Other than the regular positions on the field, there is another important position in baseball, which is baseball’s ultimate franchise player. The player who spent the most seasons and played the most games for only one team.
Before this week, it was Chase Utley, who spent 13 seasons with the Phillies and played in 1,551 regular-season games. He was a six time All Star who also led the Phillies to a World Series championship in 2008. The back page of the Philadelphia Daily News called Utley the “most beloved Philie in history.”
But on Wednesday, the Phillies traded their longtime second base star to the Dodgers for two minor leaguers. So Utley falls off the list for baseball’s ultimate franchise player.
According to Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal , with Utley no longer a Phillie, baseball’s ultimate franchise player is now Mets third baseman David Wright.
Wright has spent his entire career so far with the Mets and has played in 1,516 games over 12 seasons. The 1,516 games played for one teams is currently tops in the major leagues behind Ryan Howard of the Phillies and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who both played 1,439 games entering Thursday’s games.
David Wright is expected to rejoin the Mets on Monday, when they open up a 4-game series ironically against those same Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
So far this season, Wright has only played in eight games before being placed on the DL with a strained right hamstring, and ultimately being diagnosed with spinal stenosis.
Wright has been playing in minor league rehab games for Single-A St Lucie, batting .300 (6-for-20) with a .440 on-base percentage in six games. He has also played third base on back to back days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Even though Wright may still be the Mets most significant hitter, manager Terry Collins told Wright that he shouldn’t expect to start every games until he proves he’s 100% healthy and starts producing.
“He certainly won’t be that everyday guy until we know his back is 100%,” Collins said. “That may not be until next spring. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.”
Wright has made it know that he wants to come back with no limitations. But he even realizes that he can’t expect that right now.
“My goal is not to come back and play every other day,” Wright said earlier this month. “With that being said, would it be smart probably to get a blow now and then? Yeah, I think it is, and my body might tell me that I need a blow a little more often.”
Wright’s return will bring a more crowded infield which will make it easier to give David some rest in between games if he’s not fully there yet. Juan Uribe has been the main Mets third baseman ever since he was acquired at the end of July and he should continue to play third when Wright rests.
Daniel Murphy who’s also played a good amount of third base this season, will go back to being the main second baseman while Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada will continue to share time at shortstop. The Mets also have Kelly Johnson who was acquired with Uribe from the Braves. Johnson can also play the infield as well.
The additional depth brings flexibility for the Mets to handle Wright carefully. It also helps that the Mets were able to move into first place in the NL East despite missing Wright for most of the year.
But Collins knows that a healthy and productive Wright definitely makes the Mets offense more dangerous and he expects Wright to gradually do some damage at the plate during his return.
“When he comes back, he’s got to be ready to step up,” said Collins. “He’s got to be able to hold his own at the speed of which the game is played up here.”
