I read that David Wright is once again not cleared for baseball activity.
The Mets have played 85 games, and David has appeared in eight.
Let’s be pollyanna and say that next week he gets cleared for baseball activity. I’ll play fast and loose with the math here, but a week from now they will have played 89 games.
David gets that clearance and heads off to Florida where he goes from zero to full major league ready in what – want to call it three weeks? That’s (fast and loose) 20 more games.
David would make his very welcome return to Queens in Game 110 or so. Which means at the very best the Mets would get their leader and centerpiece for 58 games this season. Wow that hurts.
As Jason Fry and I say on the podcast nearly every week we want David Wright, the man (and I mean a human not The Man) to be OK. We want the man to be healthy. Once there, yeah of course we want David Wright the baseball player to show up and hand in .300 30 and 100.
Right now this morning, it’s harder and harder to imagine that. Which means what to the franchise?
Will this scare the Wilpons off from big contracts? For the record, I was in favor of this deal, factoring in everything David means including the 4pm schmoozing with VIPs that you guys don’t see.
Can David be “Derek Jeter” if he isn’t on the field? Or does he become “John Franco”, a former captain, loved, good citizen, always happy to see him, but at the Tom Seaver level?
Does David shut it down and show up in the spring? Would there really be a Mets playoff run without David Wright? That’s weird to think about.
What if he can’t come back, or does come back at a reduced level? There are five years left on the contract. Can the Mets carry a diminished David Wright for five seasons? What does that do to the roster? Isn’t that just kind if weird?
I know I’m deep off in the land of What If, but this is what I think about. Again, I want David Wright, the man, to be healthy. The rest of this is secondary.
Thoughts?
Obviously the best thing that can happen is he comes back healthy and can play at his historic level for the rest of the contract. Or at least most of it.
Barring that, it sort of seems that from the Mets’ perspective the worst thing would be for him to come back and play but at a hugely diminished level. Like Eric Campbell level. The Mets have rarely understood the concept of “sunk cost” so they’d feel obligated to play him anyway. He’s the captain, after all!
Eric Campbell is bad. Imagine if he was being paid $20 million per year though. It would devastate the franchise.
The worst from Wright’s perspective is that he can’t really ever come back. That he’s done. But that’s actually better for the Mets. At the least they’d collect on the insurance and could afford to sign another star player.
The scenario I worry about, though, seems the most likely. He DOES come back. On occasion he even looks like the real David Wright. He gives us all hope. But all too often, he has to miss some games. A few DL stints. Bigger, longer slumps. Then longer DL stints. Maybe they’ll get some insurance money, but maybe not. They can’t be sure. So they can’t risk signing another $20 million player. What if they have to pay both of them?
And the franchise remains in purgatory for the prime years of our stellar young pitching staff.
F*** spinal stenosis.
After David had to play in season after season of losing it would be a great shame for him to have to sit out of meaningful September games if it comes to that; thats the part that keeps bugging me.
metspolice do you want MY #GoldenBoy thoughts?
metspolice when healthy should David become a 1st baseman. I think the move may keep him on the field longer & have Murphy play 3rd. #LGM
.D_Stokes1496 I think for all sides a one year deal for murph makes sense. 28 needs to pump those weak stats though
metspolice yeah I’m a big Murph supporter like you guys I believe he’ll turn it around he always has a mini slump & breaks out in a big way
D_Stokes1496 as much as I love 27, .275 no power no glove ain’t a good way to hit FA. He might even have to take a cut
metspolice he is like a lesser Ben Zobrist. A decent bat that can play anywhere.
metspolice D_Stokes1496 Cut bait on Murph. He has no baseball sense, is well below average defensively, and is a soft .300 hitter.
metsfan73 we have a difference in opinions I think murph is the best hitter on that team but yes his glove his bad
Agreed, but he doesn’t make #Mets better. He s a complimentary player, and his flaws are magnified w/no help in lineup. D_Stokes1496
metsfan73 yeah I guess
.metsfan73 you realize you need 25 guys and already play Tejada and a guy that was DFAd. Someone has to play.
metspolice metsfan73 Is your plan to have Flores move to third and have more Dilson at second? Now there’s a soft hitter
metspolice The problem for David is that he has to play the field. They cant gimmick(DH) him like A-rod. Slows down comeback w/o position
.craig_samuels it’s probably the Mets’ budget friendly plan, but Dilson did not hit.
metspolice Budget Friendly? Yeah, that sounds like the #Wilponzis way
metspolice craig_samuels