9
2011
What If David Wright Pulls A Jose Reyes?
An article by 
We just saw Jose Reyes deliver the greatest season ever by a Mets shortstop. Additionally, after 49 seasons without a National League batting champion, the Mets now have one in Jose Reyes and nobody could ever take that away from him or the Mets. (Can a no-hitter be far behind?)
At 27-years old, Reyes had the season of his life and now he is packing up all his speed, all his intensity, all his talents along with his batting title and heading south for the foreseable future. He went from face of the Mets franchise to face of the Marlins franchise which doesn’t sit well with Hanley Ramirez, but that”s a topic of discussion for another day.
Lets move on…
Imagine this… What if third baseman David Wright has a career year next season just as Reyes did in 2011, then what?
It’s obvious the Mets have catered the dimensions of Citi Field specifically to aid his production, and even Wright himself was all smiles and practically glowing about the proposed changes that are already underway.
Lets say David Wright bats .334/.419/.551/.970 with 44 doubles, 37 home runs, 131 RBI, 119 runs and 29 stolen bases in 2011.
All those numbers are about 5-8% better than what he’s already done before in each category. (Thanks, Baseball Reference!)
For Wright, this would be a career year.
It’s now October of 2012. The Mets have a team option, but David Wright wants a five-year extension before the season starts or like Reyes, he will not negotiate during the season and will test the free agent waters.
Remember that while Reyes is 28, David Wright will be 30 come January of 2013.
Do you think the Mets should give it to him or play it the same exact way they did with Jose Reyes a year ago – which ultimately ended with disastrous results and a fractured fannbase?
You know the question about a David Wright extension is going to come up as soon as the dust settles from the Reyes saga, so how should the Mets play it?
Would you give Wright a 5 year extension, trade him at the deadline, or let him walk after his option year as Reyes did and take the one sandwich pick assuming the Mets make him a qualifying offer? (Remember the new CBA rules take effect.)
Thanks for the GFX, Kelly. 
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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the Mets should give the man what he has earned. However, the great Alderson can’t give in. Afterall, he is 25 yeears behind the times and he has to remain that way to preserve his falso sense of superiority. Even if Wright doesn’t have a career yrar, he is above average 3rd baseman and will get more than than the lord sandy will offer.
Hey, Brady Anderson wants to get back into baseball. Do you want to give him 7 years at $18 million per?
334/.419/.551/.970 with 44 doubles, 37 home runs, 131 RBI, 119 runs and 29 stolen bases in 2011″
joe D, if wright put up those numbers, you’re talking MVP and mets playing meaningful games in september.. NO WAY that happens. but if it does…. he deserves 5/100 to begin with…
LOL, If he put up those numbers think what I would be like.
The stats are hypothetical. I was trying to simulate a career year on par with Reyes. Did you think Reyes would bat .337? The numbers are actually his career highs and I increased them by 5-8% which is typically what happens in a career year.
I analyzed the numbers at one point for Reyes, and IIRC the only # that was out of line to his previous years (consider it the “normal” years before all the injuries) was BA. Everything else was similar (some lower, like SB and HRS and RBIs).
so in essence, his career year was a career BA year.
.334 and 37 HRs…Wright will not be doing that…and 131 RBIs will be nearly impossible considering there will be no one on base in front of him…however, no matter how Wright does in 2012, I GUARANTEE Wright will not be on the Mets by spring training 2013.
Depends on what he is asking for and if it looks like this career year was legit or just luck.
If he wants 5 years and $100+…no. Sorry. A power hitting 3B is easier to find than an offensively capable Short Stop.
It also depends on where the finances are at the time. If it looks like the Madoff thing is going away and the youngsters are showing some promise, then there is reason to believe the Mets will be able to make use of Wright while he is still a first division 3B.
If Wright makes it abundantly clear that he wants to test the free agent market, then they play it the way they played Reyes.
On the crazy assumption that Wright does put up those numbers and is not traded, why wouldn’t he be worth that? I’d certainly consider it. The unclutch face of the franchise winning (or being close to) MVP of the league would certainly be worth a contract in that neighborhood, both in production and in “team value” for the fans.
Wouldn’t it be just like the Mets to lose their first ever Batting Champion in the same year, followed by losing their first ever MVP in the same year? Doesn’t that sound like a typical Mets type situation?
well batting average isnt that significant, reyes was really only about the 15th best hitter in the league.
If he’s putting up half those numbers (IE, plays half a season at that production) you’ll see him in a Colorado Uni or a Boston Uni or a (insert team name here) at the trade deadline.
I agree. Wright won’t get the chance to “pull a Reyes.” He’ll be gone long before that opportunity comes up. They’ll slide Daniel Murphy back over to 3rd by August.
+1
Forget Wright at 5 years. I wouldn’t give him anything more than a 3 year deal, take it or leave it. He’s almost 2 years older than Reyes and not half the player Reyes is. I give him a 3-year deal for $45 million for being a decent enough third baseman.
not coming off that kind of career, MV caliber year
all free agents should be treated equally. a value should be determined and offered. if the offer is not accepted then so be it. you are making this way too complicated. if another team values a player more, then so be it. that is what free agency is. the players is not on your team anymore when he is a free agent. jose reyes was gonna go where he got paid the most. almost every player does that. wright will do it too. if another team wants to pay more than the value he brings to the mets, so be it.
So according to you, players don’t sign extensions, they all go to free agency? That’s funny because I could have sworn there were three huge extensions signed this past season.
My question was not about free agency, it was about getting something done to avoid what just happened with Reyes.
Extensions are usually signed in-season not during free agency.
joe are you paying attention? i am talking about free agents, not players that are signed with teams. plenty of young players sign extensions that mean free agency comes later in their careers. then when they are veterans that command massive salaries they go to free agency. in rare cases they dont bother becoming free agent or testing the market because their team overpays for them (jeter).
but again, if you would read what i say you would know i was talking about free agents. FREE AGENTS.
and as far as signing wright to an extension, clearly it should only be done if he accepts less than what he is worth. i doubt he would do that. its about money, not team loyalty. team loyalty is for fans, not players. pujols didnt actually care about the cards, he acted like a free agent, which is what he was, and what jose reyes was.
We should try to get Matt Garza. I bet they would take Wright for him. Then we can sign him to an extension.
Has Epstein brought in any big deals, or is he also trying to fix his team?
greatest season ever by a Mets shortstop? sorry but any season where you play 126 games can’t be considered one of the best seasons ever. why because he had the highest batting average?
staying healthy is a skill. and the ability to stay healthy is as important if not more important than any baseball tool.
Reyes’s ’06 season blows this season away because he could be relied on day in and day out. injuries put a damper on plans and create chaos. ask Omar Minaya. how can you try to build a winner when you can’t trust your high paid star to be out there everday.
I would take his Silver Slugger season over this season as well.
If he puts up those numbers I would be very much surprised. he is a player who has really not improved since he came up, and if anything he has declined a little since his rookie season. i laugh when i read that he is one of the better 3rd baseman in baseball. In my eyes he is at best a middle of the pack guy, and if he is still thought of as more then that throughout the league the Mets should trade him while they can still get some value back for him and before that rest of the league realizes that he is just not that good!!!!!! I never thought that day would come where I would say that he is more valuable to the Mets for his defense then for his SUBPAR offense…..The bottom line is TRADE WRIGHT, WRIGHT NOW!!!!!!!
I’m predicting there is no way Wright is in a Met uniform come August unless he’s on the DL.
If the payroll tops out at 100 MIL for 2012, it has to be even less for 2013. The only movable contract worth money is Wright’s. No way are they going to be able to move Bay or Santana.
Give Wright an extention right now.
Why give him an extension when he has an option for 2013? Makes no sense.Lets see how he responds to the new dimensions before extending him.Knowing Wright,he’ll put undue pressure on himself with a smaller park to prove he’s not in decline and we all know how Wright plays under pressure.If in fact he has a similar season to JoeD’s hypothetical season then they should extend him.
David Wright would be smart to get away from this sinking ship of a franchise.
You may well be correct about Wright leaving the Mets too. Why shouldn’t he? After all is said and done….playing in New York is not easy. David has always been a gamer but has received little support since the beaning he took by Matt Cain. Now that the dimensions of Citi Field have been modified to give David and Jason Bay a little more help, we should see his numbers improve. With the team obviously going nowhere, David can relax a bit. No one player is a savior but the Mets made David their glamor boy and while he has a great smile he is not a media hound. Going elsewhere may well be the best thing for David Wright….
If DW is having a career year as described above, would the Mets move the fences back at the All Star break so they would not have to have Sandy the genius work on a “parameter” deal to offer Wrights agent at the end of the year.Or would he buy him a box of chocolates.I would like Jeff Wilpon to provide an answer to my question
The answer gary is that we would move the fences out but we can’t do it because it is against league rules and we are spending david’s next contrasct money on moving the wall’s in so we can get more cheap players for him. The box of chocolates is not in the budget so it will only happen if Alderson buys it out of pocket. As for the parameter deal.. We want Wright out of here. Our goal is to be so cost conscious that we trade trade guys even younger than the A’s are doing now. It won’t matter, enough suckers like donal any kay and jessup will keep overpayting to come to our wonderful minor league field and buy our crappy merchandise that we will actually start making money. Thrwo in a few fireworks nights and bobbleheads if we find sponsors and we’ll be ok. Thank goodness Selig backed us and kept that Yankee AAA team out of Newark. love jeffy
Thanks Jeff.I appreciate you taking time from your busy day which includes finding washed up pitchers who had tommy john surgery for Sandy to sign and washed up outfielders who can’t run or hit anymore to sign with the Mets.Keep up the good work.I have to figure out which season ticket plan i want to order for 2012.
Alll a pointless moot discussion. This is no way that DW will be on this team in 2013. SA can’t wait to drop that contract and nudge David out onto the sidewalk. How do they play it? There’s no game here to be played. They only decisions will be about how to do it without getting the fans all worked up into a lather.