It could come down to Collins vs. Melvin
The Mets confirmed that Jose Oquendo will interview Monday in Orlando, Fla., for their vacant managerial position, but given that he's the 10th and likely final candidate, it looks as though there's not much that can happen to alter the club's thinking at this point.
Terry Collins, Bob Melvin and Clint Hurdle are the only candidates virtually assured of a second-round interview this week, as first reported by Newsday on Thursday, and that could be a two-man race by the time the GM meetings begin this week. The Pirates have stepped up their efforts to hire Hurdle, according to Foxsports.com, which would leave Collins and Melvin.
Collins appears to be the front-runner, having left a favorable impression on ownership in his first year as the Mets' minor-league field coordinator. Collins has a big fan in Paul DePodesta, one of Sandy Alderson's newly hired front-office executives, and has six years of major-league managing experience with the Angels and Astros - seemingly a prerequisite for this job. With his high motor and enthusiasm, Collins comes off as similar to Bobby Valentine, without the big salary demands.
"The only work I've done with Terry was after getting down to spring training early and he was kind of running things for everybody," David Wright said Saturday before teaching a baseball clinic at Chelsea Piers. "From what I've seen, he seems like a great guy and brings a lot of fire and passion to the game."
Wright also heard a positive review of Melvin from Orlando Hudson, who "couldn't say enough good things" about the former Diamondbacks and Mariners manager. "I don't really know enough about any of them to say one would be better than the other," Wright said.
Regardless of the manager, Wright believes the Mets should be competitive next season. "I think that it's up to us as players to go out there and do what we're capable of doing," he said. "I think that for every team it would be nice to go out there and spend some money, get some free agents, make some trades. But with the money that we've already spent, who knows if that's going to be possible."
