Wright Will Be The Most Compelling Storyline Of The 2012 Season

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• jessep February 7, 2012 at 2:10 pm

  It’s probably naive of me but I just feel like Wright is going to stay in NY. I thought (as others did) that Reyes wanted to leave NY. I just feel like Wright wants to stay here and win here. I don’t see him holding up the Wilpon’s for a contract.

  Do I think he’ll want a nice deal, yes, but I don’t think he’ll misjudge his market so bad that only 1 team makes an offer.

  I guess it really depends on guys like Ike, Duda, Tejada and then some of the arms in the pen. If they prove to be closer to ready to contend than everybody thinks, maybe keeping a guy like Wright is what is best for them as they continue to grow within the organization?

  I won’t be shocked if he’s traded during the season, but I think there’s more of a chance of him staying than people give credit to
• SaltyGary February 7, 2012 at 2:18 pm

  Pretty tired of the Citi-field dimension excuse. The only reason I am in favor of changing the walls is just so it won’t be a point of discussion anymore, it’s pure distraction.

  When Wright hits well he is spraying the ball all over the park. His approach changed because he tried to be different hitter due to collapse seasons, or injury plagued seasons. He is a table setter not a clearer and he’s putting pressure on himself to be the clearer.

  As for a Trade, there are a lot of pro’s and con’s. I don’t know what kind of value he can get back. If I were the Mets I would reach out to him in June after they can asses his performance. If he is having a positive year I would gauge if he is on board for the future and attempt to re-sign him (also the Picard suit should be finished out where they probably have better flexibility to make a move like this).

  If he doesn’t want to re-sign then you can probably make a case to trade him but there is no hurry to do it this season. They can always pick up the option and trade him next year. Lots of flexibility with Wright and nothing needs to be imminent.
  • Greg Pomes February 7, 2012 at 5:30 pm

    It was everyone in 2009 freaking out when he hit 10 home-run’s and only 72 RBI while still hitting over .300. Everyone made a big deal about the low amount of HR’s which I think was that he was continuing to be the hitter he always was, not changing anything because of the size of the park. The RBI total was because everyone was injured that year. The team got nervous and decided to change his swing and he’s never been the same since.
    • t agee February 7, 2012 at 5:49 pm

      Teams don’t change players swings and if they did they certainly wouldn’t hire Hojo to do so.

      I think it was a combination of Wright going from the 3rd to last guy you want to pitch to, to being the last guy you want to pitch to and trying to force the issue as well as some delusions of grandeur about hitting 500 for his career and muscling up after getting a look at Citi in the off season.

      He did have 130 HR’s after 4 1/2 seasons. Not hard to multiply by four and start thinking.
      • Bayonne Mets Fan February 7, 2012 at 6:04 pm

        Teams don’t change player’s swings?
        • t agee February 7, 2012 at 6:25 pm

          No.

          Each player has his own swing, the one that’s been successful enough to get him into pro ball or the Majors. Players and coaches work on swings, balance, timing mechaism’s, take backs, rotation, follow throughs make adjustments, experiments, tweaks ect but dictates don’t come down from the FO or ownership mandating that players change their swing.
          • Bayonne Mets Fan February 7, 2012 at 6:28 pm

            yeah as if i was asking if the Front Office changes swings.

            You actually thought Greg Pomes was referring to the front office when he said the team changed his swing?

            OMG
            • Bayonne Mets Fan February 7, 2012 at 6:30 pm

              and I never knew that if a player had a hitch in his swing (Ike Davis) or any of that – I never knew that was worked on with the coaches.

              I always thought it had to come from ownership first. Thanks for all that because the readership here never knew that coaches did that.
    • Chris February 7, 2012 at 10:59 pm

      Pomes, the RBI total was because he only hit 10 homeruns.
• Alex68 February 7, 2012 at 2:33 pm

  He should’ve been traded last season.. the mets would’ve signed reyes (as it was obvious he wanted to stay in NY unlike some others are saying) and put murphy at 3B his original position and tejada at 2B.. that would’ve been a better lineup/defense up the middle than the one we have now.. not only that, but we could’ve had turner backing up murphy and tejada and ronnie cedeno backing up reyes and tejada as well.. now we have to hope and pray the tejada does good at SS, murphy can handles 2B and that wright hits when it matters.. to me, the biggest question mark of his will always be can he hit in the clutch? can he carry a team as the leader? those are his question marks coming in..
  • Bayonne Mets Fan February 7, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    Exactly right,

    That was the better way to go and that was the way to have a better team quicker and we probably would’ve netted some good young pitching that way as well and probably more. It was mucked up by the FO almost right from the get go.

    Wright is durable i’ll give him that – and that’s where people misunderstood my softee comment about him last week. He’s durable, an outstanding athlete but a terrible competitor who blinks first in a stare down and his lack of hustle to 1B on infield groundballs is legendary to me. No Met hustles less than David Wright. Getting rid of him in the right package and keeping Jose w/Tejada would have been addition by subtraction and open the gate for more productive moves. Keeping Jose would have been able to allow the Mets to package Havens or Valdespin, maybe Capt. Kirk and get more pitching on top of the pitching the Mets could have gotten for an over rated choker like Wright.
    • trs86 February 7, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      Your infinite wisdom can see Wright for what he is yet you expect other GM’s to not see that and trade top prospects for him?

      Also in your hate for Dwright you completely ignore how Reyes continually let the Mets down in the clutch the entire time he was here backed up by MY EYES and whatever stat you would like to use. He was awful in September every time it counted and if Wright was the king of not running out balls then Reyes was the queen of drama and pouting while also not running out balls. That entire clubhouse was infected and affected by the collapse. It did change Wright but certainly Reyes was not free from blame. Honestly the Mets in the long run would most likely be better off rid of Wright and Reyes and allowing for new players to become the new Wright’s and Reyes’
      • t agee February 7, 2012 at 11:43 pm

        Delgado had AWFUL 1st halves in both 2007 and 2008. That didn’t cost us a game?

        The base running and defense?

        **** if it wasn’t for Beltran and Wright we would’ve been in full salary dump mode by the end of July.
    • JRT February 7, 2012 at 4:34 pm

      Terry Collins said David Wright is one of, if not the best competitor he’s ever been around.

      But nah, who cares about the opinion of someone who has actually been around the team. Bayonne knows all….
      • Fonzie13 February 7, 2012 at 11:23 pm

        JRT what would you expect Collins to say. He always touts his players as the most this and that I’ve ever seen. TC is always positive and would never knock his players through the media.Just sayin!
        • JRT February 8, 2012 at 12:49 am

          Of course most managers will be positive. But TC went out of his way to make that comment. he wasn’t asked specifically about Wright’s competitiveness…so its not like he just gave the generic typical PC answer.

          I value his opinion more than I value Bayonne’s.
          • Fonzie13 February 8, 2012 at 3:20 am

            I hear you. The one thing that bothers me about Wright,is not his competetiveness, it’s his toughness.

            Last year during a day game at Philly when Pelfrey was waithing 40 seconds between pitches that they wound up winning and this is just one example of many. Wright got caught in a rundown between 3rd and home.He went down to avoid being tagged and the Philly reliever fell over him while tagging him out.Instead of just walking back to the dugout he waited until the Philly pitcher got up to see if he was okay. That burned my ass. When Chase Utley knocks one of ours into LF from a late takout slide,do you ever see him wait until he makes sure Reyes or whomever is okay.No he gets up turns around an jogs back into the dugout.

            Once just once I would like to see Wright at least step towards the mound when he gets chin music and ends up on his back in the batters box. I’m not saying to charge the mound but at least let the pitcher know he’s not going to take that shit.And I would also like for Wright among the rest of the guys on this team to stop trying to go aroung the catcher on a play at home and knock him on his ass.Not since Ty Wigginton has a Met run through a catcher.Their pitchers never brush a hitter off the plate like so many pitchers do to our hitters.That’s what guys mean when they say Wright is soft.Not that he’s not competetive.
            • Fonzie13 February 8, 2012 at 3:23 am

              The rest of the team as well. There’s no grit on this team like Philly.And I don’t mean grit like Joe McEwing was. I mean the actual good players playing with grit and determination.
  • trs86 February 7, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    So you wanted to trade Wright at his lowest value and then hope Reyes would re-sign? What happens if Reyes then still picked FLA and you now got back garbage for Wright? Wouldn’t we be even worse off? You can’t just assume that if we threw the money, which you would have had to give even more than the Marlins to actually match monetary value, that he would have accepted the offer. Unless you are saying they should have re-signed Reyes in October and then traded Wright but again you are faced with getting nothing to very little in return until he proves his health all while other teams would know how desperate you are to trade Wright because you could not afford both.
  • t agee February 7, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    In what way was it obvious that Reyes wanted to stay in NY? Cause he said so in his walk season? That’s what every free agent to be says. Free agent’s to be are coached by their agents to always appear agreeable to play anywhere especially where you are right now in order to get as many teams in the bidding process as possible but you already know that, it’s free agency 101 we’ve seen played out a thousand times.

    What else you got to illustrate how obvious it was Reyes would have resigned here? The owners feelings toward him, the GM wanting to see him play in person before entering negotiations? The rejection of talking contract when Alderson called his agent in July? Signing with the first team to present an offer? Not giving the Mets a chance to match?

    I do agree completely that Reyes should have been retained over Wright if it was an either or and even moreso due to the fact that you could have even have paired them both together for two more years and with a back loaded deal of 10 M and 10 M any Frankie saving the team 14.5 M almost paid for right there but I don’t agree in any way shape or form that it was obvious Reyes would have resigned here at all if things had been handled differently with ownership and the FO and if the owner wanted him resigned so bad why didn’t he get involved and insist after all Reyes was the most popular Met since I don’t know when.

    Fred and Jeff have often gotten involved in personal decisions. Doubleday too. If the Wilpon wanted Reyes so bad why wasn’t he approached in ST 2010 with TWO years to go before free agency and after having proven his hamstring was healed? That’s when it would have made the most sense to approach him……if ownership really wanted him here for the long term but as usual the entire focus in 2010 was on 2010 and only 2010, for business reasons one last double down to try to salvage something from all the draft choices, minor leaguers and gazillions spent over the last 5 years was placed on Bay and no different than most of the other free agents he busted and cost us Reyes too.

    Now with Bernie Williams it was obvious that he wanted to stay with the NYY because he went to ownership with his offer from Boston and from all accounts not just gave them the chance to match it, but asked them to. Did Reyes do that and if he had what do you think the reception would have been?

    Bad luck, bad timing and a very poor job by everyone involved from Ownership to Omar to Sandy and everyone else in not making sure that Reyes remained a Met through 2015 at the very least and just like the last AB of the game isn’t the only reason you lost things could have and should have been done before the 8th or 9th inning that almost guaranteed would have been the difference.

    4/80 gets accepted in March 2010. Leave it to the last inning and anything can happen just ask St. Louis.
    • XtreemIcon February 7, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      It was obvious when Reyes said before the season started that he was excited to test the FA market. If that doesn’t scream “loyal,” what does?
    • srt February 7, 2012 at 4:03 pm

      ‘If the Wilpon wanted Reyes so bad why wasn’t he approached in ST 2010 with TWO years to go before free agency and after having proven his hamstring was healed? That’s when it would have made the most sense to approach him’

      This I agree with 100%. Heck, I wanted one of the first order of business when SA took over was starting extension talks with Reyes. Waiting until ST to see how his hamstring healed was fine but instead it was a ‘want to see him play a bit first’ mindset. That told me all I needed to know about the chances of resigning Reyes.
      • t agee February 7, 2012 at 4:32 pm

        SRT 2010 was when Reyes had two years to make it to free agency, It was back when we committed 66 M to Bay.

        Getting an extension done then would have been very attractive to Reyes since he was A.) coming off a serious injury (hamstring tendon surgery) and B.) would have to negotiate two seasons in order to get a big deal, not just one. A four year guarantee kicking in this year or last would absolutely have at least been strongly considered and the numbers could have been made to work especially if you were OK going with a platoon in LF of Evans/Fern/Pridie/Tatis/Carter. Hey not ideal but it rarely is when you wait to the last minute to do all your shopping.

        Even if you wanted to see him in game action May would have a good time but then he got hurt (oblique) Omar’s days became numbered and with Bay being the latest bust, the lawsuit, Beltran, Santana, Castillo and Perez still on the books………

        I’ll always believe that if anyone in the Met FO or ownership ever considered anything beyond just this year we would have plenty of good young players, plenty of good prospects to trade, plenty of revenue coming in and plenty of money to keep Jose in Queens.
        • srt February 7, 2012 at 4:35 pm

          You’re right, my bad. I’m one year off.
        • t agee February 7, 2012 at 4:38 pm

          Instead of looking out for the best long term interests of the team lots of time effort and money went into 2010, and only 2010. Jason Bay, Mike Jacobs, GMJ, Frank Catolontto, Alex Cora, Mike Hessman, Escobar, Takahashi, Dickey, Igarashi, Barajas, Blanco but never a thought about Reyes.

          The most important part of the team going forward.
    • Fonzie13 February 7, 2012 at 11:59 pm

      I may be in the minority but I wanted Sandy to come in and clean house.I would’ve preferred he traded both Wright and Reyes before last year.

      After 4 years of frustration,5 counting 2011 I thought they should tear it down and start all over.The core of this team on paper looks good but they’re ether injured or grossly under performing.

      It boggles my mind that any Met fan would complain about the deconstruction of this team after what we’ve endured. Frankly I would’ve had no problem if Omar tore it up after the 2nd straight collapse in 2008.

      How much more do you need to see before you realize that they weren’t good enough to beat the lowly Nats and Marlins down the stretch 2 straight years.The team lacked leadership and heart,not to mention a halfway decent rotation.

      When I think of Wright and Reyes,I think of 2 very good complimentary players with no mental toughness.Now we end up getting nothing for Reyes and a declining star with no trade value.

      We also have to wait until Bay and Santana come off the books before the “Tampons” even consider adding a player making more than 5 million a year.Unless some sort of miracle occurs both Bay and Santana will be dead weight hanging over the necks of the front office.
      • t agee February 8, 2012 at 12:48 am

        I thought the right time was at the deadline in 2009 but I wouldn’t have moved Reyes and Wright back then. By that time Church, Schneider, Delgado, Wagner, Castillo, Tatis, Reed, Cora, Castro, Anderson, Putz, Maine, Perez had all run their course, not to mention Green, A. Reyes, Cancel, Berroa, Brown, Ramon Martinez, Sullivan. Time to break it down and stop counting on retreads and a big head start would have been the 2010 draft.

        The 7th pick and as it turns out the 20th, 39th and 57th best prospects. No complaints with Harvey at 7 but Chris Carter a LH DH for the 20th and 39th picks? Bay at #57 and 12% of the payroll.

        Opportunity to transition this team onto a more realistic foundation just tossed into the garbage.

        CF Gary Brown SF, LHP Jesse Biddle Phil, SS Cito Culver NYY, RHP Aaron Sanchez Tor, LF Bryce Brentz Bos, SS Matt Lipka Atl, RHP Noah Snydergaard Tor, RHP Anthony Ranaudo Bos, RHP Taijon Walker Sea, 3B Nick Castellanos Det, 3B Mike Olt Tx. LHP Sammy Solis Wash, RHP Stetson Allie Pitts, SS Andreelton Simmons Atl. are among the best prospects in baseball, all taken between 20-70. All would have been available with the 3 picks we spent on Carter and Bay.

        No wonder we never have anyone when we need a guy. On the bright side at least Philly, Atlanta and Washington picked up a couple of good looking prospects. That’s bound to help.
  • LGM62onandon February 7, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    You hate for Wright is as obvious as your lack of baseball knowledge. That’s right deem Murphy the 3b with all 25 games he’s played there, and without a complete year in MLB you already know he’s a better hitter, just because he isn’t David Wright.

    Yeah they should have traded him last year – when did you think that would have happened while he was playing with the fractured back or when he was on the DL for it.

    Did you buy your Marlins jersey yet, clearly you like Reyes more then you do the Mets, and aren’t you the one that called out someone here for being a Braves fan because they pointed out how good the Rookie of the year was this past year? You are a funny dude, keep calling people out for the crap you pull.

    This place gets dumber every day
    • Chris February 7, 2012 at 11:07 pm

      standing ovation.
  • Fonzie13 February 7, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    Like Reyes ever hit when it mattered. Seriously? I long for the days when this team is rid of every player that had something to do with 2007 and 2008. Reyes down,Wright to go.
• srt February 7, 2012 at 3:03 pm

  Trade him when?

  I think Wright will stay through 2012 regardless of where he’s at or where the team is at.
  Unless some contending team is really desperate at the trade deadline for a good hitting 3rd basemen, with the new rules teams are going to take a harder look at these trades because of what it might cost them.

  They might be better off picking up the option and trading him during the off season – if the idea is to get max value back.

  My personal opinion: I’m hoping Wright stays through 2012 and 2013. Re-evaluate after the 2013 season – if he hasn’t already been offered an extension by then. That’s based on what I know of Wright at the moment. Let’s see how the 2012 season goes for him.
  • trs86 February 7, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Agreed.
• Lifeongmetsfan February 7, 2012 at 4:15 pm

  What is the difference between Jose Reyes going into the 2011 season and Wright going into as far as Met management is concerned? Nothing. Hopefully the Mets trade Wright and get as much value as possible. But really in all honesty just how much value does Wright have at this point in his career?
  Wright is a 10 million dollar a year player now not a 15-20 dollar a year player.
  Every major league team can find a mediocre fielding 15-20 90 rbi guy to play 3rd base.
  A good solid #5 or on a great team #6 hitter who prodies avaerage to below average defense. No shame in that. Ron Santo had a great career.
  • JRT February 7, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    There is a pretty big difference in that Wright has an option year for the following season, whereas Reyes was a FA at the end of the year.

    And no, not every team can find a 15-20 HR, 90 RBI guy to play 3b. Not that counting stats are the best way to judge players…but I’ll humor you with those metrics for now. There were only three 3b in all of baseball last yr who both exceeded 15 HR and drove in 90 runs…in 2010 only 5 (not including Wright). So, no not every team has that guy at 3b.
    • t agee February 7, 2012 at 5:00 pm

      3B is currently a position that most teams have a surplus of top candidates in the farm right now. Loads of both talent and quality in fact more teams than not have a couple of highly touted candidates, even us with Lutz and Flores.
      • JRT February 7, 2012 at 5:44 pm

        That might be the case and maybe the position will bounce back. But right now average production out of 3b is pretty blah. It might bounce back some if Hanley bounces back and can play 3b and if Cabrera can play 3b. But over the past couple years, the position has not been good. So to say any team can find a 15-20 HR, 90 RBI guy at 3b us incorrect…if it were that easy, many more teams would have had those guys over the past several yrs instead of just a handful
• Even Flow February 7, 2012 at 4:54 pm

  Stat padder…
  “Chocker” (choker)…
  Overrated…
  Doesn’t hustle enough….

  Ever notice that these were the same complaints to describe Carlos Beltran & Jose Reyes, before fans who have begged for them to be gone so badly started to kiss their ass? I will not be surprised at all with the changes that Wright has a huge 2012 season and all of a sudden is displayed as this great player, a guy that shouldn’t be traded so much that campaigns will be made all over the blogosphere, a cornerstone player that will keep the Mets in contention, when in reality, they’re pretenders.

  All it takes is one very good 1st half to changes one’s opinion.
• Joey D. February 7, 2012 at 6:36 pm

  Bottom line is nobody knows what Jose would have done had Sandy opened discussions with him last winter. If the Mets negotiated in good faith and could not reach an agreement then it would have been obvious his wanting even more bucks outweighed his wanting to secure a reasonable contract and stay in New York.

  We just will never know. But one thing we do know is that publicly Sandy made it appear he wasn’t serious about keeping him. And it was obvious that was due to the financial path the Wilpons were taking, whether one supports them or not.
  • Joey D. February 7, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    …… and that is why one could expect to see Murphy or someone else holding down the hot corner either in the second half of this season or April of next.
• Chris February 7, 2012 at 11:54 pm

  Wright will be traded after the season if at all, because he has more value after the season. simple as that. unless Sandy is absolutely blown away by an overpay at the deadline by some team on the brink.
• Bob Fila February 8, 2012 at 10:33 am

  It wasn’t the fences at Citi Field that did Wright in, it was a fastball up-the-side of his head a few years back. This was never more apparent than in a game against St. Louis, this past season, when La Russa walked the batter in front of Wright to load the bases with two men out. First pitch to Wright, head high and inside. Next four pitches, all off the outside corner with Wright swinging at three of them.
  For the past three seasons, Wright has been sporadic in his productivity, often posting big numbers in games where the outcome was pretty well determined.
  The skill and the ability is there still. Wright is capable of putting up monster numbers, if, and only if, he can get past a fear of the high, inside, fastball. If wright can demonstrate an ability to put this memory behind him, the Mets should make every effort to keep him. If, however, Wright continues to swing defensively at low outside pitches, it is time to part ways.
  • trs86 February 8, 2012 at 10:37 am

    While obviously I think the beaning had an effect, I noticed last year that he was indeed back up on the plate in his stance. I honestly think last year had more to do with not being able to produce a healthy swing.
  • Joey D. February 8, 2012 at 11:41 am

    Bob,

    Not sure if this is the same game but I remember the Mets coming back in the ninth inning with David as the winning run at the plate and he hit a deep fly to right that would have resulted in a walk off homer in any other park but at Citi Field it was simply the final out instead. Those types of results have to play in one’s mind.
• theonlymaskman February 12, 2012 at 8:32 am

  The one thought that occurs to me regarding this article is that David Wright has a lot more class than the classless Fred. Whereas, Fred was willing to insult his own player, the face of the team, and downgrade his value in the process, David showed all his class by forgiving Fred and moving on. What a comparison! Here we see a young man with diplomacy, communication skills and class standing tall in comparison to the crass, egotistical and mindless owner, Fred Wilpon. That was the most distinguishing part of this particular article to me. Fred could stand to take some lessons from David in human relations and decency.
  • Joey D. February 12, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Good words.