3
2012
David Wright Likely Seeking 8 Year, $150 Million Deal
An article by 
It’s kind of funny in that two days ago I posted an MMO Roundtable in which we discussed how much the Mets should offer David Wright whenever both sides got around to discussing parameters.
After the game yesterday, Wright was asked about his stance that he did not want to negotiate during the season, and he pretty much said the Mets had every opportunity to talk to him before the season and “they chose not too discuss anything with me”. Now he simply wants to focus on baseball because “that’s what you’re supposed to do” during the season. He referred to the 2006 season when the Mets signed him to his current deal during the season and said “I was never comfortable with negotiating that deal during the season”.
So basically, if the Mets want to talk to him, then they’ll simply have to wait until the season ends. But getting back to my original point as to what David Wright might be worth, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that Wright will be seeking an eight-year, $150 million contract extension. Umm… Wow…
Of course that far exceeds what Ryan Zimmerman received and is more in the range of the deals signed by Matt Kemp and Troy Tulowitzki who were both 27 when they signed their deals, not 30.
Our consensus was on MMO, that Wright should be offered around $90-$100 million in a five year deal, with a team option for a sixth year.
Original Post 6/1
Lets assume for a moment or hypothesize that the Mets will in fact make a genuine offer to David Wright whenever they deem themselves ready to do so at some point this season.
Let’s further assume that it will be a genuine offer, not a vaguely worded statement to the press about parameters that may have been done via fax, text or email and certainly not in person. A box of chocolates may or may not have also been included as part of the parameters.
I happen to believe that the Mets will make an offer to David Wright and I don’t believe for one second that they will wait until his option year to present it. It will happen this season and I would stake my reputation on it. (What little of that there may be.)
I decided to ask our staff what they thought. Here is how I posed it to them:
What is the most you think the Mets should offer David Wright?
Is he getting a Ryan Zimmerman deal?
Jim – The problem here is that other players of similar caliber to Wright have been getting mega deals. (Zimmerman, Werth, Fielder, etc.). The Mets may have to fork up the cash to pay Wright based on what the market has dictated. Maybe an eight-year, $130 million contract gets it done. That’s an average of $16.25 million per season.
Joe S. – Any deal will represent what David has MEANT to this team as any contract isn’t about what a player will do for a team. I would be comfortable with a 6 year extension in the same range as Zimmerman give or take. He should be locked up and finally the team can have a player that has spent his entire career with them.
Gregg H. – David Wright should get a Zimmerman like deal, no doubt. I think the Mets will give it to him too. The Mets have to know that letting Wright go would be the same as letting Seaver go all those years ago. Wright will be a Met for his entire career.
Jessep – Part of me has thought the Nats signed Zimmerman to that deal to set a tougher market for the Mets to re-sign Wright. Conspiracy, I know. Zimmerman is 2 years younger than Wright so I think that has to be a factor. I honestly believe Wright wants to stay here. I am looking at a 5/90 type deal right now for Wright with maybe an option for a 6th.
XtreemIcon – Wright could get a Zimmerman deal if he plays 150 games, hits .350/.450/.520 and keeps up the Gold Glove defense, but I wouldn’t be comfortable with that. I’d love a four year deal with two option years, he probably would want six years guranteed. I would think they’d meet in the middle and guarantee five with an easily vesting option based on playing time. As far as the money, I would think the six year deal would be worth around $120 million. The guaranteed money will probably come in just under $100, like $95 mil.
Satish – Zimmerman got what, 6/100? I like 5/90 for Wright.
Fonzie13 – I would offer Wright 5 years 95 Million with an easily attainable 6th year option based on plate appearances similar to what Bay’s contract calls for.
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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| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
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| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Satish, Xtreem, and Fonzie… you guys really know your stuff!
I actually agree with what seems to be the majority opinion.
add 5 years onto he option year, which makes it 6 guaranteed, then have an option of some kind (can get creative there) after that.
and somewhere just short of 20 overall.
so 2013 is booked already at 16, so add 5/100 (to keep the math in the head simple!) means a total of 6/116 or just over 19 per. Not cheap, but certainly more than fair. the option could take it to something like 7/135?
Just seems that they will need to be in that range to get it done, and it smells more than fair to the player, and reasonable for the team.
the bigger $$ don’t kick in until bay and Santana are off the books.
Plus, odds are (like with most of these deals) some of the money will be deferred.
and they have at least 1 big name, franchise face, etc. guy locked up to buld around, even if by the end of the deal he is more of a complimentary piece supporting guy?
I want Wright back, but please no 8 year deals.They are always a disaster.Here’s a question i would like some opinions on.DW is having a great season but his home runs are down (all other numbers trending better though such as oba, ops), walks are up and k’s are down.What effect will the lack of home runs (ironic since fences were brought in) have on the type of deal he gets or will it have no effect on the outcome at all?Btw,I love the way he has reverted back to hitting to all fields and for average.
my guess, no impact. Plus, most likely he will have a little HR spurt some time during the year, in the hot months.
so he may just end up with 20-25 (I can’t see him getting less than 20), but that is plenty if he puts up overall big #s everywhere else. 2Bs, RBIs, OBP, Ba, etc.
especially since he is settled into the 3 hole, so isn’t expected to be a big HR guy like a 4 or 5 hitter is.
I just want Wright to be a career Met. The Met retired jersey numbers are all guys that where in town for 5 or 6 years or homegrown Mets that finished there careers somewhere else. I’m
not a Bronx fan but is admire that hall of fame and in a few years they are adding four more
career names. Our only shot is David Wright, why are you concerned about the cost?
Rosenthal is just speculating. I haven’t seen any quotes directly pointing back to what Wright might be looking for – nor do I expect to during this season.
To be even more exact. Rosenthal’s exact words were “…the best guess on David Wright’s price tag, assuming he stays healthy and productive”.
I should add that it’s a fair educated guess by Rosenthal based on how he presented it.
‘Guess’ being the operative word.
I wasn’t dismissing Rosenthal outright. I was just pointing out that until I hear something from the Wright camp itself, we’re all just speculating.
As I pointed out Yesterday in my back and forth with Stick (or was it Srt?)
This whole thing about there being PLENTY of time to negotiate is foolish!
Wright wants one of two things out of this contract…
Either a yearly term (7-8 years) that will make him a Met for pretty much the rest of his career…
Or a very short one that has big big bucks (3-4 Years) that lets him get one more payday at age 33 or 34 where he can still command a decent salary and sign a deal that will take him to retirement!
If we had signed him this off season you might have gotten the 3-4 year extention to include a raise in the option year with a 4/72-80M deal with a mutual option for year 5. That would allow Wright to get one more deal at age 33 or 34 to be his retirement plan.
But if you wait till the offseason (and it looks like that where what is going to happen) you will never get Wright to sign just a 3 year deal and anything short of 7 or 8 will not happen because Wright will be too old to get that final payday!
Do you folks had better get this notion out of your head of these 5 or 6 year deals it’s never going to happen!
Don’t think it was me Metsie.
I’ll have to go back and read what you all were discussing.
I believe you’re right about what happens this off season. Don’t think there is any shot at getting Wright on a short term deal.
I’m pretty sure it was Stick about the waiting on re-signing issue…
The sooner we got it done the better the deal we could get.
This last offseason was the best time and we missed that op.
he was coming off major injury, and had 2 years left on his contract. It was never going to happen.
teams don’t tend to extend guys that early (and this was not a case like Neise of buying out arb years), and there was no incentive for Wright to sign. You even say that the Mets should have done it because he was not worth much (so a lower contract). But the player isn’t going for that. Better odds just playing another year and rebounding (as he has) and going for a bigger contract down the line.
But you would have been able to pitch a 3 or 4 year extention because he would still be under 35 when it expired, and now you you have to offer only a 2 or 3 year extention and super High rates (as it doesn’t show you want the guy to retire with you) or that 7 or 8 year deal that DOES show it.
Money is not going to be the holdup here it’s going to be the years.
A 4 year extention sounds reasonable if it also includes the option year.
Once the option is signed your now talking about much more years or he might as well go into FA and get a 6 year deal and probably more money too!
Too late now but thats what they should have done,
after 2011, if they offered a 4 year 65 mill deal, he would have politely said no, and played out this contract figuring he could only do better.
It’s possible he would…But you had a better shot at getting him on a 4 year deal then than you will in a 6 year deal now…
he will be 36 by the time that deal is done and why wouldn’t he just hold out for the two extra years and know he had a contract that would end around the time he would have to start considering retirement?
So many back and forths he can’t even remember who they’re with anymore.
No I only remember who is being an A$$…Folks like Stick and Srt while we disagree from time to time never act the way you do…
Don’t remember either of them driving anyone off this site with thier crap!
No they don’t drive people off this site, they’re class people. You drive people off this site. Your known as a raving lunatic across many blogs. Not me. I didn’t drive anybody away. Joey left on his own accord. I asked him for once to back his claim. If that’s an insult, then you should get 25 to life for the crap you pull here every day.
No he left because he didn’t want to deal with a Psycho like you who can’t read or twists what he reads to say something else!
And I have the emails to prove it! So does the Admin!
Hmmm according to Wright and his agent, there has been no discussions.
How does Rosenthal come up with this?
8 years is too long, I can’t see Wright’s agent asking for that, nor Mets agreeing to that, I think its more sensational “journalism” for the sake of it.
Is Ken Rosenthal ever right about anything? It’s pure speculation, and he’s got nothing to base it on. Good for David for not negotiating during a season that’s already under enough of a microscope. Just let these guys play the game.
I think six years with an option for seven would be perfect. Load it with incentives, and don’t back load it, Omar-style.
Rosenthal is so full of shit it ain’t even funny.
Thanks for asking me Joe LOL JK x)
I would say 5/95-100. There is no way in hell that I would give him 8 years and $150 million dollars. If he wants that money, go find a team stupid enough to pay him that because he certainly won’t play up to that contract.
You guys that want to offer 5 years will see him playing somewhere else.
Either you offer 7 or 8, or you watch him walk.
Exactly Matt…
The pass or fail on signing Wright will be about the Years not the Money!
A player about to hit 30 is not going to sign a 5 year deal that leaves him a free agent at 35 where he can’t get that last big retirement deal.
If they had acted in the offseason they might have gotten a 4 year (including the option year raise) that would give Wright one more payday at 34.
If you look at most of the great Player deals made recently they have all hinged on longer terms as the 18-25Mil per seems to be the limit on what anyone is paying per year.
If you want a shorter deal you have to make them the highest paid player in baseball on a per year basis instead! Cause then the Dollar Signs distract them from the uncertain FA future when the deal is up.
No player anticipates being done by age 35 but they do know the money they can get offered is severly reduced when your that age!
Wright wants to be a Met for Life! He has been very Loyal to them because of that.
If they don’t show him that they are willing to give him a contract that will make that a reality they will not get him and he will go elsewhere!
This moneyballing front office will try and peddle you soon enough Wright. Your days are numbered. I wont miss you as much as most Mets fans, but I’ll feel their pain! lol You’re outta here! Time to start the Wilmer Flores era in 2013.
Yep I agree Maniac….
If they don’t trade him this year it will happen next July…
They will discuss “Parameters” the way they supposedly did with Reyes, See that Wright will require the two things Sandy has a phobia about…
Long Terms and Big Money.
Truth is they would get more for him trading him at this deadline than the next one…
But the team doing so well is going to make it difficult to do. There will be a media uprising If Sandy trades Wright while the team still has a chance and then everything we have said about the Beltran K-Rod and Reyes deals will written about and put together!
Which will make some folks around here VERY VERY unhappy!
There will be no way to polish the teflon after that!
The Mets won’t get anything for tading him next month. Maybe a couple of B prospects, if that much.
I agree. That’s because that option for next year is a team option only. Trading him towards the end of July and he’d become a 2 week rental for any team trading for him – unless they could work out a long term contract.
I believe his option will be picked up after this season. After that, they’ll start the contract discussions.
I believe the only way for less than 6 years is if they fold in the Option year with a raise into it.
If he takes the Option then you will have to give him 7-8 years or lose him (trade him) and you won’t get anymore in trade then than you will now.
Didn’t stop them from trading K-Rod now did it? He was only 1 Mil more than the Option costs!
The way you guys described the K-Rod deal it will be like Saving 16 Million you can spend on something else like Francisco!
BTW just to stop others from misinterpreting what I said…
I wasn’t suggesting trading him at the deadline would be a good move just something they are likely to do after what happened with reyes…
They thought they could offer him dirt and decided not to trade him…They got Burned on that front and may be shy about going there again!
Nope. Give him a little more than zimmerman money. Thats what he deserves zimmerman is way more comparable then kemp and tulo. He is 30 years old. Just no. 6 Years 110 million. Thats it. Give him vesting options if he wants it
First off, Rosenthal doesn’t even site nebulous sources. He just offers a “best guess” and compares him to 3 guys who not only are significantly younger than him but also on teams that were, at the time of these deals, looking to go for big television contracts. The Mets are not in such a position.
And Rosenthal is the guy who had Reyes signing on with Scott Boras.
But, if that is indeed the deal Wright is looking for, it will be time to move on.
why treat this as meaningful? If Heyman guess 6/140 does that mean more? or if Rubin WAGs 10/180?
and as always, wanting is fine and getting someone to offer is different.
so, when do these 8 years start? If it is a FA deal that means beginning in 2014, when he will play at age 31, so that is a deal for ages 31-38. To compare, A Rod, who has seriously tailed off, is still only 36! And of course, TUlo was what, 27? so even a 10 year deal for him ends 2 years sooner.
So lets see, he wants to get an 8/150 contract (assuming for the 1st time, Rosenthal is right!), easy to do.
pick up option (16) + 5/100 guaranteed, then 2-17mill option years. add that all up, and you get a contract that is 8 years, and 150mill!
Stick you forget one thing…
We are the only team that can give him something he wants, To retire as a Met.
So what he wants from us in regards to years does not apply to some other team.
If we won’t show him that we want him to be a Met for life then he has no reason to demand 8 years from someone else he will simply go for the money!
The issue of signing with us is NOT going to be about the Money it is going to be the Years!
He won’t take some short term 4-6 year deal because it does not guarantee him being a Met for Life, and if thats all he is getting he can get it somewhere else for more money than he is going to get here!
Especially if he stays hovering around .400 BA!
Here is my prediction, If they take the option before they have worked out a deal Wright will never sign a deal and either be traded or go FA when the option year is done!
Unless we are willing to overpay the rest of the league to keep him, the only thing we have they don’t that can keep the price reasonable is years and the fact that he can retire a Met.
If he doesn’t get that, No Discount and likely No Deal!
first of all, 6 years is a long term contract. 3 you could say is ST, but 5-6 is certainly still a long deal.
and you are missing a key point. The Mets won’t be able to trade him during the deal, so he has to be here through the end if he wants to be.
so you seem to be hung up on not having a deal that covers age 36+? If it gets down to that, if he can still play (ala Chipper) he will get something fair for the market and what he is doing at the time. And if he is shot, then hell, he would have been a met for life! Not every player insists on hanging around until he is 40 and a total shell of his former self (say, like thome).
anyway, in my proposal, I did have it covered for 8 years (long in anyone’s book). The last 2 years were just options. And there are plenty of ways to structure those. mutual, team or player at different rates, stuff like that. Say, years 7-8 are guaranteed for 3 mill but he can opt out, but the team can override that for 17?
I just don’t see obsessing about having a contract signed until he is too old to move is going to be the hold up.
5-6 is a long deal for someone under 30 and doesn’t care that that FA cycle is likely the last big payday he is going to get!
For a guy who has said he wants to be a Met for Life it’s an insult not a long term deal!
Wright will be 36 at the end. How many 36 Year olds get big bucks in FA today?
This could be Wright last big payday if he signs any deal above 4 years! And that means the only option the Mets have is to give the face the contract that gets him close to the gold watch and if a 5 or 6 year deal is it he might as well test the market and go for the money!
Just like reyes…People think Reyes went for the money but most would have done a 5/90 deal with him. Thats 18 Mil per…The deal he took is only 17.6 mil! So it wasn’t really the money that reyes took it was the years! (That is if Sandy had made that offer at all!)
Same thing will happen with Wright!
Either you offer him the contract that makes him a met for life (7+) he might as well go and try the FA market!
you seem befuddled. when you get older, the deals get shorter. and the idea of being a player for life is doing what Chipper did. you sign a nice 5-6 year deal to cover you through about 35, which is really a full career for the vast majority of players, and if you can still play after that you work out something with the team to stay on.
just silliness to think he has to sign a 10 year deal, just in case he can still be playing that long.
at 31, 5-6 years is a huge, huge deal and he knows it.
You keep saying it’s huge after guys like Tulo Puho and Rolen signed more recently for more years…
Why?
Because each of them were looking for a team they could call home for the rest of nthier career!
After everything you have heard Wright say over the last year what makes you think he doesn’t want the same thing?
You guys are fooling yourself if you think 6 years is going to cut it!
I know thats what Sandy might agree to but I doubt highly Wright and his Agent will.
ok, last comment.
you seem to be hung up on it should be more than 6 years to make sure he remains a met forever.
but 6 not being enough is entirely dependent on another team, that has no history with him, and that he wants to spend the rest of his career on, offering him more.
so, how many teams are going to offer a 31 YO Wright 7-8 years at huge dollars? remember, they have no vested interest in him, he is purely a “statistical meatbag” to them.
and if nothing else, while I understand that everyone likes money, no way in hell can you be looking at Wright as someone that has to wring ever last guaranteed $ out of this deal to make sure he is taken care of later in life!
“that has no history with him, and that he wants to spend the rest of his career on, offering him more.”
You mean the way the Marlins did to Reyes?
He had no relationship and they offered him 6 years, 6 Years is not a LONG deal it’s about what a top FA signs for these days!
Can’t this be addressed like Reds/Phillips, Braves/Chipper, Bronx/Posada? When it comes to years you want Wright to be a Met, how about ALL OF THEM! When it comes to money, how about double what Ollie was given.
I want Wright to be a Met but speaking from a pure business point of view no way am I going to give him that deal.
Well Chuck will you have any issues paying your rent or putting food on the table if they do pay Wright that much?
Why should a fan care about the business when it’s not THIER business?
It’s the Wilpons and I don’t care if they go broke and have to sell the team I only care if they put a team on the field that can stay in the race past August!
fans care because they want to make sure there is enough talent on the team to win. Not 1-2 guys getting a boat load and not producing, surrounded by a bunch of cheap guys to stay under budget.
Well not spending money isn’t going to help you spend money!
Especially if you spend it on cheap crap!
M Donald Grant ran it like a busness, didn’t he get 4 prospects for Seaver. The Braves run it
a little bit different, Chippers been on and off the DL for years and he is retireing Mr Brave. I’m only asking for ONE career Met in 50 years. Teams that have been in the league less than 50 years have accomplised this, we just got a no-hitter can we accomplish this too.
You mean a Career Met other than Ed Kranepool LOL
I am with you completly on this though!
The reason the guys on the team at the moment all lead the team record books in every category is because we never keep one long enough for one to really CREATE a lasting team record!
Sorry, nothing against Ed K , but I mean a Hall of Fame caliper player like the one’s on the plaques out beyond the center field wall at that other stadium. End this Trader Vic style of ownership and build a legacy.
Nick you get no argument from me on the greatness of Kranepool! LOL
I only mentioned him because as of this date he is the only player I know of who started, played and ended his entire career as a Met!
I think old miss Payson had the hots for him or something! LOL
well, if you want to compare to chipper, at the same age as DW is now, he signed a 6 year deal. So not a til the end of career type contract. But it did include 2 team option years. So pretty much what I suggested for Wright.
at the end he reworked the deal (signing a 3 year deal for less money that also bought out the option yeas).
basically, they signed him for relatively big money (but probably market correct, with a bit of a home town discount), then when he got older they worked out shorter deals that made sense for both sides.
exactly what they should do with Wright.
Well Chipper has been much more injury proned than Wright and he did that to stay on a World Series competing team…
We ain’t there yet but it is starting to look good if we can sweep the Cards and the Nats this week.
at the end, but that is what those franchise guys do. sign shorter deals that recognize they are way more valuable to the current team. LIke Jeter.
and CHipper was actually an iron man at Wrights age. Through age 31, his low for games was 153, then at 32 he played 137. 33 and 34 were much lower, but then he had 3 years not too bad (128-143). I actually wasn’t expecting his GP to be that high.
once you hit 38 you are just permanently day to day!
forgot the other point.
at the point where Wright is now, even with never being on the DL and putting up consistent monster numbers, and being a home town boy, CHipper still only signed for 6 years!
To a team that had been in the playoffs consistently every year…do we have that as a perk to sell?
My thoughts are very simple here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jon_heyman/05/25/jose.reyes/index.html
By the time Wright begins any actual contract talk, so many things can change… including the rumors