Let me begin by saying that for the last nine years, David Wright has not had a bigger defender than me. He’s the best all-around position player ever to come through the Mets system and his impact on this franchise cannot be overstated.
Already a holder of more than a dozen Mets franchise records, Wright now has an opportunity to add an exclamation point to his Mets legacy if he can lead the team to a World Championship between now and 2020 when his deal expires.
It’s a foregone conclusion that what Wright produces offensively during his age 30-37 seasons, will never eclipse what he produced during his age 22-29 seasons. It’s an indisputable fact,
Wright will not be the first major leaguer to be handsomely rewarded for his past achievements and he certainly won’t be the last, but I cant deny my shock that this deal went down on Sandy Alderson’s watch.
Taking all the emotion out of this, I have to question how such a deal fits into what we believed was Alderson’s well documented objection to what he himself famously tabbed “second generation” deals. This flies against all we thought we knew about Alderson.
This morning, I find myself wondering what exactly has changed since Alderson took over for Omar Minaya?
Obviously the Mets owners have the money to spend – this deal would have never happened without their checkbook. But is this the kind of move that spells a new direction for the team, or are we in for eight more years of the same Mets we’ve become accustomed to in the last five years?
Additionally, what concerns me more are the rumors that this deal is heavily back loaded and that Wright could earn $20 million or more during the last 3-4 years of his deal. Again, if this is true, what’s changed?
Look, I’m glad David Wright will be at third base on Opening Day. Honestly, I don’t think I could have imagined Wright in another uniform when the Mets will host the 2013 All Star Game in July, but that’s just the Mets fan in me – that’s my emotion speaking. General Managers are supposed to be immune to emotion and all decisions must make baseball sense and more importantly, good business sense. I’m not sure this deal meets that criteria. It doesn’t pass the sniff test.
I don’t want to list all the reasons why this deal could spell trouble for the Mets and maybe even for Sandy Alderson. Today is not about that, and I don’t want to come off as a Debbie Downer. All I’m saying is, what’s changed?
