The Mets won in walk-off fashion tonight, 4-3, on a two out hit by Travis Taijeron. In some sort of alternate universe, this would have been an important win for New York.
But the fact it with four games left in this miserable season, this was win No. 68, which means there’s always going to be talk about changes. And this year, all the talk is about the manager’s office.
Do the Mets keep Terry Collins, or they?
Multiple reports, including one from NY Sports Day’s Rich Mancuso, point to a change on the field with Collins being let go. Many think the 68 year-old will retire at the end of the season.
However, yesterday this outlet reported he is having second thoughts and today Collins said that to the Bergen Record.
“I’m going to be somewhere. If after we have discussions, if it feels I shouldn’t be here, then I won’t be,” Collins said Tuesday afternoon to the New Jersey newspaper. “We’ve created something here that’s pretty good. That’s my take. I haven’t talked to anybody about it so we’ll go from there.”
No matter what happens, and all signs still point to Collins being replaced, the Mets owe it to the manager, the team, the media and the fans not to let Collins to twist in the wind on this.
That means they should make a quick decision and move on. Collins said nothing with him has discussed, which is fine since the season isn’t over, but if the Wilpons are signing off on not renewing Collins, they need to make this decision quick.
Even though the season hasn’t ended, it’s not unreasonable to discuss Collins’s future with him on the off day on Thursday and let Collins decide to either manage the weekend in Philly or put Dick Scott in for the final three days.
Collins is a professional, so he will finish out the season. But then there needs to be a press conference before the MLB playoffs start on Tuesday.
Or discuss it with Collins on Monday morning. It doesn’t matter.
What is important is that there is a press conference on Monday. The Wilpons need to be there. Both Fred and Jeff need to face the media and tell them how they feel the fans’ pain. They also need to tell the media what future Sandy Alderson has with the club – his contract is up too and he will probably be renewed – and if Collins will be back or not and why.
If Alderson is coming back, then he will need to roll out his game plan on getting the club back on top and what he’s looking for in a manager.
Anything beyond Monday is letting Collins twist in the wind, because you know this is New York and every outlet has their sources. There will be stories written every day about Collins’s future, which is simply just unfair to a manager who was in the World Series two years ago.
This is not to say the Mets shouldn’t move on from Collins. They probably should. It’s just a reminder to the organization, which has fouled up things like this in the past. The Mets need to make a quick decision on their manager’s future, make the announcement and move on.
Anything else would not be right.
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