Thoughts from Joe D.
One of my predictions after the season ended was that the Mets would make signing David Wright a top priority and actually mean it unlike what they said about Jose Reyes. From day one, the way they have handled Wright has been completely different than Reyes. The most obvious sign was not one, but two visits to Wright’s home in Virginia. But I’ve always maintained that Sandy Alderson has the ear of the fans on this one. That is also clear to see. In a vacuum, Alderson never gives a thought to giving a 30 year old Wright in excess of $125 million, but he knows he has to give the people what they want and that’s exactly what he’ll do and what I said he’d do.
In the very early going I also said Wright would get about $140 million including his 2013 option and I’ve seen and heard nothing to dissuade me from that. This deal was going to blow the Beltran deal out of the water, I said.
It’s difficult to follow up with some people in the know on this because both sides agreed not to negotiate through the press and both camps have stuck to their guns on that,
I can see a deal being reached before the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Things are moving fast now, and when they reach this point of offer/counter offer it means they both want this done quickly and painlessly.
I do believe Wright will get that seventh year guaranteed and that he starts the 2013 season with eight years of guaranteed money at age 30. There was never any doubt that Jose Reyes would not get “Crawford money”, but from day one I knew Wright would get more than “Zimmerman money”. The day the Nationals gave Ryan Zimmerman that deal, I knew it was the starting point for any David Wright extension. And so it has…
Signing Wright, as I’ve said dozens of times, goes completely against Alderson’s philosophy. It breaks every rule in his book and other GM’s will laugh at him the same way he laughed at them for Zimmerman’s extension and the deal for Carl Crawford. The Mets fans are driving this deal, and you can bet your bottom dollar on that.
Wright has been a great Met. Aside from not winning a title during his tenure he has racked up some impressive numbers and leads the franchise in over a dozen offensive categories. He has been a great ambassador and a model citizen for this team as well. He’s done all that has ever been asked from him. Sometime in the next two weeks he will cash in on all of that to a haul that will supersede Reyes’ deal by more than $30-40 million dollars. You can take that to the bank as well.
As for the Wilpons being broke, rather than being unwilling to spend on a team that has no core and is years away from a championship, this Wright deal will hopeful dispel all the unsubstantiated misinformation that Fred’s detractors keep spewing and throwing out there.
Owners that are broke don’t suddenly announce they are opening a brand new affiliate, donate a quarter of a million dollars to the Red Cross, and they most certainly don’t hand out $150 million dollar deals. Instead they do what you see in Miami. That’s what broke owners do.
Original Post 11/13 11:45 PM
Rest assured Mets fans – there is some news to take note of that involves the Mets players. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Mets have made an offer on a contract extension to David Wright. Wright’s camp, Sam and Seth Levinson, has also been reported to have made a counter offer.
Sources: #Mets made offer to Wright. Wright’s side made counter-offer. Details of proposals not known.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 14, 2012
If this is true, the Mets would be acting relatively quickly after their release of Jason Bay. The details of the contract will no doubt cause controversy no matter what they are due to the mixed feelings from the Mets fan base. At the very least, it is intriguing to see the Mets making a supposed effort to retain one of their star players.
The way some things have been reported in the media lately have caused some fans to take everything they hear with a grain of salt, so I do not expect any different following this new information. To refresh your memory, allow me to quote Matthew Cerrone: “Based on what I’m hearing, Wright’s camp is thinking seven years and at least $130 million guaranteed, while the Mets are thinking more like six years and around $110 million.”
For those of you who are wondering, Rosenthal also wrote this in his post about the Wright extension: “The club’s negotiations with Dickey, to this point, are not as advanced as those with Wright, sources said.”
