So now he has to manage. Actually manage, rather than serve as a glorified babysitter, de facto player development coordinator and punching bag for the fans and media forced to persevere with the patience of Job
Yes, in the strictest sense, Terry Collins has a new job. In more ways than one.
Off the top, he’s now in a bona fide pennant race for the first time since he took this job. Up to now, he’s been a placeholder, a guy widely perceived as someone so grateful just to have a major league managerial job after his failures in Houston and Anaheim that he would be willing to suffer the inevitable wrath of the fans and media during a rebuild.
But now, he has a team. A good team with a reinforced offense to accompany arguably (perhaps it will soon be inarguable) the greatest collection of young and controllable aces on one team since the advent of free agency 40 years ago.
Collins is now for the first time expected to win.
Whether this expectation requires a division title, a wildcard berth, or just, say, 88 or more wins without a playoff berth is an argument for another day. But the expectation will certainly be manifested in ways obvious – and not so obvious.
For example, when he brings in rookie Hansel Robles from the bullpen, he’ll no longer be in his old job, thinking “I need to give this kid some tough outs so he can help us going forward.” Instead, in his new job, he will ask himself, “how much do I trust this guy right now?”
Or this. When they called up Conforto, the old Collins had to be thinking, “let’s give this guy some at bats and see if he can help – what the hell, nothing else is working.” The new Collins will say “if he isn’t quite ready now, his development at the major league level is just gonna have to wait.”
He will no longer have to compile a lineup with the utter embarrassment of two hitters on the interstate batting fourth and fifth. That was his old job. His new job will require juggling a batting order with a number of appealing options on a daily basis.
He will soon be unable to write off those lurking innings limits for his young studs as something that can be managed down the road. Though the decision to go back to a six man rotation or offer spot starts to a Gee or a Verrett may be made over his head, he will still face many a dilemma about how hard to push deGrom, Syndergaard and particularly Harvey. And what if Colon continues to get rocked? What do you do then?
Make no mistake. This is a roster that requires managing. It might be an ideal team for Bobby V. Only Cespedes and Tejada (and to some degree, D’Arnaud) will be locked in to their roles. The rest of the position players will likely be moved around constantly in both the batting order and the field.
So how much and where do you start Kelly Johnson? Do you try to fit the sainted Wilmer into the lineup every day, or just against lefties, and maybe a few righties? Do you play Cespedes some of the time or most of the time in CF? When do you start Uribe? How much are you willing to let Murphy play 2B or Flores play SS? And these are just a few of the questions. This lineup will not write itself.
But of course there is also the issue of contract. We all know Collins is managing for his job here. He’s got two months to prove he’s not just a patient placeholder and grandfather figure, but a capable skipper in the clubhouse AND on the field, capable of pushing the right buttons at the right time, and leading his team out of the wilderness into the promised land. Because this is it. This will be his last chance to remain a major league manager.
But we also have to adjust our own thinking (a feat many of us have managed to accomplish impressively in the span of three days). Thrilled as I was when they traded for Gomez NOT and then actually did pick up Cespedes, I quickly lamented the loss of first Wheeler and then Fullmer.
But then I said, wait…we can’t think that way anymore.
We can no longer think about stubbornly holding on to every single medium to high ceiling prospect. That’s what the fans of losing teams do. We know this. Oh, do we know this.
Besides, while we may have traded away five young arms, we already possess five excellent young major league arms. And this is what we’ve been waiting for – the chance to trade from minor league surplus for immediate major league help.
That change in thinking can actually be harder than we think. It’s not easy to balance prudent management with soaring expectations.
We have no idea how Terry Collins will do in his new job. He was the master of second place when he managed in the last century, finishing as runner-up five straight years with the Astros and Angels. But that was long ago and far away, so there is probably as much reason for hope as for doubt.
But we do know one thing. Whether we have believed until now that he was either an incompetent old fool or an unfortunate yet admirable victim of no-win circumstances, we wish him only the best.
