Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, says that there are a few managers on the hot seat as the 2015 baseball season begins, and many more with seats that are lukewarm or getting there. But it’s safe to say there’s only one manager where there’s a book out to verify how hot his seat is. That’s right, he’s talking about Terry Collins.
There it is, right there in black and white, on the pages of, “Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets.” You read the tome and you can almost feel Mets manager Terry Collins’ seat getting warmer.
Heyman is referring to comments made by Alderson that said Collins had a 51 percent chance of returning this season and then, “Frankly, for me, that percentage has been eroding.”
Someone close to Collins told Heyman the Mets skipper already understood the tenuousness of his predicament, managing the first Mets team with expectations in at least a half-decade.
“He knows that if he doesn’t get off to a good start, he’s gone,” the friend said. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but it’s fair to say he knew he wouldn’t be back.)
As for Collins, he gets it.
“I’m 65 years old. Who’d have thought at 65 I’d still be doing it, and that I’d still be having a good time doing it,” Collins said. “I’m going to relish the extra pressure.”
As for the comments by his boss Alderson, Collins didn’t act bothered.
“You know him. It’s off the cuff, and meant to be entertaining,” Collins said of the book and the comment. “You have to be around him. You never know what he’s going to say.”
Collins needs a hot start and hopefully he gets one. I’ll never root for my team to lose, but if they do, losing Collins may be a good consolation.
Ryne Sandberg, Bud Black, Ron Roenicke, and Don Mattingly also rank high on Heyman’s list.
