Even with a terrible second half, Terry Collins should be the man to lead this squad.
“Terry’s gotta go!”
“The team has quit on him!”
“Terry has lost this clubhouse!”
“Bring in Wally!”
These have been some of the cries from Mets fans and beat writers that have been repeated over and over during this all too familiar second half meltdown. When Terry Collins was hired before last season, many of us felt as if he was merely a placeholder until Wally Backman was ready to take over. But with how well he had the Mets playing the first half of last year and the same this year, the Mets following was looking for a contract extension at the All-Star Break.
Fast forward to a 13-29 second half and everyone wants his head. What many fans have been saying just doesn’t make any sense to me.
How can you want to give your manager an extension when he’s 8 games over .500 just before the All-Star Break, but then after a terrible start to the second half, run him out of town? Here’s why you don’t get rid of Collins.
1. Johan Santana was “healthy” for the first half of the season. Santana gave the Mets everything and more (first no-hitter in franchise history) before his “back” was acting up on him. Coming off the shoulder capsule surgery, most of us never expected much of anything from him.
2. Sleeping Bats – David Wright .351, Ruben Tejada .325, Daniel Murphy .295, Kirk Nieuwenhuis .268, Josh Thole .264, and Jordany Valdespin .257. Those were the first half averages of these players. All of those players have had significant drops in their batting averages in the second half. Kirk and JV1 have even been sent down due to their lack of hitting/mental awareness.
3. No run support – the Mets have not scored more then 3 runs in 9 straight games. The Mets have allowed an average of 3.11 runs per game in that span. The Mets record? 3-6. HOW ABOUT SCORING SOME RUNS?!?!?
4. Terry Collins is not on the field. He can not control mental errors being made by his players. Each player can only be coached so much. When you make it to the Major Leagues, it’s up to you to understand the situation. The manager can not call timeout and walk out to center field and tell Jordany Valdespin that in a one run game in the ninth inning, you can not let a ball get over your head. Terry has preached from day one that his team will be prepared and play the game right. But it’s pretty tough to do so, when the players his is running out there every day are not Major League caliber.
5. Worst outfield in the major leagues – The Mets do not currently employ one single outfielder that is a starting caliber player. Jason Bay is quite possibly having the worst statistical season in MLB history by an outfielder. Scott Hairston is a platoon player/pinch hitter. He occasionally gets hot and hit homers in a bunch, but is exploited mightily when in the lineup everyday. Andres Torres is well….Andres Torres. Mike Baxter is a solid defensive player who is an above average pinch hitter. Jordany Valdespin was sent down because he’s the worst defensive outfielder we have ever seen and has zero plate discipline. Yes, he’s not an “outfielder”, but the balls he misplayed are the type every player shags in the outfield during batting practice. Lucas Duda was sent down to AAA because he was not hitting and is not a good defender. But the problem there was that he’s the only “presence” in the lineup that has the potential to actually hit the ball over the fence.
The Mets bullpen is for another article, but we all know the story. It’s the worst in MLB and nothing was done to improve it when needed. That one is on Sandy Alderson, NOT Terry Collins. He’s had one guy in the last 50 games that he has had any confidence in. Jon Rauch. There’s no one other than maybe Bobby Parnell (not in a big spot) that he can run out there that can maybe get him 3 outs.
Terry has poured his heart and soul into this team this year and looks as if he has run out of gas. He’s been thrown out of a couple games recently for arguing and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to watch what’s going on out there either. We saw how emotionally invested he was in this team when he has the press conference following Johan’s no-hitter. The man was nearly in tears with how proud of him he was. This is the manager I want to see on the field next year and beyond. I don’t need a fan favorite from the past to throw profanity laden tirades and encourage players to “be tough”. That may have been the way it was 25 years ago when the Mets last won a World Series, but it’s not now.
This team needs major league caliber players in order for any manager to do a good job. Sandy Alderson has said on record that he has the chips to make trades and bring in major league players next year. He recognizes that an infusion of talent is necessary in order for his team to compete. If moves are made and the team has “improved”, then it’s on Terry.
