Terry Collins filled out the lineup card and then managed last night against the Phillies with the same integrity he would if Matt Harvey had been pitching to John Buck and Marlon Byrd had hit out of the three-hole.
For the job description does not change with either a bolt-of-lightning season-ending injury, as was diagnosed on Harvey on Monday, or a trade, as was pulled off yesterday in which Buck and Byrd were sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for 19-year-old infield prospect Dilson Herrera.
Collins probably slept like a baby on Monday night — waking up every two hours crying. But you never would have known it yesterday, not even after his most productive hitter and an instrumental clubhouse leader were both shipped away for a maybe that may be realized well after the end of Collins’ tenure.
It was full steam ahead for the manager, who has been anything but lame in this lame duck season of his contract and who has kept his eye on the ball even as he awaits notice on his status for 2014.
“This is not about me and this will not be about me,” Collins said before Jon Niese spun a masterful three-hit shutout while driving in three runs in the Mets’ 5-0 victory. “It’s about the 25 guys in the clubhouse.
“My job is to explain to each guy what’s expected of them and to keep their spirits up. Don’t think for one second that players are naïve. These are big holes and big shoes to fill, but [the players] should look in the mirror because they’re the ones that are going to have to fill them.
“At this level, they should be aware that there are going to be expectations. No matter who you are, there are still expectations. If they have difficulty dealing with that, this might not be the place for them to play.”
The final record had been reduced to little more than a footnote well before Harvey Day took on a new and dark meaning. Winning is always its own reward, but 79-83 might have meant less going forward than 72-90 if the better record were a function of veterans out-performing kids.
The rest of the way isn’t about giving up, not in the least. Yesterday’s trade didn’t indicate surrender, either, not with both Byrd and Buck heading into free agency, and not with the front office’s eyes firmly focused on the future.
Pretty much everywhere you look on the diamond, a Met is attempting to solidify his major league employment prospects. There’s Travis d’Arnaud auditioning behind the plate, Wilmer Flores at third base (or second), Juan Lagares in center field (or right), Ike Davis at first… with Lucas Duda looking for an opportunity.
Now, the trade of Byrd, who in David Wright’s extended absence had established himself as his team’s most productive offensive weapon, will provide an opening for 26-year-old Matt den Dekker to get at-bats in his first shot at major league pitching.
And Anthony Recker, recalled with Buck’s exit, will get his chance to make his case to back up d’Arnaud next season.
Meanwhile, it is on Collins to get the most out of his wounded group even as the Mets’ grand vision of the future may not include him. But what else is new for the manager whose lineup card has been absent Wright and Bobby Parnell for approximately a month each and Johan Santana for the entire season?
“I back the front office completely,” said Collins, a baseball lifer who recognizes the value of being an organization man. “Don’t think they do this on a whim … there is a plan.”
Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson: the anti Rex Ryan-John Idzik.
“We all want to win as many as possible, but Terry is being evaluated beyond simply wins and losses, as I have talked about before,” Alderson said. “To the extent that [this trade] is perceived as making it more difficult to win, and I don’t necessarily hold that belief, it all will be taken into account.”
Players play. Young ones fighting for jobs don’t have the slightest excuse not to compete. None of them has an excuse, none of them has cover provided by the Harvey injury or the Byrd-Buck transaction.
Last night’s victory could be a conversation-changer, even if temporarily. Regardless, the Mets won’t lay down over their final 32 games. Collins won’t stand for it.