Kevin Kernan of the New York Post conveys that David Wright is stoked about the direction the Mets are heading and knows the front office must acquire a couple of key pieces this offseason to avoid a seventh straight losing season.
Ironically, Kernan argues, the biggest piece the Mets have to acquire is one David Wright. And even Terry Collins admitted as much to the Post on Friday.
“I don’t mean to put the onus on David,’’ manager Collins said. “But when you have a star, your team will go the way the star goes. You look at the teams that are having success, and I’ll go to the Pirates.
“In the middle of their lineup is a kid who has the chance to be the MVP again, Andrew McCutchen. Without him, they’re not the same team. Without David being David, we’re not the same team. We need him back, we need him healthy. He changes our entire team when he is hitting in that three-hole.
“We have to get David to be David. He’s our guy.’’
Collins is right and in an attempt to get Wright going again, the front office is reversing their previous stance and are in fact moving in the fences to facilitate Wright’s power to right and right-center.
Compounding matters is the uncertainty regarding Wright’s injured shoulder. An MRI taken earlier this week revealed some damaged and stretched out ligaments and an unstable socket and rotator cuff that could require surgery if the six weeks of rehab fails to remedy the situation.
“Surgery is only a resort if the rehab doesn’t work,’’ Wright said. “I got to get healthy, that is the most important thing right now. I’ll hopefully get good news in about a month.”
With six years and $110 million remaining on his contract, Wright is coming off the worst season of his career, with just eight home runs and a .698 OPS.
Wright turns 32 in December and is not getting any younger. He’s the one carrying the load and he’s the player Sandy Alderson’s plan is counting on to provide the most thump.
“He knows how important he is to the team,” Collins added. “But because he’s set the bar so high that’s what you look for and when it’s not there, you have to find someone to rise up and give you that and that’s hard to do.’’
As Kernan concludes, the Mets need Wright not only to be healthy, but also to perform at an All-Star level again in 2015 and beyond.
“I plan on playing a full season next year and production wise,’’ Wright said, “we’ll get back to where we need to be next year.’’
