Palladino: Firing Collins Might Be Unavoidable If Mets Miss Postseason
By Ernie Palladino
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Ready the banners.
Prepare the torches and pitchforks.
The annual "Fire Terry Collins" movement appears headed into full gear, and could reach a full-throated crescendo in a couple of weeks if Collins doesn't find a way to reverse a slide that has knocked his team back to .500 for the first time since April 20.
This time, the cries might be legitimate.
It may be time for Collins to go.
He is not to blame for a lot of this. As common sense dictates, a manager can't win without the horses, and Collins' battered roster offers the perfect excuse for a three-game skid that left the Mets at 57-57 after Arizona's sweep-completing 9-0 victory Thursday afternoon. Going into that game, they had the exact same record as that other New York team, whose season's only remaining excitement will pass Friday once Alex Rodriguez takes his final cuts against the Rays.
MORE: Collins Says Awful Mets Are 'Going To Get After It' Starting Friday
But the Yanks' predicament makes a large part of the case against Collins. As dreary and hopeless as Joe Girardi's quest for the playoffs has become, so has the Mets'. They're not just playing bad baseball in losing 11 of 15, but they've become deathly boring, too. And part of that is on Collins, for he dictates an offensive approach that continues to waste generally strong pitching efforts.
Making matters worse, the picture at this point last year contrasts so sharply with this year's that one has to wonder seriously if Collins has overstayed his welcome. The Mets were in first place, 2 1/2 games up on the sliding Nationals, and a healthy Yoenis Cespedes had already started transforming the lineup from the league's worst to its most productive.
Cespedes had yet to homer in a Mets uniform, but he took care of that Aug. 12 when he touched off an eight-homer month that fed into a nine-homer September.
He was downright contagious, as the Mets rose from the bottom of the league to mid-league in hitting with runners in scoring position. They generated runs not just by the long ball, but through doing the little things.
Cespedes is ailing now, and so are many of the supporting cast from a year ago. The RISP average, lowered yet again by Thursday's 0-for-4 performance, remains dead last -- by a whopping 24 points -- at .202.
As has been the case all season, if they don't homer, they don't win. And sometimes, as in the case of Kelly Johnson's tying homer in the ninth in Wednesday's 3-2 loss in 12, they remain stymied by their inability to score the old-fashioned way.
Throw in something like the one-inning, six-run disaster of a relief performance Jon Niese fashioned Thursday, and it's no wonder they haven't strung two wins together in forever.
There is little Collins can do about a blowout loss. They happen. But it's the close, winnable ones like Wednesday's that could lead him to the unemployment line. And those are starting to pile up at a most unfavorable time.
A more aggressive approach at the plate is certainly needed in critical moments. That's got nothing to do with missing pieces. As major leaguers, every one of those players should be able to put the ball in play -- or at least move a runner up in a rally situation. Yet, Curtis Granderson is still wallowing down at .230 with 97 strikeouts, far too many for a leadoff hitter. Travis d'Arnaud is at .147, while James Loney and Michael Conforto are struggling along at .234 and .210, respectively.
A lot of the conversation has shifted to next year. What will the Mets look like if Cespedes leaves? What is to become of first base? Will they keep Neil Walker around now that star second base prospect Dilson Herrera is gone? What will Matt Harvey produce once he returns from his second major surgery in three years?
But the real question remains about the here and now of 2016. If Collins doesn't figure out a way to turn things around, he may not be here in 2017. General manager Sandy Alderson was never a great Collins fan. And he might have launched his 67-year-old manager last year had the Mets' magical run to the World Series fallen short.
Instead, Collins returned. But keep in mind that this is not the typical grace year most managers earn by winning a pennant. Collins used up his share of those in the four losing seasons that preceded 2015. A sub-.500 finish probably won't be tolerated in the executive offices.
It could well happen, then, that Collins could lose his job a year after taking his team to the Fall Classic.
That would be odd. But unless he turns things around quickly, Alderson may have no choice.
It might just be time for Collins to go.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
