In a report by Mike Puma of the New York Post, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has begun to become irked by some of the in-game moves by his manager Terry Collins. Puma reported Alderson was irritated by three specific managerial decisions:

1. Stretching Out Milone Too Far

There is no doubt Tommy Milone is not a very good pitcher. He is so poor the front office instructed Collins not to let Milone go through the order a third time. Part of the justification for this could be the fact batters are hitting .283/.325/.460 off Milone the third time around. However, despite these instructions, Collins allowed Milone to pitch go through the batting order in his very first start as a New York Met.

Presumably, Collins justification was Milone was under 80 pitches to start the inning, and he needed to get some length from one of his starters to help save the bullpen. It certainly didn’t help Collins case that Milone allowed back-to-back singles, which led to the bullpen allowing an inherited run.

2. Not Leaving Harvey With a Positive Feeling

When Collins lifted Robert Gsellman after he threw six good innings against the Padres despite throwing just 84 pitches, he explained he wanted to leave Gsellman with a “good feeling.”  Well, now we know what may be the genesis of this explanation.

In Matt Harvey‘s May 12th start against the Brewers, Collins made the somewhat controversial decision to let Harvey start the sixth inning. Again, Collins was presumably looking to help his beleaguered bullpen, and he saw his pitcher coming off a 1-2-3 inning and the Brewers sending up the bottom of their lineup. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Harvey allowed two homers in the inning turning a game tied 2-2 into a 5-2 deficit.

3. Playing Granderson Over Rivera

Surprisingly, the Mets front office wanted Collins to bench Curtis Granderson so T.J. Rivera could play left field during the last road trip. For a Mets front office that puts little to no emphasis on defense, this is taking it to a whole new level as at the time. Rivera had no Major League innings logged in the outfield and just 80.2 innings as a minor leaguer.

The other reason why this was questionable is playing Rivera in left would all but guarantee Jose Reyes would be playing everyday. At the start of the road trip, Reyes was hitting .183/.267/.317 as compared to Granderson’s .139/.200/.270. While Reyes was hitting better, he wasn’t hitting well. Moreover, Reyes was playing a poor third base, and Granderson was the only outfielder on the roster with any real center field experience.

Overall, the issues raised by Alderson seem to really ignore what the larger issues have been with Collins this year. He has abused his bullpen and has flat out ignored splits when choosing relievers and pinch hitters. Reading through the tea leaves, it appears Alderson may be beginning to think about replacing his manager. If the Mets continue to play the way they did against the Padres, we may actually see it happen.