Terry Collins on-the-hot-seat Thread

[Guest d'Kong76]

"The manager has his backers in the organization, and he has his detractors; both sides seem still to be discussing the future." - Martino

Rivetting stuff! Is it seem still, or still seem?

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: "The manager has his backers in the organization, and he has his detractors; both sides seem still to be discussing the future." - Martino Rivetting stuff! Is it seem still, or still seem?

still seem i'm pretty sure?


Yes. Shockingly, Mets are still discussing the future of a guy they have working for them. Bet no other companies do that.

[Edgy MD]

Joe McDonald assures me that he has a reliable source telling him that as long as Fred Wilpon is alive and presiding, Terry's the manager.

[TransMonk]

Terry Collings: 626 games of .465 ball for the NYM

Wally Backman: 2014 PCL Manager of the Year

I'm not a a Backman backer, but something's not right here if Collins is retained. I'm less optimistic about 2015 than I was two months ago.

[Edgy MD]

Wally Backman reportedly getting a September call up. It's 1980 all over again. He'll be joining the team on the 19th.

I don't like to be drawn into seeing meaning where there is none, but I tend to see meaning in this. If I'm remembering correctly, he joined the team for September in 2010 or 2011. Teufel, I think, got called up for September of 2011 or 2012, before joining the staff permanently. Pedro Lopez got a trip to New York last year. So you'd figure Frank Viola or somebody would get the call this time if it was merely a courtesy call.

When Terry Collins was the minor league field coordinator, he made a point of staying away from the major league part of the Mets spring training complex, knowing that Jerry Manuel was on the hot seat, and thinking that it would make the seat a lot hotter having an experienced big league manager and potential replacement hanging around and popping his head up.

In the same sense, Terry and Sandy Alderson have GOT to know an invitation to New York for Backman is going to trigger a drumbeat for Wallyball in New York. But he's getting the call anyhow.

So there you have it. I'm saying that Backman getting called up for the last nine games means that Terry intends to step aside at the end of the season, and the Mets intend to hire Wally Backman. (On the other hand, it's a hell of time to be turning to a guy with a less-than-clean (though ambiguously so) record of domestic relations.)

[TransMonk]

I'm not sure that Wally is the right guy (mostly because I haven't paid close attention to him in Vegas)...but, I don't think it is any secret that I have doubts about Terry being the right guy going forward either.

I truly believe (it's cynical, I know) that Terry was hired to be a placeholder while the team got through the financial mess left over from the Madoff thing. I don't think it was ever the intention of ownership or management that he was going to lead them to consistent victory...not that Terry was incapable, but rather they knew that the talent provided to him was going to be touch and go during the rebuild that they never were going to term a "rebuild" and they wanted someone with the skills to manage the team through losing seasons while still keeping hope and morale as high as possible. I do think Terry has done his best at that. If Terry would have happened to succeed during his time, then it would be considered a bonus by the club, but not the expectation.

Considering Backman's success with the AAA club and given the fact that there is some young talent that is now going to find itself on the big league club in '15 that was part of Backman's success in LV, I would not be surprised if he got the promotion. He would provide a young spark to a younger team looking to compete. I would also consider it an unspoken sign that the unspoken "rebuild" is nearing completion.

[Ceetar]

Backman came up last year too didn't he?

I'd hire Teufel over Wally.

[Edgy MD]

I'm pretty sure last year was just Pedro Lopez.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm pretty sure last year was just Pedro Lopez.

you're right, it was actually sort of a "thing" that Wally didn't get to hang with the big club.

[ashie62]

I like Wally. I was impressed by the expletive laced video that made the rounds on youtube chewing his team out. It was a constructive and pointed session, not a tirade. The dugout is full of grown men and I believe Wally is a good candidate to get the most out of their professional skills.

[Frayed Knot]

Ashie62 wrote: ... It was a constructive and pointed session, not a tirade.

Although some of Wally's actions certainly qualify under the heading of 'Tirades'



I'm not necessarily anti- Wally.
I am though wary of the idea that he's the favorite simply because of being an '86er -- not necessarily the holy grail on this board but is among at least a certain pct of NYM fans who have convinced themselves that only an '86 hero can succeed here (Keith becomes the hitting coach and Ronnie the PC under this scenario).
Also, if there are those who's objection to Terry is excessive bunting (even though I think it's been shown that he calls for them less often than the norm) or that he's over-using the young arms (rumored to be mgmt's objection) I suspect that one or both of those would get worse not better in the small-ball/tough-guy Wally-world.

[Edgy MD]

I have no doubt that Terry stays up nights worrying about injured arms.

[dgwphotography]

The timing of this is more than a little suspect. I sense some wag the dog here to get the conversation to be about Terry and Wally instead of the lawsuit...

[Frayed Knot]

I think that's a bit far-fetched.
The AAA season just ended a few days ago and this type of bring up the minor league managers as a reward or just as a taste is not exactly unknown across MLB.

[Edgy MD]

Especially since Wally won't be joining the team for another week.

I mean, have you noticed a bunch of Wally talk burning up the internet and dominating the conversation about the team and making the Wilpon story go away?

And if the idea is really to generate a Wally-as-manager story, that's a really terrible job at spin control if they don't actually intend to appoint the guy. That just deliberately creates more disappointment.

[dgwphotography]

Well, time will tell,but these owners have been known to have a thin skin in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Thin wallets too... d'oh!!