How Much Longer Can Terry Collins Last?

Mets fans have been calling for Terry Collins’s head for years now. Well, they might want to get a platter ready because if the losing continues, Collins’s tenure as manager may not.

The Mets are now just a game above .500, in second place, a game and a half back of the Nationals. They are also just half a game ahead of the Braves, who swept the Mets out of Atlanta in humiliating fashion this weekend.

Now, as we’ve been saying for years, Collins is not responsible for the players he has. This is Sandy Alderson’s team. If the team cannot hit, blame that on Alderson. But Collins was never a master strategist, and now he seems to be getting worse.

His idiotic move to remove Jacob deGrom from Friday’s game and his baffling reasoning behind it is emblematic of Terry Collins’s decision-making process. They Mets are a team with no margin for error. They make enough on the field; adding more from the dugout is a recipe for losing.

Alderson has to see there is an opportunity this year and he cannot let it pass. He cannot let his manager lose games for the team. According to the fantasy book “Baseball Maverick” (I promise to finish and review the book soon, I swear!), Alderson was close to firing Collins after last season. More losing certainly won’t help Collins keep a tenuous job.

The Mets head to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the dreadful Brewers. If their five-game losing streak turns into an eight-game skid, there is a very good chance Collins will not make it back to Citi Field for Friday’s game.

The Mets simply cannot let this season slip away like so many before.