Terry Collins just concluded his press conference which was televised on SNY. Now that’s my kind of Reality TV. Here’s a little summary of what he had to say…

  • Collins said Jose Reyes is a “great player”, but Ruben Tejada is an “outstanding talent”. He’s going to make some “boo-boos” along the way, but has the chance to be a special player. There’s not enough separation  between great and outstanding for me… How about Reyes=Great, Tejada=Good?
  • Terry would like a second left-handed pitcher in the bullpen, but believes RHP Ramon Ramirez has the ability to get left-handed hitters out. “Ultimately, good stuff is what get’s people out,” he said.  Thought I’d take a look and in his career: RHB: .595 OPS, LHB: .734. Umm… Can you say Robert Carson?
  • Terry believes Bobby Parnell’s stuff is MLB caliber, and he feels he will be successful in his new role. Correction, Terry… Bobby Parnell’s fastball velocity is MLB caliber, but the movement on Parnell’s fastball is Appalachian League caliber. Sorry, but lets get real here.
  • Collins did his best to draw inspiration from other New York based teams saying gems like this: “Who would’ve thought the NY Giants, at 7-7, had a shot?” And this one: “I thought Sandy did a great job improving the bullpen, every good team has a Jeremy Lin.” Oddly enough, no Nets or Islanders comparisons.
  • Terry is impressed with Reese Havens and is anxious to see him stay healthy… I’m more anxious to see Johan Santana stay healthy right now… Or David Wright… Or Daniel Murphy… Or Mr. Met…
  • Mike Nickeas has to show he can hit. Or back to the minors? “On the days he played, we can’t be pinch hitting for him in the fifth inning”. Yeah that was kind of lame, I’m totally with Terry on that. But I sure hope Mike wasn’t listening… Hey check out the interview he did with Petey last month – a couple of posts beneath this one. By the way, the backup to Nickeas is Rob Johnson – who moonlights on MMO as HoJo.
  • “We might be the youngest team in baseball. I don’t think we have a player who has 10 years in the big leagues,” Terry said. I thought that was something they only whispered in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Oakland until they signed Jonny Gomes, Bartolo Colon and Manny Ramirez. 🙂
  • Terry said he was honored they picked up his 2013 option, but he doesn’t care about the length of his contract – he is going to do the best job possible. I believe him. Despite my teasing and having a little fun with this, I love the guy and picking up his option was the second best thing Sandy Alderson has done in two off-seasons. The first was hiring him.

That’s it… I’m done… I declare this cage match a draw…