One of my favorite web-treks each morning is to stop by MMO to read what my fellow bloggers have been opining about and to see how many times I got called out by the lunatic fringe in the comment threads of my own posts. I look at those as my badges of honor. 😉
After that, it’s a non-stop trip to Adam Rubin’s blog to read his Mets Morning Briefing. That’s where you’ll find the best and most concise rundown of all the latest Mets news and opinion of the last 24 hours. (Also the source of many an inspiration for several of my own posts.) What I love most about it is how he covers a dozen or more storylines all in one neatly arranged post, rather than having to read over a dozen 100-word micro-posts elsewhere, spread out over a six hour period.
This morning’s briefing was packed with lots of interesting tidbits, as is usual, but one item in particular caught my attention. Rubin had an excerpt from a column by Joel Sherman of the NY Post who waxed poetically about the declining state of third-base play in New York.
ESPN was displaying its top 12 fantasy third basemen, and I noticed Alex Rodriguez was ranked ninth and David Wright was not even among the 12 names shown. Now I do not want to confuse ESPN’s fantasy rankings with, say, The Dead Sea Scrolls for relevance. But it does provide a snapshot of third base right now in New York, which is to say the most uncertain since 2004. That was Rodriguez’s first season at his new position and Wright’s debut as a Met. Both are coming off injuries and their worst full years, so suddenly 2012 has a mandate-like feeling for the duo.
Which makes much more sense for a 36-year-old coming off, among other things, knee surgery. But Wright is just 29. This should be his prime. Yet what encircles him is uncertainty — about his health, about his abilities, about where he might be playing the rest of his career.
My first impulse was one of shock and dismay. Wright isn’t ranked in the Top 12? Have things deteriorated this badly for our own David Wright who also happens to be my favorite Met by far?
After a few nanoseconds, I wondered if I could name the twelve third basemen that they could have possibly ranked above Wright… Immediately three names come to mind; Longoria, Bautista and Beltre… Who else, I strained to conclude… Possibly Zimmerman? Maybe Aramis Ramirez? Sandoval?
No Mas!
Too early – Can’t compute – Brain cells rapidly deteriorating…
I had to go to ESPN’s Fantasy Rankings to see for myself…
(Click image to enlarge)
And there, neatly tucked in between Adrian Beltre and Pablo Sandoval, was David Wright ranked at No. 4. Suddenly my world was a beautiful place again. There was our star third baseman ranked among baseball’s best while in the prime of his career. All is as it should be. That deserved a satisfying and healthy gulp of my still-hot Starbuck’s coffee. Ahh…
As for you Joel Sherman, all I can say is that a little research can go a long way.
