After Tuesday night’s 4-0 win against the San Diego Padres, Terry Collins told the media that he doesn’t believe there’s too many teams out there that would want to face the Mets pitching staff in a playoff situation. He’s probably right about that. After all, what manager would sign up to face something to the tune of Harvey-deGrom-Syndergaard in a 7 game series?
However, in order for that to become a reality, the Mets need to first get to baseball’s most coveted month of the year. By doing so, it would go a long way in solidifying Terry Collins as the Mets manager for at least a few more years.
This has become a topic of discussion several times throughout the course of the season, whether Terry Collins deserves to continue as Mets manager after 2015 or not. There have even been a few instances this year where many fans believed Terry was one step away from being on the hot seat. In fact, you could make the claim that Terry has been on the hot seat ever since 2012, when the Mets had their second straight losing season under Collins.
In most cases, I tend to give Collins the benefit of the doubt. Let’s be honest, he hasn’t exactly been dealt a good hand. After all, it isn’t his job to construct the roster; it’s his job to manage it. The Mets have lost more player days to the DL than any other team in the majors.
Injuries are not the only thing that has prevented Terry Collins from sending out a formidable lineup night in and night out. He has had to preside over a team that was slashing payroll and selling off any major league talent for the vast majority of his time at the helm.
Since Collins’ first year at the helm in 2011, the Mets have seen their payroll plummet from 7th in the majors at $147 million, to an average payroll of $89,302,833, dipping as low as $73,396,349 in 2013.
In baseball however, it’s not always about dollars and cents, it’s about numbers.
356-393
That would be Terry Collins’s wins and losses since taking over as Mets manager. That’s a winning percentage of just .475, ranking him 11th out of the 20 managers that have ever coached the Mets. The Mets have also never won more than 79 games under Collins, averaging just 76 wins the past four seasons.
Based off of these numbers, Collins has simply not gotten the job done. Which is why this season’s outcome is as important as it gets for his future as Mets manager.
The pieces are finally starting to come together for him, and we all know by now that the upcoming schedule for the Mets bodes extremely well for them. Couple that with Sandy’s recent acquisitions, and there is no doubt the Mets have a “Win Now” attitude.
I happen to like Terry a lot. He’s been around the game for quite some time now, and it seems (at least as of recently), that he isn’t afraid to hold guys accountable. After all, players have reportedly been “put on notice.”
But perhaps it’s Collins himself who is the one who that’s on notice, and will be for the remainder of the season.
If the Mets fail to reach the postseason for yet another year, it would be a surprise to see Terry Collins back as Mets manager. While he may not have been given much to work with in the past few seasons, he has enough talent now.
On the other hand, if he does make the postseason does that mean an automatic new multi-year deal?
