Terry Collins Might Be Open To Returning To Mets Next Season
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- After last season, Mets manager Terry Collins indicated he was considering retiring after 2017. But despite a rough year, the 68-year-old skipper might be leaning toward hanging around.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports and WFAN reported Friday that people close to Collins believe he'd be happy to return to the Mets under the right circumstances. Of course, there is no guarantee at this point he'll be back. Collins is in the final year of the two-year contract he signed in November 2015.
After entering the season with World Series aspirations, the Mets are just 51-61 -- 16½ games behind the Nationals in the NL East and 12 games back of the Diamondbacks for the league's second wild-card spot.
Collins, however, has dodged taking much of the blame for the team's failures because of the large number of injuries that have hit the Mets. Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, Asdrubal Cabrera and David Wright are among the key players who have spent significant time on the disabled list.
After the Mets were eliminated in the wild-card round of the playoffs last year, Collins, the oldest manager in the majors, told ESPN the physical demands of the job were wearing on him.
"This travel is hard, especially with the late-night scheduling that is prevalent throughout baseball," he said. "There are so many night games where you're traveling after the game and getting into towns at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. And the next thing you know, if you ever have a day game pop up on you, it's tough to do."
MORE: Palladino: Mets Cheaped Out On Bruce Trade, But Can Make Amends
Collins is 532-552 in his seven seasons with the Mets, whom he led to the World Series in 2015. He needs just 63 more win to tie Davey Johnson for the most in franchise history.
Heyman mentioned a pair of candidates who might be considered to replace Collins if he does leave, whether voluntarily or not: current bench coach Dickie Scott and Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, who was the Mets' bench coach from 2012-15.
"Both have long-time ties to Oakland and (Mets general manager Sandy) Alderson and are the type he'd seek in a manager if Collins were to leave," Heyman wrote.
Alderson was the A's general manager from 1983-97.
Heyman also mentioned former Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale as a possibility. Hale also has ties to the Mets and A's as a coach. He was 148-176 in two seasons at Arizona (2015-16).
