21
2011
Terry Collins: Sandy’s Best Move?
An article by 
You know, a lot of people have tons of opinions about who the Mets should have acquired, or what they should have traded to get talent. If you’ve read my stuff, you know I’m in the camp of people who recognize Alderson has a 4 year contract, so I’m willing to give him 3-4 years before coming to a conclusion on all of his moves.
When you consider the financial state of this franchise, and the mess of contracts and lack of true star quality prospects left for Alderson, you can’t really expect him to have turned the team into a contender right away.
Still, the team has serviceable big leaguers in the farm as we are seeing right now, and they are playing good but not great baseball.
Were there moves that didn’t work? Sure. Emaus was a bust, but worth the try in my book. Guys like Hu, and Hairston for example haven’t paid dividends. But for guys like that, you can also find guys like Paulino, Beato, Isringhausen, Buchholz, Capuano, and even Chris Young.
That’s right. Say what you want, but Young’s contract was a risk worth taking considering the luxury of having Gee with some big league experience in the minor leagues. Was he injury prone? Yes. Did they break the bak for him? No. Was he their best pitcher when healthy? Yes. Just because it didn’t work, doesn’t mean it was a bad idea.
This is what I think people who attack Alderson for his supposed “moneyball” ways do not get. Alderson is a guy who will try to find talent in various different places, and as little as he spent in the off-season, he managed to find 5 big leaguers who are currently contributing to the 2011 Mets. If you can’t admit that’s impressive, then you’re looking for a reason to dislike him. I have little to no doubt that when the time comes, he will spend more money eventually. I like that he’s not rushing into decisions simply because the fans want big spending.
Still with all of those moves, his best move in my book was hiring Terry Collins over Wally Backman. First, I like Wally, in face he’s my favorite all-time Met.
However, when you look at the current state of the Mets and what the future may bring with the potential loss of guys like Beltran and maybe Reyes, you have to consider the fact that the Mets currently have 11 players dressing in a Mets uniform who spent time in the Mets Minor Leagues last year.
That’s 11 young or inexperienced players who didn’t have to feel intimidated by the Mets locker room or their Manager because they already knew him. They already likely learned something from him, whether it be an on the field tip or just how to handle themselves as a professional.
When a young player walks into a locker room with Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Francisco Rodriguez etc. it can be a tough thing to handle. Yet, they already had a guy in their corner from the day they stepped foot at Citi Field. Not only did they have Collins’ support, but he knows how and why they are in the big leagues. He knows the type of player these players are, and he can encourage them to be who they are, rather than try to press.
Also, he tests these players. Especially his pitchers. He doesn’t appear to be the type of Manager that will bail a pitcher out at the first sign of trouble. Especially a younger pitcher. He wants to see what they have. Do your job, and show me something.
That’s a huge oversight by many of Collins’ critics I think. Are guys like Turner for example, playing above their head? Most likely, but I’m the type of guy who likes to give very little credit to Managers and Coaches.
Where I do give them credit, is when players play above their apparent talent level. Not only are the 2011 Mets doing that, but other than the core, they are pretty much doing it with fill-in acquisitions by Alderson and fringe big leaguers who worked their way through the Mets system.
This is exactly why I love the idea of Alderson. He doesn’t do things the way they always were done. If he did, he would have buckled under the fan pressure and hired Backman. While Collins has a lot of season left to go, I myself am very pleased with the results thus far.
About the Author: Michael J. Branda
My time with MMO began in July of 2009 when I wrote a Fan Post defending Omar Minaya (before it was cool to do that.) I grew up a Mets fan with the mid 1980's teams. My favorite Met of all-time is (and was) Wally Backman. When it comes to sabermetrics versus old school thinking, I like to think I meet in the middle. I believe thinking of new ways to get answers is helpful, especially when the same way has not produced results. However, I think over-thinking certain situations can get you into trouble. I'm excited for the new regime, because I believe they have pieces in place to focus on several aspects of the Mets organization. I've waited this long for a World Series, waiting a few more years for another chance isn't going to kill me.
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Great column. Sports Illustrated crushed Terry this week but they haven’t seen what we’ve seen.
Good one Jessup!
I want to tell you why I agree but before I admit I was one of those who had reservations about Terry when he was named. Didn’t think it was a horrible move as many Backman fans had thought but I did not know enough about the guy himself to make a good decision before.
First knock was he was an internal candidate and I thought we should maybe look outside.
I think I was wrong now and it’s not anything to do with what Terry has done…
It has been all those guys you mentioned who were in the Minor Leagues last year who are now up here and winning games for us!
Are they HOFers I don’t know, I know Niese (ok Two years ago a Minor) and Davis COULD be if they keep up what they are doing and grow a bit more experienced.
Terry is JUST AS GOOD as Backman and in some cases BETTER!
Because he was the guy who worked with all the guys who have taken time down in the Minors to come back from injury.
Beltran especially. The question with Terry was not the kids but about the vets. They all seem to like and respect him so that issue is null and void.
Terry was a very good selection for a transitional franchise in flux.
And it seems we may actually be poised to get very young with a ton of money off the books in 2012 which should put both Sandy and Terry in a very good position.
The Loss of Beltran will be big and the Loss of Reyes AND Beltran rather scary.
But if we only sign one there will still be about 20 Mil left to sign a bat to replace Beltran or an Ace Pitcher to compliment the hopefully returning to form Santana and while a lot has to happen and sustain it from now till then we really are in a good position to not have to go through the 4 year rebuild everyone seems to suggest we do by trading away everyone who makes over 10 mil!
Terry seems to be right for this team.
And he will be even better for a young team with some new Vet blood to lead it.
But you have to sign Reyes and Pridie, Turner or Murphy have to keep hitting.
But thats not so far fetched really.
The thing I like best is we have pretty much kissed the bunt goodbye. Pops
I wouldn’t say that…We still bunt just that Terry has been smarter about when he does it. He doesn’t give up the out early in the game he waits until later in the game and bases it on the score at the time.
But we still bunt plenty!
Remember the failed bunt by Pridie last week and the call to have bay bunt?
We use it we just don’t over use it.
Great points there. Reminds me of that old cheesy school-yard saying: “What’s popular is not always right, and what’s right is not always popular.” The popular thing to do would have been Wally, but toss him a curveball like this season’s been and I think he would have buckled under the pressure. But Terry’s experienced, and the fact that he knew all the minor leaguers coming in is the best thing he could have done with the injury bug so strong. Definitely the right move on Alderson’s part. Who would have thought after starting 5-13 and with a half-Bison lineup we’d beat the Yankees by 1 run and reach .500? Definitely not me. Let’s hope he can keep it up!
Read all about tonight’s win at Midwestern Met:
http://tiny.cc/d1mkd
[...] Sandy's Best Move? Terry. | Mets Merized Online [...]
Just because I’m not impressed with 5 bargain bin major league contributors on the Mets doesn’t mean I’m looking for a reason to dislike Alderson. I’m simply not impressed with a large market club playing .500 ball. Or a strategy of throwing bargains against a wall and hoping something sticks. The opening day bench was horrendous, and the bullpen has only rounded into form after dropping a couple of dead weight bums that Sandy thought should make the club coming out of Spring training.
Also, saying someone has a 4 year deal so you’ll wait that long to judge is absurd. If the job isnt getting done, you take actions to fix the problem. Not saying I’m judging Alderson today, but no way does he get 3 years of what he’s done so far. This post seems comfortable in the assumption that he’ll spend money. I’ll go on what has been shown so far and in his past. And what that has gotten us is worrying to death over whether a home grown star with gold glove potential at a key position and current MVP #’s is going to leave our club. Again, totally unacceptable for a big market club. Say whatever you want about the ownership problem. You can’t fire the owner, so if we lose a homegrown star in his prime my ire will fall directly on “Saber” Sandy. A guy who seemed terribly indifferent to Jose’ situation in the offseason. The coach that this post praises is on record last night as realizing how much Reyes means to the club.
Collins is to be commended because his team is trying hard and seems to enjoy playing for him. But his team is still just .500, has lost two players to injuries on plays in which no one called for a fly ball, and is still the worst situational hitting team in the league. I’ll withhold praise. Sandy’s best move so far has been Beato, a piece that hopefully will be contributing to the team for years to come regardless of GM or manager.
Da Madd: Okay see, if Alderson came to the Mets in 2005 and they were on the cusp of being a true contender, yes I’d expect better results faster. But because he inherited a financial mess and a farm system depleted with game changers, I have to give him time. I think its unreasonable to do anything else.
As for the financial aspect of a NY team hovering around .500. I don’t think it’s the best thing to do to ignore the madoff disaster. In a perfect world, yes a NY team should be able to spend, and spend wisely. But that wasn’t the case. You can’t go back and change that.
You have to be impressed with the job that Terry Collins has done so far….He has helped Carlos Beltran make the move to right field a smooth one and Beltran has looked like his old self at the plate and seems now to be running well too. Collins has endured injuries but has been able to find suitable replacements for the walking wounded with mostly AAA players. Most of all he has managed to endure a horrible first 20 games of lousy starting pitching if you don’t count Chris Young who is now gone for the season, if not for good. As mentioned by others, Collins found a new guy for the bullpen in Beato who has been lights out. He has found a hustling player who is swinging a very hot bat in Justin Turner and in all has used his roster to the fullest. While he has still made a few base running goofs, Jose Reyes has been brilliant in the field and very productive at the plate and proved once again that he is a tremendous catalyst who I hope is not traded. The Wilpon’s have made huge mistakes and may lose this team eventually, but hiring Sandy Alderson was fabulous and his hiring of Terry Collins was just the right move.
Life is always good after beating the Yankees…How bout another win today?