abhors a void" and it is filled by something.  With competitive athletes, the competition fills the void of leadership and it is not good.  Competition belongs on the field with the enemy being the opposition; not each other.  

When weak leadership refuses to hold some players accountable, resentment from others grows.  

Weak Leadership clings to the vets like a weak high school artificial pecking order. Strong leadership holds all accountable, and balances vets with youthful opportunities which makes vets, especially in their walk year, angry.  

Strong leadership does what is best for the team. 

 Terry Collins, instead, parlayed favor from the whining vets, doing what was best for his own survival, rather than what is best for the team.  He yielded to the highest paid player's pouting and those who had the most press. Collins was accused, on more than one occasion, of "allowing" Yoenis Cespdes to de facto dictate the line up.  Cespedes could hustle on Monday, and show indifference on Tuesday, but without fear of a single word of correction from Collins.  

It did not go unnoticed by others; especially by those who gave their all, or who road the bench.   

3.  Terry Collins'  use of the bullpen was stubborn refusal to, at age 68, respond to criticism.  Remember, this is the same manager who may have blown the 2015 World Series by his backing down of removing Harvey.  He shows a stubbornness that is always evidenced in his defensive language post game.  He would run one into the ground, waiting for the miracle, while becoming more and more deaf to the front office.  

No executive backs a loser, even if he personally likes him.  It is bad for the executive's career. 

4.  Terry Collins was not genuine in his presentations to the press.  He presented one front while practicing another.  He feigned an open door policy while avoiding,  due to guilt,   the players he refused to give opportunity as well as the players he refused to listen to, including Jay Bruce.  He humiliated Bruce's protege, Michael Conforto, much to the favor of Cespedes, Reyes and Cabrera.  Granderson attempted to bring unity, but could not without the backing of the manager.   

He claimed it was about winning meaningless games and not development, until it came to whiner prima donna Matt Harvey, where he, one week later, claimed it was not about winning but development. 

5.  Terry Collins ended his career giving  the proverbial middle finger by refusing to give meaningful playing time to youngsters, instead, game after meaningless game, Jose Reyes, Astrubal Cabrera and 35 year old waiver pick up, Aoiki manned the specific positions (2B, 3B and outfield) which should have been given to Gavin Cecchini, Matt Reynolds, and others.  Even as the Nationals fielded an unrecognizable line up, Collins dug his heels in to keep the biggest complainers happy.  If not for key injuries, Brandon Nimmo would not have seen playing time. 

Do we really need to know what Aoki can do?

Didn't we see enough of the Reyes-Cabrera defensive disaster tandem to look towards the possibility of others?

Recall the quote from the anonymous player this week was read in Mack's Mets months earlier:

"the inmates are running the asylum."

David Wright has not been present for most of 2017.  His loyalty to Collins is admirable, but his comment to "man up" is both misplaced and not applicable.  Kids who were benched or given very little time, especially in September, would have seen even less time had they gone to Collins, and they would have been the target of Cabrera's venomous mouth in the clubhouse.  If on the squad next year, they would also be "out of favor" with Cespedes and possibly Reyes.  Reyes is, at heart, a "me first" narcissist who does not take the word "no" well (ask his wife). He played inspire of batting .174 in April, .216 in May and .213 in June, as well as poor defense and horrible base running. 

In fact, there was nothing that would stop Terry Collins from removing him from the line up, including the bad press, as the Mets fell from contention before Summer.  

Players bristled over this. The post All Star game resurgence did not justify burying the team in the first half.  At one point, the press took note that the defensive pairing of Reyes and Cabrera was MLB worst.  Collins refused to budge.  Even after Cabrera backstabbed the team, he was kept in the line up.  As players became more and more malcontent, two veteran voices did what they could to attempt to unite the team and make a run.  

The clubhouse divide took a turn for the worse when Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson were traded away, with the former coming directly after Bruce went public with the club house mess, advocating for giving playing time to those who deserved it, rather than the Cespedes favored Reyes and Cabrera. 

Reyes play was so poor in April, May and June that he and Cabrera helped bury the Mets beyond redemption.  His .306 September is as meaningless as the Mets being 25 games out of first place.  He is a negative influence both on the team and to the youngsters.  This is why Collins took to praising Reyes, over and over, in the last few months.  He was responding to criticism even while Reyes' bat heated up. 

When Smith and Rosario were first called up, Collins said, without being asked, that he "knew" they would need "rest."  This was to further signal his intentions of keeping his vets happy.  If anything, it revealed his mindset about playing youth in general. 

The 2017 Mets were without leadership.  Contempt over favoritism to Harvey and the acquiesces of rules with Cespedes led to the outburst of Cabrera, the refusal of Syndergaard to MRI, and the overall  anarchy is now reaching main stream media.