There was recently a question posed on Twitter, “If you could choose to go back in time and give any player a clean bill of health, who would you choose?”
Naturally, I thought of David Wright.
As frustrating as it is from a sideline perspective to see Wright miss hundreds of games each year with a lot left of his contract, you have to sympathize for the guy.
There’s no one that loves this game or this organization as much as him, and if he had the choice, he would be out there everyday grinding.
Now 34, Wright hasn’t appeared in a game at all in 2017, and played in just 75 games total in 2015-16.
He is signed through the 2020 season, but things aren’t looking good that he will ever be able to play in the major leagues again.
On top of his degenerative back disorder, Wright has also suffered through a plethora of injuries the last several seasons, the most recent being a right shoulder impingement.
The seven-time all-star is currently down in Port St. Lucie beginning low-level baseball activity as he tries to mount a comeback for this season.
It’s sad that a player with such life on and off the field got dealt a bad hand and had injuries derail his career.
Wright is a career .296/.376/.491 hitter with 242 home runs and 970 RBI in 13 years as a Met.
Including this season, the third baseman has $67 million left on his current contract, but under the Mets insurance policy, the organization can recoup as much as $15 million this season and $50.25 overall.
Since the 34-year-old has been injured, there has been a black hole at third base.
Jose Reyes spent a good chunk of the season manning the hot corner, but Asdrubal Cabrera, T.J. Rivera and Wilmer Flores have each spent time at the position.
With New York very much intending to compete next season and no set answer to the position in sight with Wright’s health and organization depth, Sandy Alderson has to think long and hard about what the Mets are to do.
Do you go with a committee at the position again and sacrifice consistency? Do you hope for a miracle that Wright can make an impact in the major leagues again? Does Wright retire altogether?
Third base is one of the glaring needs the Mets must address this offseason and it’s time they move past the David Wright era at the hot corner once and for all.
There are several appealing options at third base that are hitting the open market this offseason, including Royals veteran Mike Moustakas.
Moustakas, 28, has clubbed 32 home runs this season for Kansas City and has hit to a .276/.307/.558 clip with a .355 wOBA and 120 wRC+.
Along with Yoenis Cespedes and potentially Jay Bruce, Moustakas could fit nicely in the middle of the Mets order to help complement and mentor the young bucks such as Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith.
Todd Frazier and Danny Valencia are also free agent options the Mets can consider, or choose to acquire external help via trade.
Regardless of what the future holds for Wright during these last three years of his contract, he will forever be widely loved by this fan base and go down as one of the Mets’ all-time greats.
A lot of people have thrown the idea around of Wright managing, and while that would require two to tango, whatever he chooses to do, it would be nice to see him to stay with the organization in some capacity.
How do you see the Wright situation playing out in 2018?
