In a move that was expected by many, Terry Collins has announced that he will step down as manager of the New York Mets, moving to a front office role after their season finale. Collins’s contract expires after the season, and it was made clear he would not return. His relationship with executives was reportedly on the rocks. The Mets finished this year with a 70-92 record, missing the Wild Card by 17 games. Early reports suggest that the search for a replacement is on hold as most of the early candidates are in the postseason. These candidates include Kevin Long, the Mets hitting coach, Robin Ventura, a former manager himself for the Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora, and Oakland Athletics third base coach Chip Hale. All of these men have some sort of ties to the Mets organization.
Terry Collins to Retire as New York Mets Manager
Collins first came to the Mets in November of 2011, making him the 20th manager in the franchise’s history. After his first four years at the helm were losing years, Collins led the Mets to the World Series with a 90-72 record. In the end, they would end up losing to the Kansas City Royals in five games. After that World Series defeat, they would still have a winning record, but lost to the San Francisco Giants in the Wild Card game. One of the biggest factors was injuries throughout the year. During the season, the team lost their ace, Matt Harvey, among other pitchers during the season. This helped to put them out of contention by mid-season, which propelled Collins to his demise. Collins will leave the team with a total record of 551-583. His total managerial record will go down, for now, at 995-1017.
The owner of the Mets, Fred Wilpon, repeatedly protected Collins from firing in his career. He was protected even when the pressure came from the General Manager, Sandy Alderson, to fire Collins. Also, Wilpon’s son, Jeff Wilpon, the COO gave his father the pressure. Collins leaves the Mets the longest tenured manager in team history, and second in wins to only Davey Johnson.
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