The Mets have assured Terry Collins that his job is not in danger and his future with the team will be discussed when his contract expires at the end of this season, two sources told Newsday.
Not only is Collins safe, there have been no conversations about Wally Backman as a potential replacement, either for this year or beyond. In fact, Backman’s bold guarantees this week about fixing Ike Davis have rubbed some in the organization the wrong way after so much time and effort trying to help Davis at the major-league level.
When asked about the possibility of Backman eventually taking over for Collins, one person familiar with the situation replied, “There’s zero chance of that happening. Zero.”
That’s pretty funny… Before even reading this report from David Lennon, I was asked my opinion by several friends and I even got a call from my long lost cousin who I haven’t spoke to in 3-4 months. “Did you hear Backman on WFAN,” he asked. “It sounds like he’s going to be the next Mets manager”.
He and the others were excited about that, but I on the other hand knew better.
“There is no chance in hell that someone like Sandy Alderson would ever hand his team over to the likes of Wally Backman.”
That was my response to them.
I love Wally… I mean what Met fan doesn’t? I get the emotional ties that many fans have with Wally and I completely understand the fascination. In the past 15 months alone we’ve interviewed him exclusively three times – twice while chilling out with him in his office before a game. He’s a likable guy… the kind of guy you want to hang out with, have a few beers, and just talk baseball. And boy, can Wally talk baseball… His players would go through a wall for him…
But then you have Sandy Alderson…
You have his clean cut approach to things…
Sandy loves things to be perfectly organized with everything in its proper place. The people he chooses all need to fit into his master plan. Alderson is the most methodical general manager this franchise has ever had. He overthinks everything… sometimes to a fault.
The bottom line? Backman just doesn’t fit into Sandy Alderson’s grand scheme of things.
Collins on the other hand is perfect… To Sandy, Collins is just right…
Terry Collins projects the image that Sandy wants his team to project. Collins is the good soldier who always follows orders and there’s no chance that he would ever embarrass the front office or the organization. He’s always well spoken and professional… He takes the rotten hand he’s been dealt and never complains about it… He has David Wright in his corner…
Before Wally Backman’s interview on WFAN, there was another interview. And in that interview the man who will make the final decision gave Collins a ringing endorsement that the manager job is his until the end of this season. He also left listeners with the strong possibility that he’ll get a new deal to stay on as manager of the Mets.
“Don’t blame any of this on Terry. This is not a Terry issue, it’s a player issue and that’s on me. Terry is doing a heck of a job.”
Trust me… Terry’s not going anywhere.
As for Backman?
If he is ever going to be a major league manager, it will not be with the Mets. He probably deserves a shot somewhere, but as long as Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi are running this ship, the likelihood that Backman will one day manage this team range from slim to none.
That’s not a knock on Wally… That’s just the reality of the situation…
