At the end of the season manager Terry Collins said that he believed his staff would remain the same next season. This changed yesterday when we found out that Tim Teufel was being replaced by Glenn Sherlock as the third base coach. This move was made because Sherlock is going to coach the catchers and Teufel struggled at times in his role as the third base coach. With one change to the coaching staff already made there could be another one that would be very beneficial to the Mets, a change in bench coach.
Dick Scott was hired to replace Bob Geren last year and while it is hard to quantify the effect of a bench coach there was an instance were it was apparent that he dropped the ball. On September 11, the Mets lost a game 4-3 against the Atlanta Braves. The game was tied in the eight inning and Wilmer Flores was standing on second base. Terry Collins was apparently too distracted by managing his bullpen, and he did not realize that the winning run on second base was potentially the slowest member of his team.
Take in mind that this was after roster expansion and the Mets had plenty of options on the bench to pinch run. T.J. Rivera proceeded to get a base hit and Wilmer Flores was gunned out at the plate and the Mets would go on to lose that game. The bigger loss was Wilmer Flores as this would be has last game of the season as he hurt his wrist on an atrocious slide, or dive into A.J. Pierzynski.
Flores was red hot at the plate at the time, and could have been a huge help in the Wild Card game. Flores mashes against lefties and maybe he could have gotten to Madison Bumgarner. This is were Scott comes in, because the bench coach’s job is assistant coach. Terry Collins took the blame but the onus should have fallen on Scott. The manager has so much going on it is his job to catch any mistake that the manager may be making, and bring it to his attention. Enter Robin Ventura.
Now I need to preface this by saying that there has been no link to Ventura and the Mets. It is not even known if Ventura is looking for a job or not. Robin Ventura was a fan favorite during his three years as a Met and was part of the 2000 team that went to the World Series.
Robin just spent five seasons as the manager of the Chicago White Sox. He announced after the season that he would not be returning to the White Sox next season. Ventura was in the last season of his contract and he felt the team needed a new leader. Robin Ventura had some early success as a manager leading the White Sox to a 85-77 record in his first season. In that season he was a finalist for the Manager of the Year award. After 2012 Ventura had to endure four losing seasons with the White Sox, finishing with a managerial record of 375-435.
Ventura would be a great fit as a bench coach because he has experience managing and could help Collins stay on top of all the decisions that need to be made during a game. He also has experience managing with all of the sabermetrics that are used in today’s game. He would be a great right hand man for Collins, and also with Collins only around for another year or two Ventura could succeed Collins. There are currently no managerial vacancies for Ventura to pursue so this would be the apt time to bring him into the Mets system, and see if he is a fit for a manager job down the road.
