Unless there’s a radical turnaround in David Wright’s production, I’m not sure retaining him beyond 2012 is the biggest worry for the New York Mets or their long-suffering fans. In the considered view of the New York Daily News’ Bill Price, however, “I saw the story about the Mets’ growing debt and when the money is owed and saw the stuff about David Wright possibly getting traded and thought, maybe, just maybe one problem could take care of the other.” Well, yes, if you can find someone who will exchange a bag of $200 million for Wright and his diminished skills, but until that day arrives, Price can instead speculate how Wright’s eventual exit will be received, along with suggesting that GM Sandy Alderson (above) is every bit the stopgap/caretaker as Terry Collins.
You wonder how this all plays in the MLB offices. Letting Jose Reyes walk – in a vacuum – was a good baseball decision. With his injury history, six years is risky. Still, the perception is that the Mets don’t have enough money to keep their homegrown stars, and that is not only bad for Met business, it’s bad for baseball business, especially in New York city.
If the Mets have to give up Wright, perhaps their last marquee attraction, it looks even worse. So, you wonder if something like that makes Bud Selig put aside his friendship to Fred Wilpon and pressure him to sell the team. It’s likely a pipe dream, but when it comes to the Mets, how much is too much? How low can the Mets go before Selig steps in?
It puts Alderson in a tricky spot, too. He works for the Mets, but was basically put there by Selig. While I think he would love to someday be known as the guy who rebuilt the Mets into a big-time team, he may not want to go down as the guy who let Wright and Reyes and who knows who else go.