30
2011
Wright Hopefully Not Going Anywhere
An article by 
If the Mets could only keep one of their young superstars to be the face of the franchise for the next decade, would you choose Jose Reyes or David Wright?
This is a very difficult question since each comes with a certain price tag and skillset.
In a perfect world, the Mets will be able to sign both players long-term—Reyes this offseason and Wright next offseason—in an attempt to keep two of the organization’s best home-grown players with the franchise for their entire careers.
Regardless of this question, there’s one thing I’m starting to get a little annoyed with, and that’s Mets fans clamoring for the team to trade Wright.
The murmurings of a Reyes trade were ubiquitous not too long ago, but since both he and the team have taken off, those rumors have died down. However, in lieu of Daniel Murphy—despite his recent struggles—Justin Turner and Ruben Tejada playing well, some Mets fans think that Wright returning healthy will have a similar effect as to when Carlos Beltran returned after last year’s All-Star break.
Basically, what these fans are saying is that the team would be better off without Wright, and he is thus expendable via trade.
I would have to wholeheartedly disagree in this case.
While I’ve become a big fan of Turner, Murphy and Tejada, their production combined does not equal a healthy David Wright. We have to remember that part of the reason Wright struggled earlier this season was because he was playing injured.
Yes, Wright strikes out a ton, and yes, Wright sometimes isn’t the most clutch player.
But David Wright is still one of the leaders of this Mets team.
Since it’s looking like Ike Davis may miss the remainder of the season, Wright’s return won’t shake up the entire lineup. Murphy will remain at first, while Turner and Tejada split time at second. Who knows? Maybe one of these players will come back down to earth and benefit from a stint in the minors.
The thing with Wright is that I want to see him FULLY healthy before attempting his return. He is probably itching to get back into the game, but as we saw with Beltran coming back too soon last season, seeing Wright struggle everyday may be bad for the team chemistry.
As it stands, sitting at one game over .500 is not the defining factor that turns this team into a contender. They are still in need of a run where they rattle off eight or nine wins out of 10 games.
But having a healthy David Wright back in the lineup will take some of the pressure off Reyes and Beltran and create a more balanced attack.
Surprisingly, the offense has shown some good pop over the last week. Just imagine if Wright was around to join in on the action.
So to the Mets fans that think Wright is not part of this team’s future, think again.
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.
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First of all let’s get this “leader” stuff about Wright off the board. He’s NOT a leader and NEVER has been a leader. That type of talk starts every single spring training and as the season wears on it fades into oblivion because you can tell (at least in my eyes) that I don’t think other more mature players are gonna pay attention to this guy as any type of leader. He’s simply NOT a leader. You have to have something to give in order to lead. Like Beltran and Reyes.
I’m one of the biggest Wright bashers in town BUT even I realize it would be nice to have him back. BUT there is way it should be handled in my opinion. First of all Terry better NOT take Beltran away from the 3-hole when Wright gets back. I think Wright is best served batting 5th or down in the order around there. Leave the leading to Beltran and Reyes, especially Beltran who’s been through the wars even before he came to the Mets. Let Wright bat 5th and just be one of the players I think he may be able to relax and hit better if handled that way. Enough of this leader talk, let him hit FIRST. Beltran and Reyes are leading with their performances not by saying anything – i dont’ want to see that broken up.
Bayonne, I may have just feinted as I realized we’re in near total agreement. Have u ever stopped to wonder why it is, the NY sports press focuses on leadership emmanating from the ranks of LoDuca,Wright,Bay, et al. Notice in a Spanish dominated clubhouse, these anglo scribes are focusing on someone, like them, not fluent in the primary clubhouse banter language.
To me what’s very telling vis-a-vis leadership, is that true suvccessful leaders are selected by their group of peers & are not self-annointed. We’ve read articles referring to Reyes’ mentoring of Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Argenis Reyes and now, Ruben Tejada. Even Beltran’s befriending Beato & Duda. Despite the comings & goings of the Evan(s),Thole(s),Turner(s),Murphy(s) I have yet to encounter one tale of mentoring by Wright upon any of these fellow Anglo novitiates.
As to my choosing betwen Wright & Reyes, after relying upon my 55+ yrs of baseball fan experience, I must consider the entire team, the venue, the fanbase and choose Reyes as the more desirable fit for this team playing in CitiField as Citi was primarily designed to highlight his game strengths, gap-hitting & excessive speed while Citi’s unique qualities particularly minimize the raw strengths brough by Wright(opo-field power production) FYI, it’s evident to me that CITI IS THE “HOUSE THAT REYES BUILT”
What bad teams do is focus on what players can’t do instead of focusing on what they do do. Wright is a streaky, highly volatile, platoon dependent player but in his best months can carry a team like he did last June. He’s currently under control until age 31 counting his club option year. That’s perfect. Keep him unless someone blows you away. If you can keep only one long term make it Reyes, that way you’ll have BOTH of them for another couple of years.
As far as the face of the franchise goes I got sick of hearing from Wright after every game a long time ago. I’d rather hear from all the guys, not just one. Wright never said anything interesting or relevant anyway.
I don’t dislike Wright at all. I am tired of all the strikeouts and suspect that he is a compiler instead of a game winner but I still prefer him to anyone else we’ve had play 3B in our history (I consider Alfonzo to be a 2B) but Jose has been the face of the franchise since he arrived and is by far and away the better and more irreplaceable player and by signing Reyes for 5/100 you can still have both for 2 years, together, then collect the two draft choices, slide Wilmer into 3B and have Tejada and Davis man the right side of the infield.
That’s the only thing that makes sense.
Another thing you have to ask yourself is lets just say that Murphy and Turner could be an effective platoon at 2B, itself a very questionable proposition, but let’s just say that they could. Davis at 1B, Tejada SS, Wright 3B, what do you do with Wilmer? Trade him? Probably. At this point he’s probably too deep into the system to learn to play a decent PF anyway and the only one he projects to be even passable at is LF and that has at least another 2 years to run if not three.
He hasn’t played a lot of SS this year in the Majors but from what I saw last year it looked like a steep drop off when Tejada took over for Reyes and as he gets older and fills out a bit more that can only get more severe.
Wouldn’t Davis, Tejada (where we know he can play great D), Reyes and Flores make much more long term sense than then Davis, Murphy/Turner, Tejada and Wright?
We don’t really know how Havens/Valdespin fit into the picture but it wouldn’t kill us to have a little depth at middle infield and with Turner/Murphy really looking like good bench/role players along with Flores/Lutz and Marte at 3B in the minors the safest, and best move would be to resign Reyes, let Wright go at age 31 after the 2013 season and renew the minors with the two draft picks.
I agree that you should keep wright through his contract,and decide what to do after that (and likely the best option will be to let him go if he gets offered a huge deal).
sign reyes now, and have both for another 2 full season after this one, in their prime years.
I don’t understand why so many people think they need to extend him now or even next year. makes no sense.
T, u hear from Wright nightly primarily because “the suits’ believe the American piblic will sour on ESL interviews,. The 600# gorilla in the clubhouse has been Reyes was always the more natural leader in ’06.’07 wasn’t it Reyes playing Pied Piper of the individualized handshakes? This yr, wasn’t it Reyes, in ST introducing “the claw” & “the spotlight” For yrs Reyes has set the tune everyone incl vets Pedro & Johan have gladly danced to, Reyes’ is/was mentoring Carlos Gonzalez(G0-G0), Fernando Martinez
(F-Mart), Argenis Reyes(Jose’s “lil shadow”), Ruben Tejada(Jose’s “‘other’ shadow”)
All this time, with Evans,Murph,Duda,Thole all needing vet guidance does Wright’s name ever emerge? NO! isn’t it time he pass on what Floyd & McEwing supplied to him…guidance, comforting reassurances? Wright is far too retiscent or self absorbed. Certainly ownership has shown a preference for D.Wright as frontman, public uniform persona; but considering their history of pisspoor judgments doesn’t thast reinforce the case for Reyes?
T, please consider, as I do, the Reyes Health/Injury concern merely a perdseption issue unsupported by facts once u examine this data:
Re JOSE’S HEALTH/INJURY PERCEPTION:
YEAR▲ TEAM▲ G▼
2003 NYM 69
2004 NYM 53
2005 NYM 161
2006 NYM 153
2007 NYM 160
2008 NYM 159
2009 NYM 36
2010 NYM 133
WHAT THIS ‘OFFICIAL’ GAMES PLAYED ACCOUNT DISPLAYS IS 4 SEASONS MARRED BY MISFORTUNE & 4 SUCCESSIVE SEASONS OF NEAR IRONMAN PROPORTIONS.
BY EXAMINING THE CAUSES FOR THE MISSED GAMES WE FIND HIS INNAUGRAL SEASONS OF ’03 z& ’04 MARRED BY RECURRING CALF INJURIES ADDRESSED BY CREATING AN INTENSE WARMUP REGIMINE WHICH HAS SEEMINGLY ELIMINATED THE ISSUE AS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN AS THOSE ISSUES HAVE NOT RESURFACED FOR 6 SEASONS(MLB ETERNITY) THE SUBSEQUENT TWO MOST RECENT SEASONAL LIMITERS WERE CAUSED BY NON-RECURRING FIXED ISSUES AS LIKELY TO BEFALL ANY OTHER PLAYER, IN 2009, HIS TEARING OF A SUPERFLUOUS TENDON(totally different from past ‘leg’ concerns)(HAMSTRING TENDON) WAS FIRST MISDIAGNOSED BY 3 SETS OF TEAM PHYSICIANS(SF,LA,NY) PRIMARILY DUE TO RARITY OF INJURY. DURING THE ’09/’10 OFFSEASON SURGERY TO REMOVE THE TROUBLESOME SUPERFLUOUS TENDON WAS PERFORMED THUS ELIMINATING ANY OPPORTUNITY FOR A RELAPSE OR REOCCURANCE OF THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE.
IN 2010 JOSE’S THYROID LEVELS WERE FOUND TO BE ELEVATED & DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY INCREASED SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION IN THE MISTAKEN BELIEF THAT SUCH OVER INDULGENCE WOULD STRENGTHEN HIS STAMINA(PROVINCIAL DOMIBICAN BELIEF aka HOME-REMEDY) ONCE JOSE’S DIETARY ISSUES WERE ALTERED THE CONDITION SUBSIDED BACK TO “IN NORMAL RASNGE” PARAMETERS WITH NO NEED FOR MEDICATION OR TREATMENT BEYOND NORMAL MONITORING, THUS THAT ISSUE IS RESOLVED & HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO RECUR AS IS THE MIDSEASON STRAINED OBLIQUE WHICH HINDERED HIS FINAL WEEKS OF PLAY AND IS FAR FROM BEING A SPECIAL CONCERN AS THE SAME ISSUE TYPICALLY STRIKES MULTIPLE PLAYERS ON EACH MLB ROSTER PER SEASON.
HOPFIULLY THIS FULLY EXPLAINS WHY I REFER TO JOSE’S INJURY/HEALTH ISSUES AS A PERCEPTION & NOT AN ACTUAL FACT! however,I vonceded, its widely accepted that, “perception is “a fact” to the perceiver”
I hope the Mets can be very creative to signing Jose Reyes and David Wright to an extension. When say being creative think outside the box. One thing teams tend to do is give the big contract for 5-7 yr then later in the contract the player falls off in production but they have big salary so team need to eat a major part to trade them. So why don’t they get the higher pay early and in the later years more incentive laden contract This is some thing to think about with both David and Jose. Maybe that way we can keep both. Also who says the by next year the finances may have changed. either the legal issues settled of new owners.
I am a fan of both Wright and Reyes I would not like to see either go. As fans we have our opinions of Wright and Reyes both good and bad and that’s ok that’s how it should be.
As far as what we think of Wright and for that matter Reyes being or not being a leader the players know who is a leader in that clubhouse and who isn’t. From what i’ve seen the players have used the word leader to describe both of them so it is what it is. If some think otherwise there is not a whole lot more that can be said.
My hope is to see them both win a W.S. as Mets but more importantly is to just see the Mets win a W.S. be it with or without Wright & Reyes.
They are our guys homegrown and All Stars. That is not something I have had the pleasure of enjoying often in my lifetime. I don’t know how many more times will I get to say such a thing “our guys homegrown and All Stars”. I’d like to enjoy watching them for as long as possible in a Mets uniform. Call me selfish.
Agreed completely. No reason they can’t keep them both. Even with the money issues, there is tons of money coming off the books.
It has been frustrating to see Wright slip the past couple years from what he was 2005-2008, the strikeouts are worrisome but even the last 2 seasons he is still one of the best 3b in the game. As far as the “clutch” stuff…sometimes he’s been clutch other times he hasn’t. Look at Reyes…he was terrible late in games last yr, really struggled down the stretch in both 2007 and 2008, struggled with the bases loaded in the past, but then bam this year he has been great in every situation possible. We’d certainly be regretting it if we let him go years ago for being “unclutch”.
I also think its unfair for people to get on Wright for being interviewed. Talking to the media is part of the job. He is pretty boring, its not like he’s in the clubhouse screaming for the media to pay attention to him. And remember all the sagas several years ago about with guys like Wagner and LoDuca getting mad at teammates for ducking the media? So blame the other guys on the team, or blame the media, but I don’t think other guys not getting interviewed is Wright’s fault. Besides, the past couple years they have been talking to others, not just Wright.
AS long as you are projecting Wilmer Flores to take over for Wright, when can we expect his induction to the hall of fame?Thanks for the laugh.
i won’t even comment on this article.. leader? don’t make me laugh.. oh, and by the way, mets aren’t better at 3rd base without wright, but imo, they’re better everywhere else, clubhouse, lineup without him striking out or his unclutchness etc..
“i won’t even comment on this article..”
Don’t look now, but you just did, what a shocker………
Have you ever been in the clubhouse, or is this just another lie you are spewing?
This is kinda funny to me. I like both Wright and Reyes as players. Reyes is more fun to watch for me because I like the speed game. The thing is I’m not sure either is a good canidate for a long term contract. Reyes will slow down over the next 5 years Wright has been in a decline of sorts since well 07 I just don’t know how either player will perform over the course of a 7 year deal. I also never thought Beltran would be able to perform like he has this year so I don’t know jack. I’d hat to be the GM in this situation. If he can sign Reyes and Wright does that make the team better, well no but if you let them go does that make the team worst, YES so how do you handle this with a .500 team? I have no answer and as far as the question about Wrights leadership I do not pretend to be a baseball insider so I will not venture to say what his leadership is like. I will say that he plays hard and seems to have a positive attitude during his interviews outside of that I’d have to talk to some players off the record to find out about his demeanor.
Nathan, Wright’s leadership or lack thereof is ONLY a concern to the hacks of the airwaves & newsprint; certainly NOT the clubhouse in Flushing wherre the ACTUAL leader apparently is Reyes, as’master of relazation & ipbeatness as well as past & current mentor for C.Gonzalez,F-Mart,Argenis Reyes, Tejada.
Wright mentors or helps… Who?.
That, my friend is ACTUAL LEADERSHIP not who does the most team sponsored appearances/interviews As in most PR related issues, the Wilpons have chosen to back the wrong horse, Wright, when clearly the most compelling emptional story of success within the NYM organization belongs to Reyes with his professional beginning as illiterate in English @ age 16, needing Bay as his team assigned companion & his self-taught eventual English fluency using his first riches to benefit his parents’ living arrainements on LI; not a “heart of Manhattan” bachelor pad for himself & his siblings to emanate into ‘circulation’ from.