Mets Hire Terry Collins

The search for the next manager of the Mets is over. Terry Collins will be named the next skipper of the team at a press conference at Citi Field on Tuesday. Collins beat out the other finalists for the job, Bob Melvin, Chip Hale, and Wally Backman. Collins last managed in the major leagues in 1999 when he managed the Anaheim Angels--not the California Angels, nor the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, not even the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Planet Earth.

I will admit that this hire does not excite me. I was hoping for Bobby Valentine or Wally Backman. Valentine never got to interview for the job, which is disappointing, but I understand that he and GM Sandy Alderson may not have been able to work together. Backman has won most everywhere he's managed in the minor leagues, and he does have a fiery personality, something that many fans, including me, believe is necessary for this team. However, he does not have big league experience, which I suppose is something that Alderson was looking for. According to most reports though, Collins does have a fiery personality, and, most importantly, he is a favorite of one of Alderson's lieutenants, Paul DePodesta.

If Sandy Alderson believes that Terry Collins is the right man to manage the team, then I am going to support it. As Bill Parcells once said, "If you're going to let me make the dinner, then you better let me buy the groceries." So, if you have faith that Alderson is the right man to turn the Mets around, then you have to have faith that he is making the right choice on who the manager should be.

"Can't anybody here play this game?" That's the question manager Casey Stengel asked about the Mets in their early days. Stengel had won 5 World Series in a row with the Yankees in the early 1950s, but with the expansion Mets, Stengel's best win total was 53 and the team finished dead last in the National League all 4 years the ol' perfessor was at the helm. Terry Collins may be wondering the same thing when he breaks camp with the team next spring; surely, Jerry Manuel must have had similar thoughts as well. So, now that Alderson has decided on a manager, it's time for him to start working on the rest of the "groceries" that are going to make the Mets a winning team again. No manager, not Terry Collins, not Bobby Valentine, not Wally Backman, not Jerry Manuel, nor Joe Torre, is going to be successful with the lineup the Mets have put on the field the past couple seasons. It's now time for the brain trust in the front office to start earning their paycheck.

For those of you who think that this is a poor hire, just remember that most people thought the Yankees hiring Joe Torre was a mistake as well. I'm not saying that the Mets will enjoy the same success under Collins that the Yankees had under Torre, just that we should not rush to conclusions. Then again, Collins could be the next Art Howe...