David Wright’s valid reaction to unauthorized snack time

David Wright’s overblown reaction to Noah Syndergaard eating his lunch inside rather than being on the bench with his teammates was a big story for the wrong reasons. It was one of those funny little anecdotes that gets tossed around in the fairly calm early days of spring training. Unless there is a major injury or a player runs his mouth on talk radio (cough, Bryce Harper, cough), there isn’t much for reporters and bloggers to write about. So it’s not so much that Wright was upset at Syndergaard specifically, but at how his team has been handled over the last several years.

Wright is not only the face of the New York Mets franchise, but also a wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball. Unbefitting such a player, his teams of late has been inferior in both talent, and the ability to bring more talent in. Both are changing. The Mets have some of the brightest young players in the game coming up through their system, and the once nailed-tight purse-strings have eased open just the tiniest bit. Wright, like any good leader, sees this happening all around him. More to the point Wright has always been known as a straight-laced player, not one to take shortcuts or instigate drama. His answers to interview questions are often staid baseball cliches, and he puts maximum pressure on himself to perform and be a leader of this team.

Calling out a rookie for not being in the dugout is commonplace. I’m sure it has already happened in other dugouts around the league this week. The reason this incident is important, at least to Mets fans, is that Wright correctly knows the stakes. He still has many years left on his contract and will most likely see the end of that deal in the blue and orange. But he knows that his opportunity to win a championship is just around the corner. For the last remaining player of the 2006 team that almost made it to the World Series, he also knows how quickly it can all go away.

If the Mets are going to be a competitive team for the next few years, Syndergaard is likely going to be a big piece of that equation. Whether he rises to his ace-like potential, or if he’s traded away to bring in top-tier offensive talent, Syndergaard will undoubtedly impact the roster construction moving forward. Wright has seen plenty of prospects come up before, just to lose their way. For every Syndergaard who’s just a step away from the big leagues, there’s a Lasting Milledge, Fernando Martinez or Mike Pelfrey who just couldn’t put it all together. If Wright seems like a desperate man berating a rookie for his last chance at glory, that hyperbolic and untrue.

Syndergaard is not just some prospect, he’s the Mets best prospect, the 10th best in baseball, and he’s a guy who has the chance at an excellent career. Wright has seen this before, and knows what it takes to get to that level. It takes diligence, and sacrifice, and yes, you sometimes have to wait to eat because you might just learn something by watching the big leaguers play. It might come across as a silly, or even petty lesson to be taught, but it’s based in something profound. Namely that this team has a shot, and every detail must be examined to constantly improve.The plain facts are that if Syndergaard didn’t need to be taught this lesson, then he would have been on the dugout bench like everyone else. But he slipped up, and it became a dumb little story for us all to chuckle over.

It means something else to Wright, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted at all. It’s about preparation. Michael Barwis seems to be helping in that respect. It’s not just enough to get your body prepared for the season, you have to get your mind right as well. It means not hitting the showers after a rough start, but instead staying to see if your offense can bail you out of this one. It means watching guys like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler and Jacob deGrom, guys who aren’t much older, but who at least have done it before on the big stage. It means learning from every experience possible to become better, otherwise you might as well go home.

It’s that attitude Wright seems to be trying to instill in his players, like the put up or shut up ultimatum he roused earlier this spring. He has taken accountability for his play last year, and we all hope he can respond with a very nice season in 2015. Whatever he does on the field, Wright is the leader, and will continue to teach these lessons, no matter if he’s on the field, on the bench or in the locker room. He taught one last year when instructed his guys on how not to play through injuries. It’s the Virginia boy duty and respect coming out of Wright and seeping into the cosmopolitan roster. Hopefully it’s a lesson that won’t fall on deaf ears, and one that won’t need to be repeated.

After all, the players and fans alike don’t need Salad-gate to distract them for what they are here to do.

“Win the whole f*****g thing.” – Jake Taylor