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...

Mets Issues

Mets GM Sandy Alderson has been on the job for about 3 weeks now and is still undergoing an extensive search for the team's new manager. The prospects have been narrowed down to 4, Bob Melvin, Chip Hale, Terry Collins, and Wally Backman, and Alderson hopes to name a manager by Thanksgiving. While I do think that Alderson should be given the opportunity to hire the guy he is most comfortable with, I am disappointed that Bobby Valentine was not even considered. But, like I said, Alderson deserves to hire his guy, and if Valentine isn't it, then so be it. Besides, there are more important issues.

What are those more important issues? How about making sure that Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo aren't on the 2011 Mets...under any circumstances. Alderson can hire whoever he wants to be the team's manager, but if he wants to win over the fans immediately, he'll get rid of Perez and Castillo. It makes absolutely no sense to have either one of those two on the team, or in the organization, next season. Perez can't get an out without walking 6 and giving up 10 runs (OK, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea) and Castillo no longer has the speed and the ability to get on base that made him so effective earlier in his career (and I don't even hold that botched pop-up against him, that could happen to anybody, unfortunately).

So, Mr. Alderson, hire whoever you want to manage the team, but PLEASE get rid of Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, even if it means buying out their contracts and getting nothing in return.

Mets Need New GM, Manager

WFAN's and SI.com's Jon Heyman has reported that the Mets will announce soon after the season ends that neither GM Omar Minaya nor manager Jerry Manuel will be retained for 2011 in their current capacities. Manuel has an option for 2011, but the team is expected to decline that option, and Minaya may be reassigned within the organization, most likely in the scouting department, according to Heyman. Both moves have been speculated for weeks now, so it comes as little surprise that neither will be back. Heyman also says the team is not expected to move immediately to name replacements for both.

To fill the GM position the team is expected to go outside the organization, and, with the Diamondbacks signing former Padres GM Kevin Towers to be their GM, there does not appear to be a clear favorite to replace Minaya. When the Mets brought Minaya in following the 2004 season it was with the promise that he would have complete autonomy in making decisions regarding the team, and over the past couple years it has appeared that Minaya's complete autonomy has been wrested from him and Mets COO Jeff Wilpon seems to have taken a more hands on approach. When the Mets were still in contention this year in mid to late July the team made no moves to improve the club in an effort to remain in contention and the team wound up going 2-9 on a west coast trip following the all-star break and was never heard from again. What was the reason that they did not make a move? Did Minaya have a move ready, but ownership would not take on salary for someone like then-Cubs P Ted Lilly? Or, did ownership decide that Minaya was no longer a competent GM after he handed out bad contracts to players like Oliver Perez, 3 years for $36 million, and Luis Castillo, 4 years for $24 million? If it was the latter, then I am all for bringing in a new GM to get this team back on track, like they did with Minaya in 2004; however, if ownership is not going to be willing to spend money on free agents, draft picks, the farm system, and trades, then there is really no point in bringing in a new GM. I'm not sure which side is more to blame in this situation because both scenarios are both believable.

While the GM job is wide open, there do seem to be two leading candidates for the manager's job, although the new GM may have his own guy that he wants to bring in, so a dark horse candidate could emerge. The leaders, according to speculation, at least, seem to be former Met manager Bobby Valentine and 1986 Met and current Brooklyn Cyclones, the club's New York-Penn League affiliate, manager Wally Backman. Backman had been hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004, but was fired after a day because of legal problems. Since then he has worked his way back through managing independent teams and this past year in Brooklyn. His fiery demeanor would be a change from the past couple managers the team has had, Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel, and Backman's link to the 1986 team would lend him instant credibility with fans. One of the knocks on Backman is that he does not have any managing experience on the major league level, but he has won virtually everywhere he's managed. Valentine, on the other hand, does have the major league experience that Backman lacks, and he has managed in New York before, bringing the Mets to the World Series in 2000. According to people in the know, the Wilpons do not appear to be high on bringing Valentine back, which is a shame because his intellect for the game is top notch.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/10/01/mets.minaya.manuel/index.html?eref=sihp

Smoking the Dickey Pipe

Tonight R.A. Dickey will take the mound for the final time in 2010 for the New York Mets. Dickey, 35, was signed by GM Omar Minaya as an insurance policy in case any of the starters on the major league level were injured or performed poorly, and since he was brought up in mid-May he has gone 11-8 with a 2.92 ERA. While the fate of Minaya is unknown at this point, the Mets should not hesitate to bring back Dickey, who is arbitration eligible this winter. To open the 2011 campaign the Mets will begin the year without Johan Santana, who will not begin throwing until spring training after recently undergoing surgery, and the only other two arms who figure to have spots locked up are Mike Pelfrey and Jonathan Niese. If Dickey were a pitcher who relied heavily on his fastball to get hitters out, then bringing him back at 36 years old would be a dicey option, but instead, he relies on a pitch, the knuckleball, that has allowed pitchers to pitch well into their 40s; Tim Wakefield, this era's most famous knuckleball pitcher, won 17 games at the age of 40 and is still taking the mound for the Red Sox at age 43. Hopefully the Mets will have the sense to bring back R.A. Dickey, a pitcher who has shown enough class and guts to deserve a spot in the 2011 rotation.

Raise the White Flag

The baseball season is over. With their 5-2 loss last night at the hands of the Florida Marlins, the New York Mets have been officially eliminated from post-season contention. Now, the Mets have been out of the post-season race for a few weeks now, but last night's loss made it official that there will be no serious October baseball for the Mets this year.

Hopefully the final 11 games of the season will also be the final 11 games in a Met uniform for Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. It would make little to no sense to retain either player for 2011 considering that they have both been used sparingly in the 2nd half of the season. When fellow second baseman Luis Hernandez was injured in Saturday's game against the Braves, Castillo was left on the bench in favor of Joaquin Arias, and Perez has only been used for 5 innings since August 1.

More Mets Injuries

Things could not get much worse for the Mets in 2010 and thankfully the 2010 season is almost over. Last night their prized pitching prospect, Jennry Mejia, came out in the third inning with a rhomboid strain on the right shoulder blade and it is not yet known when Mejia can resume throwing. Even more alarming is the fact that this is Mejia's second shoulder injury this season; he strained his rotator cuff in June and missed 6 weeks.
So once again the health of this team will be the question ending 2010 and heading into 2011. The news on Johan Santana, who was shut down for the year and underwent surgery this week, is not good. Santana is not expected to resume throwing until Spring Training at the earliest, so there is no timetable on his return. Jason Bay has not been seen since the team's disastrous west coast trip when he suffered a concussion. Carlos Beltran will hopefully be ready to return to top form next season after 2010 was essentially a lost year for him, and he should be motivated as he'll be playing for a new contract.

Trivia

Rather than include the answers to yesterday's trivia quiz among the September 11 post, I'll post the answers here in a separate post. Following the answers to yesterday's trivia will be 4 new questions, this time focusing on the New York Mets.

Yesterday's questions:

1. Who was the last Yankee to win the American League Rookie of the Year award?

Answer: Derek Jeter won the award in 1996

2. Who caught the final out of the 1996 World Series?

Answer: Yankees 3B Charlie Hayes

3. Prior to winning the World Series in 1996, when did the Yankees last win the World Series and who did they beat?

Answer: They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 2 in the 1978 World Series.

4. Name all of the players who have worn the numbers 1-10 to have their numbers retired by the Yankees.

Answer:

1 - Billy Martin

3 - Babe Ruth

4 - Lou Gehrig

5 - Joe DiMaggio

7 - Mickey Mantle

8 - Bill Dickey

8 - Yogi Berra

9 - Roger Maris

10 - Phil Rizzuto

Today's questions

1. Which two Mets have won the National League Cy Young award?

2. Who managed the Mets to each of their World Series championships?

3. Who scored the game-winning run of game 6 of the 1986 World Series?

4. Which two members of the 1969 World Series champion Mets were also high school teammates in baseball and football?