Professor’s Rant #2

I guess there is one thing we can say for the New York Mets management now being led by Sandy Alderson…..they picked a recycled manager in Terry Collins who has a winning record (444-434)!!  That at least allows me to put a tick in one box for Jeff Wilpon, Alderson & Co (and there haven’t been too many of those handed out by me to the Mets over the last few seasons).

Collins main claim to fame seems to be that he managed teams that finished second…..that’s right, second, in their division five years out of six.  I guess that is better than appointing a potential manager from a list that seemed packed with candidates who had losing records and were sacked from their previous roles (Collins, Chip Hale, Bob Melvin, Wally Backman, Clint Hurdle, Don Wakamatsu to name but a few).  Let’s look at some of the candidates – recently sacked Mariner’s manager Don Wakamatsu for one.  The allegations of ‘losing’ the players during a tough season isn’t a great start to a resume, especially when you combine that with a 100+ loss season and you have a recipe for disaster in New York.  Let’s also take a look at Wally Backman (currently managing the Mets affiliate the Cyclones).  He was sacked as manager of the Diamondbacks in 2004 just four days after starting in the job after not revealing two arrests and ‘financial problems’ to the interview panel.  One heck of a stint in the big leagues Wally.

So, my burning questions are these.  Weren’t there any potential managers sitting out there with winning records?  Weren’t there any that had World Series experience?  Why wasn’t Bobby Valentine at least interviewed?  He is curently not managing, having come off a very successful stint in the Japanese league with the Chiba Lotte Marines where he won the Japan Series and the inaugural Asia Series, but perhaps more importantly, has managed successfully before in the heat of the New York sporting spotlight garnering a 536-467 record over seven seasons (which included two 90+ win seasons).  Don’t forget he is the last manager to take the Mets to the World Series.

In any event, out of all that, Terry Collins has the job and now gets to confront what to do about closer Francisco Rodriguez, the non performing Jason Bay and Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran in the final year of a seven year contract.

Like the boy with the barrow, Terry has it all in front of him!