Why Misleading Stats On David Wright Change Everything

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• William H. November 27, 2011 at 1:28 pm

  Rusty Staub would have been a great Mets if they never traded him the first time. The reason the Mets have no lifetime achievement award recipients is because they never hang onto their best players. Case in point Jeff Kent and soon Jose Reyes.
  • NJstuckinTX November 27, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    Very true. When you look at who the “all time” greats are for the Astros, they’ve spent most if not all of their tenures with the team. From Biggio to Bagwell to Berkman, those guys put up most impressive numbers for a long, long time. That’s where it is a shame that we most likely won’t see Reyes retained and most likely Wright either.
• XtreemIcon November 27, 2011 at 1:43 pm

  “It would also be fair to assume that since David Wright has cemented his name at or near the top of the Mets’ all-time leaderboard in many offensive categories, he’d rank just as highly in those categories had he been a member of the Astros.”

  That wouldn’t be fair at all, Ed. Would it be fair for the Twins, A’s or Indians to compare themselves or their players to the Yankees or their players because franchises started at the same time?

  You’re comparing Wright to a franchise that boasted HOF-quality players like Bagwell and Biggio, eight or so years of Joe Morgan (although he was at his best with the Reds, he was still really good in Houston) and Lance Berkman who is borderline if he retired today.

  The Mets had Darryl who promptly derailed his own career, and great players like Gary, Piazza and Keith were traded for and only played a handful of good years here. So of course Wright’s counting stats are among the Mets leaders. They never really had anyone who sustained greatness in their time here.

  I don’t think it’s a fair comparison at all.
  • Ed Leyro November 27, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    That’s what I’m trying to say. People make David Wright out to be greater than he is and point to where he is on the Mets’ leaderboards. The reason why he ranks so highly on the all-time club rankings is because the Mets don’t do a good job keeping their few good offensive players or acquire players after they’ve had their best seasons.

    I brought up the Astros to show that some teams recognize when they have an above average offensive player who’s been consistently good for an extended period of time. Wright was only among the best players in the game for three seasons (2006-2008) and I don’t understand why fans get upset when the trade talk pops up. They’d have more of a reason to get upset if Wright was having a career similar to Bagwell or Biggio on the Astros.
    • XtreemIcon November 27, 2011 at 2:11 pm

      Ed, David Wright is clearly a top player and there is no evidence to the contrary. Comparing him to elite players like Bagwell and Biggio only work when they have comporable opportunities to do the same thing. If you forget the counting stats, in which career Astros like Bagwell and Biggio and (12 years for Berkman) have significantly more PAs to accumulate the stats, Wright would rank 1st in BA, 3rd in OBP (behind Bagwell and Berkman), 3rd in SLG% (also behind Bagwell and Berkman, and Wright’s not a slugger) and 3rd in OPS (behind guess which two).

      I’m fairly certain that people think Wright’s as good as he is because he’s as good as he is. Not because of where he ranks as a Met specifically.
      • Joe Diaz November 27, 2011 at 4:32 pm

        Just one correction. Wright was a top player.He hasn’t been a top player for a couple of years now.
        • MetsMagic November 28, 2011 at 1:15 am

          According to Baseball Reference, he was in the top 10 offensive players for 2010. And that’s with the old dimensions.
    • Drew November 27, 2011 at 2:14 pm

      I’m with Icon on this. The truth is that Wright ranks near or at the top of so many categories for the Mets because none of the all-time Mets greats played that long for the Mets. The most-telling thing in this comparison is that, despite being 14th in GP and 11th in ABs, Wright would STILL be 7th in runs, 5th in home runs, and 8th in total bases. What THAT tells me is that, given the same number of years with the ‘Stros as players like Bagwell, Biggio, and Berkman, Wright could/would be at or very close to the top in those categories.

      What you tried to do was to show that Wright hasn’t been here that long and has the Mets’ records by default. What you ACTUALLY showed is that – given the chance to stick with one team for a tenure that most franchises give their fan-favorite star-players – Wright’s numbers would rival those of a similar franchise’s fan-favorite stars.
      • XtreemIcon November 27, 2011 at 2:20 pm

        “What you ACTUALLY showed is that – given the chance to stick with one team for a tenure that most franchises give their fan-favorite star-players – Wright’s numbers would rival those of a similar franchise’s fan-favorite stars.”

        Not to mention would-be Hall of Famers.
    • Metsie November 28, 2011 at 10:41 am

      “The reason why he ranks so highly on the all-time club rankings is because the Mets don’t do a good job keeping their few good offensive players or acquire players after they’ve had their best seasons.”

      And you conclude that it is a good thing to do again?

      You forget that the Astros have been a far more competitive team in the last 15 years than the Mets have!
      Wright has only been in the league 8 years and been an All Star every year since 2007! (Last year he was hurt)
      The problem isn’t that David is an offensive leader with us and no one else, the problem is as you pointed out we keep sending away anyone who could possibly challenge him!

      Maybe if we actually kept some good players around here then we would know if Wright is worth keeping.

      As it stands you would have been better to conclude it’s not worth Keeping Wright not because he wouldn’t be a leader someplace else but because someplace else is where all our best offensive players seem to go and what is the point of keeping one good one if thats the plan?
• REYESFORPREZ November 27, 2011 at 1:47 pm

  I don’t know understand what the purpose of this post is. If you look at the top three lines of your Houston stats you would see that in order to accumulate stats you have to play long enough.

  Games played: 1,106 (14th)
  At-bats: 4,161 (11th)
  Plate appearances: 4,782 (10th)

  How can you get high on the list for anything when you’re not close in any of these?
  • Ed Leyro November 27, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    See my reply to Xtreemicon above for the purpose of the post.
• LA Mets Fan November 27, 2011 at 2:25 pm

  You’re going to open up a can of whoop ass when the loonies read this tomorrow, But put me in the Wright is overrated column.
  • MetsMagic November 28, 2011 at 2:58 am

    Overrated is a term you save for the Ryan Howards of baseball who get recognition for nothing. Wright’s not that player.
    • Vinny B November 28, 2011 at 1:56 pm

      i don’t like Howard, but to say he gets recognition for “nothing” is ridiculous. From 06-09 he averaged 50 HR’s a year. And has hit over 30 HR’s and over 100 RBI in every full season that he’s played.

      I hate him, but I’m not going to say he’s done “nothing” when he’s clearly a very good baseball player, even though he plays for a team I don’t like.
      • MetsMagic November 28, 2011 at 11:07 pm

        He posted a batting line that might have been inferior to that of Dan Murphy. His super slugger days are far behind him now. He strikes out 175-199 a year and is a liability at first.
• any November 27, 2011 at 2:33 pm

  ld still be considered one of their best players. just not as long tenured.

  if you look at your list of rankings, the one that sticks out the most? the lowest number of the bunch is games played. Which, put another way, means he has actually been more productive per game played at this point in his career (if he is 14th in games played, but 5th in HRs, that’s pretty good).

  Not so much a smoking gun that Wright isn’t good (even compared to guys from the Astros), just an indictment of how the mets have been run over the years.
  • Steve S. November 27, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    Good points. Wright’s also been injured lately and has had to contend with the Wilpons’ ridiculous Citifield dimensions and their “Great Wall of Flushing.”
• any November 27, 2011 at 3:14 pm

  He would still be considered one of their best players. just not as long tenured.

  if you look at your list of rankings, the one that sticks out the most? the lowest number of the bunch is games played. Which, put another way, means he has actually been more productive per game played at this point in his career (if he is 14th in games played, but 5th in HRs, that’s pretty good).

  Not so much a smoking gun that Wright isn’t good (even compared to guys from the Astros), just an indictment of how the mets
• LJ November 27, 2011 at 5:06 pm

  I don’t really see how that “changes everything” or anything really. Looking at those Astros stats, he’d be 14th in games played,yet still rank 5th-7th in a number of the most important offensive categories…thats not bad at all for a dude who is still 28 years old.

  And really its not so much the “rankings” that make Wright good…his numbers have been very good regardless of where they rank. His career line is 300/.380/.508/.887 and his 162 gm averages are 27 HR, 106 RBI, 102 runs scored. The rankings aren’t really that important.

  However,the point you bring up about the Mets not having any really good homegrown guys stick around for a long period of time, and that being a reason the leaderboard isn’t all the impressive…thats true..but if anything that seems to be even MORE of a reason to hold onto Wright. It would be nice to actually have that homegrown player who sticks around for once. And Wright is a guy who has been a real good player and who really wants to stay a Met.

  Of course right now there is concern about his injury and his recent performance, but as long as 2011 isn’t a harbinger of things to come, I see no reason to trade Wright.
• larman November 27, 2011 at 8:21 pm

  I just wanted to say a few things about david wright. One the mets didn’t have to bring the fences for, to he’s got a huge hole in his swing. Where is the hitting to help, like hojo and dh. Really, 2010 wright hit 29 hrs. 2011 it’s what 14. All david wright does is stikeout so much, before 2008, he didn’t strikeout much, david is trying to pull the ball too much and not goinmg with the pitch like he used too. So why not trade him for some young players too rebuild the minors and sign 3rd basebase Aramis ramirez. At least the man can hit, not bad on the field. We need players who will play and play right, like i said all these players just want lots of money for what to make us poor guys can come to the ballpark, cus it costs so much. I believe baseball will be a thing of the past at the rate it’s going to pay ballplayers. it might turn into internetbaseball. But anyway wilpons sell the mets please do us a favor so that we can get a team finallly on the field that willing to play, and resign jose reyes, do something please.
• Heybatter November 27, 2011 at 8:44 pm

  And the same can be said for Jose Reyes, especially at $100+ Million.
• MetsMagic November 28, 2011 at 1:13 am

  I don’t care how his counting stats compare to those of Houston Astros who played for 15+ years. Look at Aramis Ramirez, who is widely liked by Cubs fans. He had a HUGE rebound year and won a silver slugger.

  And Wright is a far more talented player. Look at his career averages. He was on a Hall of Fame career path at one point, and he still wants to stay here. If we traded him for prospects that didn’t pan out and he one day ends up in Cooperstown wearing a Colorado or Los Angeles hat, we’d all feel terrible. The Mets have a lot of problems, that is for sure. But Wright, for better or worse, is a huge part of the Mets and is a part of the solution, not the problem.
• gary s. November 28, 2011 at 7:31 am

  Nice article Fred Wilpon aka Ed Leyro.Btw, what future hall of famers are we getting for David again?I almost wish they did trade Wright, so i don’t have to read any more idiotic posts like this one again.
• NCMetFan November 28, 2011 at 8:05 am

  If the point is that D Wright has not played like a HOFer than there is no arguement, but that isn’t news and few would argue he has. Comparing counting ststs is flawed, lets not forget that Houston plays in a hitter friendly ball park and that has a big impact on counting stats. D Wright had 3 or 4 ellite seasons and has been very good since. Last season is a push given his injury. Lets see if he does back to the line drive hitting approach he had when he was an ellite player and didn’t have to muscle up to hit the ball out at Citi Field. Trading Wright is only a good idea if the Mets can return a young, pre-arbitration front end pitcher. This is not likely.
• RealityChuck November 28, 2011 at 9:28 am

  You’re the one being misleading here. Wright has been a Met for eight seasons and 1106 games The people on the Astros were with the team for more seasons. Let’s take RBIs:

  Jeff Bagwell — 1529 RBIs in 2150 games — .71 RBI/Game
  Craig Biggio — 1175 RBIs — .41 RBI/Game
  Lance Berkman — 1090 RBIs – .68 RBI/game
  Jose Cruz — 942 RBIs – .50 RBI/Game
  Bob Watson — 782 RBIs — .57 RBI/game
  Caesar Cedeno — 778 RBIs — .51 RBI/ Game
  David Wright – 725 RBIs – .65 RBI/Game

  By absolute totals, Wright ranks 7th; but he’s third with Bagwell and Berkman for RBIs/Game. The main factor is that he played in far fewer games than all of the people in front of him.
  • Michael Mets November 28, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    I agree completely with RealityChuck who posted the stats below. You can’t just look at a franchise’s all-time leaders and compare them. Biggio played forever, Bagwell has over 1000 more games than Wright. The only real comparison is a per game ratio.

    Pete Rose has the most hits, Cobb is second. Rose was a minor leaguer compared to Cobb (.362 BA). He just had more at bats. All of those guys have more at bats (complete careers in Houston) than Wright (partial career in NY). Ed Kranepool (1853 games) has more hits for the Mets than Wright or Reyes, is he better than them?

    Pretty much any team would like to have David Wright at 3B.

    Jeff Bagwell — 1529 RBIs in 2150 games — .71 RBI/Game
    Craig Biggio — 1175 RBIs — .41 RBI/Game
    Lance Berkman — 1090 RBIs – .68 RBI/game
    Jose Cruz — 942 RBIs – .50 RBI/Game
    Bob Watson — 782 RBIs — .57 RBI/game
    Caesar Cedeno — 778 RBIs — .51 RBI/ Game
    David Wright – 725 RBIs – .65 RBI/Game – 1106 games

    By absolute totals, Wright ranks 7th; but he’s third with Bagwell and Berkman for RBIs/Game. The main factor is that he played in far fewer games than all of the people in front of him.
• Alan November 28, 2011 at 9:31 am

  How about the reality that two major events are greatly responsible for the decline in David Wright’s performance in the last couple of years. First, is his beaning by Matt Cain and second the change in ballpark dimensions. David is still one of the better third baseman around but he should benefit greatly from the changes to Citi Field as should Jason Bay. Of course, then all of you who have written him off will conveniently forget and come up with more useless statistics that just take up space on these pages.
• Metsie November 28, 2011 at 10:32 am

  Ed I think you may have drawn the wrong conclusions despite having all the info to make the correct one.

  Example:
  “But the reason why Wright has been one of the all-time greatest Mets is because the Mets haven’t had many great offensive players for him to be compared to, and when the Mets have had a game-changing offensive player, they’ve either traded him away (Rusty Staub), let him walk as a free agent (Darryl Strawberry and perhaps Jose Reyes) or acquired him after he established himself with another franchise (Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza).”

  And after admitting the reason why we don’t have that many great players is because we let them go, and favored players who did it someplace over our own, you now propose we should let Wright go to perpetuate the proccess?

  Is it no wonder that we don’t have any other homegrown Mets in the HOF the way we let the best candidates go?

  Yes the Astros had Biggio and Bagwell and why?
  Because they resigned them when it came time to!
  You can argue that Reyes and Wright are not HALL locks yet but their careers are still ahead of them, have a ways to go. You get into the Hall for what you do AFTER 30 and after a long productive career!

  Both Wright and Reyes have been All Stars the last few years!
  And by making excuses for trading them all your really doing is perpetuating the problem (as you see it) as to why an offensive leader on this team may not be an offensive leader someplace else!
  Because the second you get a new leader we let them go!

  When do you propose we stop this practice?
  After the Payroll is 30m a year?
• Alex68 November 28, 2011 at 10:45 am

  After delgado and beltran left or got injured. wright’s flaws were exposed, the pressure got to him sooner than expected. is a shame, i really liked this kid, he was imo the best player in baseball in 2007, he was on fire and could do no wrong, but….
  • Metsie November 28, 2011 at 11:04 am

    Alex I understand your disappointment but don’t you see that it is a product of expectations more than actual results?

    He was hurt this year so lets call that an outlier, Maybe it isn’t maybe it is we will see…

    He hit 27 Hrs in 2009. Just 6 Shy of his best year and did it IN CITIFIELD!

    Thats without Beltran for half a season and no Delgado!

    He had virtually no one but Bay in the lineup for 2010!

    What people need to do when looking at Wright is not EXPECT him to carry the team. He is not the guy to do that yet. Maybe in another 3 or 4 years he will be he is still young enough to do that.

    They moved the fences in which should help.
    I know you have soured on him and your not wrong to say he dropped off but the reason is a combination of his head (fences which are now moved in) and the fact that he was the only dangerous hitter in the lineup for pitchers to worry about!

    The problem really isn’t as much about Wright as it is about the fact that we have no one around him and with the direction we are going we are only making that situation worse not better!

    So you might get your wish to see Wright go but it won’t be a move that makes us better.
    Once he gets wherever it is he goes you may find out that Wright will be everything you think he should be, provided he isn’t the only batter on the team anyone worries about and those fences are not the same as he has dealt with the last two years!

    He’s a line drive gap hitter who will clear the fences 25-30 times a year! More on a good year with protection in the lineup!
    Doesn’t look like he is going to have that protection anytime soon as a Met so yes he might be the next guy to trade.

    But that will not be a good move when the hindsight comes around and we see what he can do when he isn’t the only guy to worry about in the lineup!
  • LJ November 28, 2011 at 11:37 am

    I don’t really buy that explanation. Its not like teams don’t try to get hitters out just b/c they have good hitters behind them. If anything they might be more concerned about making sure they get a guy out if he has good hitters behind him. If he’s alone in the lineup they probably aren’t that concerned about walking him or giving up a couple hits b/c they arent all that concerned about the guys behind him driving him in. But mainly a guy doesn’t turn into a .900 OPS hitter just b/c there are other good hitters in the lineup. And if a guy is a .900 OPS guy you certainly are aware of him. Its not like Wright was ever hidden.

    Besides Beltran was bad in 2005 and yet Wright was still great. And Delgado was awful in 2007 and Wright had his best yr. And both those guys did miss time with injuries even pre-2009 and Wright was still great. And Wright was pretty terrible in April 2009…that was his worst month of that season (outside of Sept when he came back from the beaning) and that was when everyone else was still healthy. That was when all the strikeouts and the big issues started. He actually played great after Delgado and Reyes got hurt. I think maybe losing Beltran and then leaving Wright as the only hitter in the lineup did probably made him press a bit, but I don’t think that was the only factor at all. I think if anything its more of a mental thing, than him getting “exposed” or teams suddenly trying harder to get him out.
    • Metsie November 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm

      No LJ no one said they don’t try to get them out..
      What it means to have a good hitter behind you is that they fewer ways to get you out.

      In the case of Wright (who was behind Beltran and Delgado not in front) it means they can play around and nibble on Wright because there is no harm in walking him. There is no big risk in walking Wright since there is no one behind him to drive him in.

      That allows the pitcher to nibble and try to tease Wright into hitting a bad pitch.

      When he had Beltran and Delgado in front they would play that game with them and then try to get Wright out without the ability to walk him because Beltran or Delgado were already on base. That meant better pitches, more strikes and more strikes means better pitches for Wright to hit!

      With Bay behind him they could easily pitch around Wright and hope he would swing and get himself out on bad pitches.

      If he had good hitters in front or behind him they would be less able to do that!
      If he would not press and lay off the bad pitches it would help also. Wright does get some of the blame here! Alex isn’t totally wrong!
      Just that if there are no good hitters around you then the Pitcher has more options to go about pitching to Wright because he is the only key batter.
      And if all you really have to worry about is that one guy then it makes it easy to deal with him without hurting yourself! A Walk is better than a double in that situation!
      • LJ November 28, 2011 at 1:10 pm

        I don’t dispute that there is some mental effect to it. And maybe effects some particular AB in certain situations. I just don’t buy into the theory that a hitter becomes a great hitter solely based on who is around him. I don’t think a guys OPS go up 100 points just b/c he has good hitters in the lineup. And most studies that have been done show that lineup really doesn’t have that much of an effect.

        And not that it matters, but there were times Wright hit in front of those guys. He moved in front of them sometime in 2007. But anyway, as far as Beltran and Delgado always being on base and that being a reason Wright was pitched to so much…not really true. In 2005, Wright was the only guy with a good OBP…Beltran’s was terrible, Floyd’s was decent but nothing special, and Wright had nobody hitting behind him. And in 2007, Wright’s best year Delgado’s was awful and Beltran’s was nothing special. Its not like those guys were constantly on base..
        • LJ November 28, 2011 at 1:17 pm

          And I think if it was just the team around him and nothing else at all you would have seen him have a much better April 2009. Not that a player can never slump but with the 27 K in 21 games it was clear there were problems and ones that never really went away….even before the injuries to other guys hit. And then comparing 2010 to 2011..Wright was much better in 2010 than he was in 2011…but most guys on the team were much better in 2011 than they were in 2010
• Alex68 November 28, 2011 at 11:43 am

  when other teams start walking pagan and a 220 at the time hitter in lucas duda, is hard for me to think this man is respected let alone the man we all thought he was. how can you walk pagan to get pitch to you if you’re an elite hitter?? in the same game nonetheless… and of course, both times the man failed. so, other teams managers and players see this guy for what he is, except his legion of mets fans.
  • LJ November 28, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    Or it could just be that teams were aware he wasn’t having a very good year, was coming off injury and was slumping at the time. That doesn’t mean he was never good or that he’ll never be good again. There were times over the years where players (including Wright) were IBBed to get to Beltran and/or Delgado.
    • Alex68 November 28, 2011 at 12:37 pm

      LJ, i really doubt that’s what it was, teams now know he’s a choker, put pressure on him to deliver, yet many times, he fails
      • LJ November 28, 2011 at 12:53 pm

        Completely disagree. If Wright was having a more typical season and/or not slumping, I don’t think those IBBs happen. I think Wright’s overall year being awful and also Duda playing well at the time of that IBB had a lot more to do with what happened that some mythical “clutch” thing. Besides the Mets were awful and completely out of contention during those games…its not like there was really much pressure. Those Sept games were probably the least pressure of any during the year.

        Wright’s numbers on the year were pretty similar regardless of the situation. If anything, he was actually better with runners on than he was with the bases empty, better in high leverage spots than he was in medium leverage or low leverage spots, and better in those late/close spots than he was overall.
        • Alex68 November 28, 2011 at 1:00 pm

          LJ, september 11th, EVERY new yorker were watching that game or at the stadium, sunday night, pressure moment, and the man had 3 opportunitites to end the game, instead, he failed ALL 3 TIMES!!!!!! it had nothing to do with standing or anything, more like carrying new york to a victory for new yorker to celebrate on what’s consider one of the most important day in America history, especially to new york
  • LJ November 28, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    I don’t dispute that there is some mental effect to it. And maybe effects some particular AB in certain situations. I just don’t buy into the theory that a hitter becomes a great hitter solely based on who is around him. I don’t think a guys OPS go up 100 points just b/c he has good hitters in the lineup. And most studies that have been done show that lineup really doesn’t have that much of an effect.

    And not that it matters, but there were times Wright hit in front of those guys. He moved in front of them sometime in 2007. But anyway, as far as Beltran and Delgado always being on base and that being a reason Wright was pitched to so much…not really true. In 2005, Wright was the only guy with a good OBP…Beltran’s was terrible, Floyd’s was decent but nothing special, and Wright had nobody hitting behind him. And in 2007, Wright’s best year Delgado’s was awful and Beltran’s was nothing special. Its not like those guys were constantly on base.
• Alex68 November 28, 2011 at 1:23 pm

  2005 and 2006 wright was a good player. then in 2007 wright became arguably top 5 player to MVP type calyber player.. then it came the 2008 season, the whole 243 with RISP and murphy at 3rd. it has not being the same since…
• Drew November 28, 2011 at 1:41 pm

  Wait, I think I get this article now. It’s so obvious, it’s right in the title!

  “Why Misleading Stats on David Wright Change Everything”

  We should’ve known it was a sarcastic article with purposely-misleading stats in an effort to show how absurd it is that we all debate whether David Wright is the Messiah or call him the worst third baseman in history! It’s a social commentary!

  Now that I understand the sarcasm, I can enjoy the article. Thanks!
• NCMetFan November 28, 2011 at 2:22 pm

  I’m not sure what changed D Wright, was it HoJo as his hitting coach, the switch to Citi field, or just he felt he needed change but his swing developed a bigger upper cut and he became more focused on pulling the ball. His swing got long with his bat wrapping around the top of his head and pitchers began to beat him on inside fastballs. Kieth Hernandez has tactfully pointed this out on many at-bats. Then came the beaning and pitchers began to throw curves at his front shoulder and watch him flinch. It’s common for D Wright to flinch and watch a curve break over for a strike. He has gone from a tough out that goes to right field when behind in the count to a free swinging K master. I hope this was induced by Citi field, we’ll find out this season. If is wasn’t then hopefully the Mets will be as deliberate with him as they have been with Reyes in the off-season (or open to a trade at the trade deadline). Between Wright & Reyes I’d take Reyes so in my opinion it will be a step backwards to let Reyes go and then resign D Wright, especially if he has another K filled season. If he hits 25 – 30 HRs, his BA is .260 and his OBP is .360 that would be good but I’d still prefer the 18-23 HR guy with a .300 BA and .390 OBP that singles in the runner from second or hits a sac fly to get a guy in from third as opposed to K, K, K, K with the big upper cut. I still hold out hope the Mets will resign Reyes for about $15M per year for 5 or 6 years and Wright reaches one of the two scenarios described and has his option picked up in 2013. Wright’s edge is that he is likely to play 150 games/season while with Reyes, 125 games is more likely.
• Reese November 28, 2011 at 2:43 pm

  FWIW, Bagwell didn’t come up through the Astros farm system. He was received in trade from Boston for the immortal Larry Anderson.
• Mike November 28, 2011 at 3:48 pm

  I have to really agree with you on thiis Ed. I’ve been saying all along that Wright is a good ballplayer not a great one.
• Steve from Norfolk November 28, 2011 at 7:32 pm

  Didn’t I read this article yesterday? Why put a current date on an old article and re-run it? This has been happening for a while. I personally don’t like having to scroll past old posts to get to the new stuff – I like the new atricles up front. Sorry if I’m nit-picking, but it just bugs me. I like the new content you post, it just feels like you’re trying to put on over on your readers with this reposting. I know I always scroll down to read any day’s posts I might have missed, as I’m sure your other loyal readers do.

  Now, in the immortal words crafted by Stan Lee for the Fantastic Four — “Nuff said”.
• Paul November 29, 2011 at 2:05 pm

  I have been a Met’s fan all my life – but I have never felt so down about it as I do these days. You are probably thinking that it is because of the teams performance the last few years – but you would be wrong.
  The real reason I am down on the team is because of the state of the fans. Growing up, I had equal exposure to the Mets and Yankees, but one thing that drew me to the Mets was that I liked the fans, and people much better. But lately, Mets fans are a bunch of whiny b*****. I basically see most of my fellow Mets fans as Yankee fans these days.
  The situation with Madoff was devastating – but I look at is as a challenge to the team to compete with a lower payroll – certainly other teams have done it.
  I used to enjoy coming to this website a lot more to get me excited about the team – but now I don’t look forward to reading the postings. Every time another team does something, there is an article on how the Mets missed out. Below you will find a bunch of internet trolls arguing back and forth.
  Maybe this comes with the increased exposure – but seriously don’t people have better things to do. Although maybe this is a sign of the times, with such high un-employement, and ridiculous political leadership.
  Is it wrong for me to ask that Mets fans be the best fans? I believe if the fans really believe in the team, the team will perform better in every aspect.