David Wright’s Long Term Future With Mets Could Be Hanging In The Balance

There are a handful of players throughout Major League Baseball that fans immediately associate with a team upon hearing their names. Ichiro and the Mariners, Derek Jeter and the Yankees, Joe Mauer and the Twins, Chipper Jones and the Braves….you get the idea. Now that Jose Reyes decided to take his talents to South Beach with LeBron, it has left David Wright with the certainty of knowing that he is the face of the New York Mets. For fans at Citi Field, David Wright symbolizes all that is right with the game, and they get a bit of nostalgia because he is the sole player left from the 2006 team that was one hit away from reaching the World Series. With all of the controversy surrounding the money situation of the Wilpons and the fact that Wright is due to earn $31 million over the next two years (including his option), Mets fans are unsure if the face of their franchise will be around much longer. Wright needs to prove to the front office that he belongs in the orange and blue for the rest of his career and that he’s worth the investment, but he needs to get on the field before he can do any of that.

Entering 2010, Wright was considered to be a rock at 3rd base; since his first full season in 2005, he had played less than 157 games in a season only once, and that was only because he got hit in the head with a Matt Cain fastball. After showing a resurgence of power in 2010 with 29 home runs and 103 RBI for New York, he was poised to do the same last season, until a freak accident led to a stress fracture in his back, causing him to miss two months, and led to his worst year as a professional (.254/.345/.427). Now that the fences have been moved in at Citi Field, it seems as if Wright will be able to go back to the mindset that he had when the Mets played at Shea. However, he needs to get on the field first before he can accomplish anything.

A sore left ribcage has been bothering the 3rd baseman since virtually the beginning of camp, and it has prevented him from appearing

in any Grapefruit League games so far this Spring. He just received a cortisone shot yesterday to take care of the inflammation. Wright told the media that if this happened during the season, he would be playing, but I’m skeptical as to whether he would be since it has gotten to this point. There is no question that he wants to continue to be a Met for the rest of his career, mostly because he’s openly said it, but he needs to stay on the field this year and show his worth to Sandy Alderson to get an extension that will keep him in New York until he retires.

About a month ago, Alderson was answering questions about Wright’s future and said that it will not be tied to the team’s performance this year, like it was for Carlos Beltran last year. Some people love Alderson, most Mets fans hate him because he didn’t offer Reyes anything, but one sure thing is that he’s not stupid; he knows how valuable Wright is to this organization, especially with everything else going on. So, I find it very hard to believe that he would go ahead and deal Wright for a bunch of prospects without thinking twice about it. Of course, Alderson did say that the organization wanted to keep Reyes and it was quite obvious that the opposite was true.

Even though I have a feeling that Wright will be considered as one of those players who will always be associated with one team throughout his career, he needs to get on the field. He’s been durable throughout his entire career up until this point, and it has to be frustrating that he hasn’t been able to play yet this year because of a sore left ribcage. This season could be the perfect storm for David Wright; not only have the fences moved in, but Ike Davis will be back to protect him in the line up, as well as Lucas Duda and Jason Bay, if they play up to their potential, which has been a problem for New York since 2006. This could be his best chance to show his worth to the front office.

Do I think that Wright will be traded by the middle of the season? No, mostly because his option for 2013 can be voided once he leaves Flushing. A team will have to be pretty desperate to give up the type of package Alderson would be looking for to get Wright for a two or three month rental. If there is a time that he could be dealt, it would be next off season. If he can stay on the field this year and have the type of season that he’s capable of, I think that he will receive an extension. The Mets pursued a couple of free agents this past winter and there were rumors that they didn’t want to come and play for New York. The organization has someone who not only wants to be in New York (after so much disappointment throughout the past six years), but truly wants to be here for life; that’s hard to find in today’s game. He just needs to get on the field first.

What do you think is ahead for David Wright? Will be a lifelong Met or will Alderson trade the face of the franchise (and the only reason why some Mets fans will come to the park this year)?

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