The Astros sign-stealing scandal has rocked the baseball community in ways we haven’t seen since the steroid era. The reach of this scandal is widespread and has impacted other organizations, including the New York Mets.
As a result of the investigation, the Mets and their newly hired manager, Carlos Beltran, agreed to part ways leaving the Mets with the unenviable task of trying to find a new manager with just 23 days left before pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie.
The questions surrounding this conundrum are plentiful. Do they choose someone from within the organization?
Do they reach out to one of the potential managers they interviewed this past off-season? Do they reach out to a veteran guy like Dusty Baker or Buck Showalter in hopes that their experience can bring a certain level of calm to an otherwise chaotic situation? The reality is, there’s only one man who has both the veteran presence and a familiarity with most of the players on this roster, Terry Collins.
New York Mets: Why Terry Collins is the Man for the Job
Terry Collins is beloved by the Mets fan base, he has the respect and the ear of the players in that locker room, and he’s been with the Mets organization since he was the minor-league field coordinator in 2010. This year will make it an entire decade that Collins has been with the Mets, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a man more qualified for the job at this juncture.
The Mets’ best course of action would be to hire Collins as the manager for the 2020 season. Bringing someone in from the outside with such little time to prepare a spring training program and schedule is not ideal. Having Collins run the show this season and then going into the off-season with a new list of candidates who are far removed from any sign-stealing scandal is the Mets best bet to avoid a lost season.
Whether or not Collins is interested in the job remains to be seen. Still, the fact that he’s the most qualified and would provide the smoothest transition of any potential candidate is indisputable. The Mets may take a different approach and turn to one of their fallback options from this past off-season like Eduardo Perez, who was considered a serious candidate for the job when the Mets were conducting interviews.
With very little information being made public about the Mets thought process, it’s hard to tell what direction they will end up going in, but  Collins seems like the most logical choice given the current situation. Whatever the Mets choose to do, they need to do it fast because the sand in the hourglass is almost all settled.