The New York Mets have basically hit their lowest point of an abysmal season.
After getting swept by a historically good Los Angeles Dodgers club that made them look like a Little League side, the Mets are 11 games under .500 and 16 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East.
So much for playoff aspirations let alone World Series hopes.
While injuries have played a large part of the team’s struggles, the coaching hasn’t exactly been up to snuff, either. Terry Collins hinted at the beginning of the season that 2017 could be his last year as manager. But it might not be up to him given the Mets’ performance.
Regardless of how Collins departs, the Mets might be spending the offseason not only upgrading their roster but looking for a new man to run the clubhouse. Here are a few initial names that you might see on the team’s shortlist:
Bob Geren
Current position: Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach
This should be a familiar name to Mets fans. Geren served as the team’s bench coach under Collins from 2012-2015 and was a part of the coaching staff that helped the Mets make it to their first World Series since 2000.
Due to family reasons, Geren took the same position with the Dodgers in 2016 and has been reaping the benefits since. Los Angeles is the best team in baseball this year and on pace to put up one of the greatest seasons the league has ever seen.
Geren served as the manager of the Oakland Athletics from 2007-2011, compiling a 334-376 record without recording a winning season.
Chip Hale
Current position: Oakland Athletics third-base coach
Hale is just a year removed from being a manager at the major-league level. However, he was only able to make two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and they weren’t very good ones.
He went 148-176, including a dismal 69-win season in 2016 with a team that was expected to at least contend for a a Wild Card spot in the National League.
The 52-year-old worked as the Mets’ third-base coach from 2010-2011 and was actually a candidate to take over the managerial job after Jerry Manuel was fired. But Collins was chosen instead.
Dick Scott
Current position: New York Mets bench coach
Scott has spent a majority of his baseball career working in the minors dating back to the early ’90s.
In 2013, he was hired by the Mets as director of player development and made the jump to bench coach after Geren departed for Los Angeles. It was his first-ever job on a major-league staff.
