With the Mets in search of astronauts, Terry Collins made it clear what kind of player he’d like to see land at Citi Field first.
“No. 1, we’ve got to find a bat in the middle of the lineup that produces runs,” Collins said Thursday night at a benefit for Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation at Chelsea Piers. “We certainly hoped Ike [Davis] could do it and he had a rough year. He’s certainly not done by any means. He’s still a young guy, but for us to compete, we’ve got to make sure we have a guy who can produce some runs. We’ve got to protect David [Wright].”
Collins is waiting to see what general manager Sandy Alderson is able to get during the offseason, days after agent Scott Boras said the Mets needed more stars, calling them “astronauts.”
Boras represents some of those players, such as Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury, who might be too pricey for the Mets.
The manager also knows Alderson is looking for arms, in part to make up for the loss of Matt Harvey — out for the year following Tommy John surgery.
“We’ve got to take a good, hard look at our young pitching and see if any of those guys are ready because with Matt being out, those are a lot of innings to fill,” Collins said. “And those just aren’t innings, those are zeroes. It’s not just anybody that can fill his shoes.”
Collins considers this the most important offseason since he got to New York.
“I knew when I got hired here that there were some things that had to get done to clear some money and build the minor league system,” Collins said. “It’s taken some time, but I think now we’ve got some freedom and money to spend and we’ll see what it buys.”
He knows it will be expensive after Marlon Byrd got $16 million for two years from the Phillies.
“I’m really thrilled for Marlon and he deserved it,” Collins said. “You look at the money handed out so far, they’re getting paid.”