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Collins out, no successor yet

Rays manager Hal McRae says the move is the result of wanting to hire his own coaches.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 13, 2001

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hal McRae's desire to reshape the Rays coaching staff resulted in the firing of third-base coach Terry Collins Friday.

As he did after firing pitching coach Bill Fischer before Sunday's season finale, McRae said it was more a matter of wanting to hire his own coaches than anything Collins did or did not do.

"It's basically the same as before," McRae said from his Bradenton home. "I was allowed to bring in some coaches and I'm in the process of bringing them in."

McRae said he knows who he wants to hire but the moves will not be made for several weeks.

He refused to discuss potential candidates, but two names likely to come up are Tom Foley and Jackie Brown.

Foley, the Rays minor-league field coordinator, is believed to be the likely replacement in the third-base box. Foley, who played 13 seasons in the majors, has been with the Rays since 1996, spending much of his tenure as farm director.

Foley longs to get back on the field, however, and has expressed an interest in eventually managing. He is managing a team in the Arizona Fall League.

Brown, who worked in the Pittsburgh organization with McRae, is expected to be strongly considered for pitching coach.

After 31/2 years as the White Sox pitching coach, Brown came to the Rays in 1996 as their minor-league pitching coordinator but left two years later. He has not worked in the major leagues since.

Chuck Hernandez, Rays minor-league pitching coordinator, and Joe Coleman, Triple-A pitching coach, are possible candidates if a deal cannot be made with Brown.

Collins, 52, joined the Rays this season as the bullpen coach, but moved to third base when McRae replaced Larry Rothschild in April. Collins, like Fischer, is under contract with the Rays through the end of next season.

"He's going to make a change and bring another guy in, and that's fine," Collins said by telephone from Michigan. "He deserves to have his own people."

Collins, who makes his offseason home in St. Petersburg, said he had "a great time" with the Rays.

"That last month was as fun a time as we had all year long," Collins said. "It made the whole season a little more fun."

When the replacements for Fischer and Collins are named, McRae will have hired four of the six coaches. Only bench coach Billy Hatcher and batting coach Wade Boggs remain from Rothschild's original staff.

McRae fired Jose Cardenal when he took the job and brought in Lee May as first-base coach, and he hired Glenn Ezell as bullpen coach when Darren Daulton quit.

May and Ezell worked for McRae in Kansas City.

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