Time for a change

Terry Collins has overseen the New York Mets' rebuilding project over the last couple of years, but I'm sensing it may be time for the Mets to part ways with Collins.

Granted, the Mets are looking like a Triple A club being forced to play in the majors these days. Outside of third baseman David Wright and catcher John Buck, most of the starting fielders have played poorly. And one of the players the Mets were counting on to be part of their future success -- first baseman Ike Davis -- was so bad (.161 batting average) that he was sent to the minors with no guarantee he'd be called up.

Still, Collins has to get something more out of these players than we've been seeing. Even bench players on other clubs can play well when called upon. The Mets haven't been able to do that with many of their starters. Entering Sunday's game, the Mets were batting a league-worst .224, and they've committed 41 errors, which is one of the higher totals in the major leagues.

The woes at the plate and in the field are also affecting the pitchers. Jonathon Niese refused to give the ball to Collins at first when Collins showed up to remove Niese in the sixth inning of Saturday's game against the Cubs. At the time, the Mets were only trailing 2-1. After Niese left, the Cubs tacked on three more runs on their way to a 5-2 victory. Maybe Niese knew Collins' strategy wouldn't work, which is why he was reluctant to leave the game. Seems plausible, doesn't it?

This is not to say Niese's response is representative of the opinions of the rest of the Mets locker room, but it is a telling sign. If one player is willing to openly disagree with Collins' decisions on the field, how many others are privately thinking the same thing? I don't think it can't just be Niese, especially when you look at what's going with the rest of the team.

Granted, replacing Collins with another manager might do nothing more than give someone else the opportunity to lose his hair, his fingernails and his mind. Certainly, no one is going to make the Mets better overnight.

However, given what we've seen out of the Mets since the end of May, it's becoming obvious that a change in the dugout may be the only way we'll see what this team is capable of because it doesn't appear like the players will respond to Terry Collins.

(Update: Shortly after I posted this, the Mets rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the ninth inning to beat the Cubs 4-3 today on Kirk Nieuwenhuis' three-run homer. Go figure.)