Terry Collins has earned the right to make his own call when it comes to his future. Yesterday he told Adam Rubin of ESPN.com he plans on coming back for 2017, but then can’t commit beyond next season.
“I just need to re-evaluate at the end of this coming year what’s going on, where I am, how I’m feeling,” Collins told ESPN.com on Thursday. “I’ve always said a lot of it will be dictated by how I’m feeling. This was a tough year.”
Collins had to endure numerous changes to the roster this season due to injury, had to spend a night in the hospital in Milwaukee back in June and almost was fired in mid-August when the Mets were reeling.
Even after all of that, Collins was able to keep the team together and make the Wild Card game with an 87 win season.
“Last year was a little different dynamic,” Collins said. “We had that really, really powerful young pitching staff that was coming on right at the right time. This year, to have them disappear, I think what we accomplished with all the injuries really took some tremendous character on the players’ part and the coaches’ and everybody else. Getting to the World Series is really hard, as we all know, but from where we were in July to where we finished was pretty impressive.”
Collins became the second manager in Mets history to lead his team to the playoffs in consecutive season. The other manager Bobby Valentine’s tenure was filled with controversy and ultimately he was fired after the 2002 season after going to the playoffs in 1999 and World Series in 2000.
But Collins is not like Valentine. He developed into a players’ manager that keeps the team together. With a number of key free agents on the market this season, most notably Yoenis Cespedes if he opts out of his contract within three days after the World Series, the Mets will need to have Collins in control if they plan on retaining any of their players.
According to ESPN, he committed to next season, but it’s his call if he wants to retire after his contract expires.
Now, no-one will compare Collins in-game strategies with any of the all-time tacticians. He made a number of glaring mistakes last season, which arguably cost his team a few games.
Even with those errors, he’s still the right man for the job. The record says so.
Sure, there will be some ups and downs next season and at 67, you have to wonder if he sometimes slips a bit when it comes to in-game stuff. That said, as long as the players are playing hard for him and he still has the clubhouse, the Mets owe Collins to give him next season and let him make the call for 2018 and beyond.
With two seasons in the playoffs, he’s earned that right and should be able to make his own call on his future.
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