Manager

[Cathy]

Now that Clint Hurdle has been named Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who do you think will be the new Manager of the Mets?

[RickD]

According to today's New York Times:

Terry Collins and Bob Melvin will be getting call back interviews.

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/two-candidates-stand-out-in-mets-search-432227.html

[Beebop]

I heard Wade Phillips is looking for a new job why not give him a try?:p

[Mudge]

Bob Melvin, eh?

Not a bad choice. He has over 1000 games under his belt as a manager, and while his career record is under .500, keep in mind how LaRussa, Torre, and Francona did early in their careers at the helm.

[Old Sweater]

Bob Melvin is one example that I rate about all managers a push. He goes from being MOY, to being fired?

In 2007 when the D-Backs won the NL West their Phythagorean record was 79-83 for a plus 11 on their real record of 90-72. He had about the same buttons to push with worst luck the following years.

[RickD]

Met's GM says these are the 4 finalists for Manager:

Terry Collins, Bob Melvin, Chip Hale and Wally Backman.

Terry Collins - 6 years as a manager with 2 teams, the Astors and Angels. He has a 444-434 W-L record. This is a .506 W%

Bob Melvin - 7 years as a manager with the Mariners and Diamonbacks. He has a 493-508 W-L record and a .493 W%

Chip Hale - As a minor league manager he had a 405-317 W-L record and one 1 Minor League Championship. He is the current 3rd Base coach with the Mets.

Wally Backman - As a minor league manager he has a 603-573 W-L record and has one 3 Minor League Championships. He currently manages the short season A team.

If they go with a manager with MLB experience, my money is on Collins...if it is a true competition I would love to see Backman win it.

[RickD]

Well Terry Collins got the job:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/11/mets-to-hire-terry-collins-as-new-manager/1

[Mudge]

More important: The Mets have already hired a new general manager, Sandy Alderson, who has since brought in former GMs Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi as assistant GMs.

[RickD]

That actually might be the better announcement Mudge. 3 GM's can only help.....

[Buccos13]

I heard Wade Phillips is looking for a new job why not give him a try?:p

Add Brad Childress to the list lol

[Cathy]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20101122&content_id=16173778&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

NEW YORK -- Terry Collins strode out of a conference room at Orlando's Waldorf-Astoria hotel last week in a jet-black suit and light blue shirt, his white hair cropped close to his head. Collins had been in this spot once before, as a finalist for the position of Mets manager. He had lost to Willie Randolph.
"Everyone wants to be in the big leagues," Collins said at the time. "That's the place you want to be."

That was six years ago, in a different era, in a different ballpark under a different regime. Collins is older now, somewhat more experienced and -- the Mets hope -- a bit wiser. He joked last week that perhaps he is more mellow. And he is also a bit further removed from all this -- Collins hasn't had a big league managing gig since things ended sourly 11 years ago in Anaheim.

It's the 15th-longest gap in Major League history, and the longest since Larry Bowa was fired by the Padres in 1988 and then hired by the Phillies in 2001.

But for Collins, the big leagues are still the place to be.

"When you get these opportunities, you run at them," he said last week. "So I did."

He succeeded, of course. The Mets will hold a news conference Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET to announce the hiring of Collins as their new manager. Collins was not their choice six years ago, when they selected Randolph, nor 2 1/2 years ago when the team went internal and hired Jerry Manuel. But now, at the start of what the Mets hope is a brief rebuilding cycle, Collins is their man.

How quickly things change.

It's not as if the Mets disliked Collins six years ago, when they chose Randolph over him and then-Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. It's just that the team was at a different point in its history. The Mets had a new general manager, two young superstars in Jose Reyes and David Wright, and worlds of possibility. Back then, they wanted a manager who could grow alongside Omar Minaya, complementing him but not overstepping his bounds. Randolph fit the bill.

Now, for all the situation's similarities, the organization finds itself in a different sort of position. Despite an influx of young players, the Mets already have a mature core of Reyes and Wright in place. They're hardly banking on the fact that they'll win in 2011, but 2012 isn't out of the question. They're close, in short, and they want a manager who can push them closer.

Collins, too, has changed. All but swearing off his managing career following a messy end in Anaheim, Collins shipped off to Japan after the Mets chose Randolph in 2005, managing the Orix Buffaloes of the Pacific League for a season and a half. More recently, he led a weak Chinese national team to a 1-2 record in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was lauded for his efforts.

Those jobs, if nothing else, constituted a learning experience.

"It was just different," Collins said last week of his Far East experiences. "I took it because I wanted to get back on the field."

And that -- the desire -- may be the most significant difference of all. Eleven years ago, Collins had become tired of managing, walking away from his job in Anaheim. Six years ago, he was curious enough to pursue a managerial job with the Mets. Five years ago, he would have landed the same job with the Dodgers if not for then-GM Paul DePodesta's sudden dismissal.

Increasing his hunger is the fact that Collins came so close to managing gigs in New York and Los Angeles -- so close, in other words, to making it back to "the place you want to be."

And that, Collins reminded, "is what we get into the game for."

[Beebop]

Add Brad Childress to the list lol


Us Minnesotan Fans are estatic, all the talent the vikings have we should be winning more games.

[Buccos13]

Us Minnesotan Fans are estatic, all the talent the vikings have we should be winning more games.

What do you think about Favre? In my opinion he's a major part of the problem.