Ron Gardenhire
Who is arguably the most successful No. 19 in New York Mets history (sorry, Bobby O), sort of resembles Santa Claus minus the mighty beard, and is the ‘perfect’ replacement should the Mets send Terry Collins packing at the end of this season?
Ron Gardenhire, of course.
About one year ago, MLB Network Radio host and former Mets general manager Steve Phillips made a bold prediction that should Gardenhire manage in the bigs yet again, it will be in Mets orange and blue.
Because Phillips once ran the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the Mets organization, you can probably trust him.
In 13 seasons managing the Minnesota Twins, Gardenhire willed his baseball-playing disciples to six playoff appearances. That’s twice as much as the Mets have this century.
Nevertheless, you never know which Ron Gardenhire you’re going to get. There’s the one who scored six division titles in his first nine years and the one that finished in last place three times over his last four years
Hmm …
On second thought, let’s keep Terry.