Based on all the commentary on Mets360.com and elsewhere among the Mets faithful, it would seem that we are expecting very little of our team captain in 2017. In fact, many of us are assuming he’ll spend most of the season on the disabled list. It’s not an unfair assumption given that the 34-year-old third baseman suffers from spinal stenosis, a chronic and persistent disability, and is just five months removed from fusion surgery to repair an unrelated herniated disk in his neck. Due to these two issues, Wright has appeared in a total of just 75 games over the last two seasons.
So far, Wright and the team have indicated that he has progressed well from the neck surgery, but he will continue to battle the spinal stenosis, a condition that will require hours of stretching before games, physical therapy between games, and regular doctor visits.
“A manager’s worst nightmare is to see a star start to fade,” manager Terry Collins told the Newark Star Ledger’s John Munson. “I think David’s got a lot of baseball left in him because of the way he gets himself ready, but it’s hard to watch what he’s going through.”
Wright turns 34 in December and while may players in that age range are still at the top of their game, thirty four was the age of perennial all-star Don Mattingly when a chronic back condition derailed his Hall of Fame track career. And an injury as serious as Wright’s would signal the end for many players, but, as Collins pointed out, Wright may be a special case.
Wright has indicated that he expects to begin offseason workouts in early December, following a checkup with noted back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles. Hopefully, he gets the all clear.
Regarding his complicated prognosis, Wright to the NY Daily News, “It’s probably not ideal, but it’s what I’ve got. I’m still going to have to do extra work on my back. I’m confident the neck surgery is going to hold up and I’m confident my back is going to hold up and we go from there.”
The third baseman is still owed $67 million from the Mets over the next four years. He’s signed through 2020 with $20 million in guaranteed salary due to him this year and next, followed by $15 million in 2019 and $12 in 2020. Should Wright suffer a similar fate as Don Mattingly, perhaps he and the team can work out a buyout that might include a coaching or front office opportunity to keep the beloved player in the organization. The team would certainly recoup a sizable portion of the money from insurance. But that’s the worst case scenario. Let’s look at the bright side for a moment.
In the last two seasons, Wright has had just 338 plate appearances, producing a modest slash line of .260/.366/.436. In his last full season, 2014, Wright delivered his weakest full season, producing .269/.324/.374 with just eight home runs in 134 games. Wright’s days of putting up MVP caliber numbers like he did through most of his 20s, are realistically over. We’ll certainly never see him hit 30 home runs, steal 20 plus bases or win a gold glove again. However, he’s not that far removed from a very solid year. In 2013, playing in 112 games, Wright slashed an impressive .307/.390/.514.
If Wright could play in even half the games this year, he could be a valuable contributor, and not just as a clubhouse presence. He’s a career .337 hitter vs. lefties and that’s an area where the Mets could certainly use a boost in their offense from the last two seasons. Other than Wilmer Flores, the Mets have been noticeably missing another bat like that.
Aside from the desire, work ethic and love of the game, Wright has one more thing going for him. The captain still has the unwavering support of his fans, who saved their loudest applause for him during pregame introduction at this year’s wild card playoff game at Citi Field. We’re all rooting for him and while our expectations are low, maybe Wright will surprise us with a career encore in 2017.
While I believe that PEDS remain a part of today’s game, we are in a corrective period after the height of the Steroid Era.
It used to be that 34 was old, a period of decline.
Then Barry Bonds did what he did.
34 didn’t seem so old anymore.
It’s time to remember that in a normal world, with a drug-free player, 34 is a time of diminished skills. Add DW’s injury history, and I don’t see him anywhere close to the top of his game.
Can he surprise me? Yeah. In fact, while so many indicators pointed to him falling off the cliff — all those swing-and-misses — he surprised me last season. He wasn’t horrible at all. Then he fell apart, again.
Could he surprise us next season? Sure! It’s possible. But step back and the downward trend is undeniable.
He’s an old 34, at a time when 34 is old again.
Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran, Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, Brandon Phillips, Nelson Cruz, Ben Zobrist, Jose Bautista. What do these 8 players all have in common? All are older than 34 and still quite productive. It’s not just pitchers, backup catchers and DHs.
n case what we all dread happens and Wright’s career comes to a sad and premature end this season, let’s really savor whatever we get out of him.
I think we have enough depth with Reyes, Flores and Rivera to get by without Wright, but if we learn before the season starts that he’s not likely to play much, we might consider bringing back Kelly Johnson as well.
Why don’t we have DW play a little first base.
I was optimistic for Wright this time last year. Now I’m adopting the “anything he gives us is gravy” approach.
If he comes down with another major DL stint that is neck/back related, he should follow in the footsteps of his buddy Cuddyer and retire.
If he goes the Cuddyer route, let’s hope he’s half as generous.
Mike W – I love the idea of first base and hope they’ll consider it.
An Old Productive Player who can play a Platoon and be a bench Threat is a nice player—- David cannot play or PH on Days he doesn’t start, because his Prep drives the need for rest as much as his Play…and he will not, cannot Prep for every game.
In the words of Gary Cohen, he’s a “Net Negative”. I won’t root against him, but I hope he’ll respond with a sane and unselfish reaction if the reality he’s been in continues…. I’m hoping for a turnaround and a miracle for him—otherwise, a decision to retire.
My fear is that he doesn’t go on the DL. In that, the worst scenario is an ineffective DW, whiffing and playing poor defense, but doing just enough to get too many ABs.
As Eraff states, there’s a real usefulness problem here.
But I’ll cross my fingers and hope,
The prep isn’t the main reason he needs extra rest. He needs a lot of rest because his back can’t handle playing a bunch of days in a row. The prep to a degree is what helps his back feel better.
Some days off he won’t prep and will take a break from that, but I think the main issue in terms of PHing is that after sitting on the bench for a couple hours he’d need to warmup again before he’s used… and that can be hard to plan around since you don’t always know in advance when PH spots are coming up.
Question: What happens if DW gets hurt in Spring or the early part of the season and retires? What happens to our budget?
He has a guaranteed contract, that is insured against playing time.
If he fully “retires” – he walks away from all the money he would have coming to him in the future. Though the Mets and him may work out some kind of buyout where he gets some money.
If he’s injured again or unable to return – he could be ruled medically unable to play – like Prince Fielder was this year. Then he could still get all the money he is owed but insurance would likely cover most of it, so it wouldn’t cost the team a ton of money
Based on the assumption that because of his health he will play in a restricted role similar to the initial plan of 2015. He should always start vs LHP because he has a career 337/430/568/998 vs LHP. In 2016 his 788 OPS in a limited 137 AB’s ranked him 10th among NL third basemen.The Mets should avoid relying on Wright as an everyday player due to his lack of durability over the past three years. Hopefully, between Wright and Reyes, they can get adequate production from the third base position. It is a tenuous situation for the Mets two fading stars without many alternatives. Wright is the Captain and face of the franchise, with a long term contract, and as long as he puts up adequate production he will be getting a fair share of the starts. Unfortunately his health will probably prevent him from putting up adequate production and will cause some tough decisions to be made.