HEART’S IN WRIGHT PLACE
Cap shows Amazin’ grace as he realizes end is near
PORT ST. LUCIE — It sounds as if David Wright finally has come to the realization — and to grips with — the likelihood that the end is near. Wright spoke for the first time this spring at Mets camp on Saturday, and while he admirably refuses to give up on his multiyear quest to make it back to the field following multiple surgeries, the hobbled captain fully understands why the organization signed Todd Frazier as a more permanent replacement at third base this offseason.
He also understands why the Mets simply and clearly could not wait for him any longer.
“I’m going to give it my best shot, certainly. I probably have a lot of the same questions that you’re asking me, and a lot of people are asking of me. Because I just don’t know,” Wright said when asked in the home dugout at First Data Field how realistic he believes a return this season would be for him. “It’s certainly been an uphill climb for me, so I guess to honestly answer your question, I don’t know. I’m not sure what the expectation is.
“I’d love to play again, but my body’s got to hold up and it’s gonna have to cooperate with me a little bit.”
Wright’s body has gone through more pain and trouble in the past few seasons than any pro athlete should have to endure, from the spinal stenosis that first was diagnosed in 2015 to the neck, back and shoulder surgeries the seven-time All-Star third baseman has undergone over the past two lost years of his career.
“Certainly, (it’s been) very frustrating,” the 35-year-old Wright said. “When you’re used to doing something your entire life, and it’s kind of taken away from you, it’s definitely frustrating.
“Every day I’m reminded when I come in and I see everybody else get in uniform and go out there and do the things that I love to do and I’m stuck in the training room doing rehab stuff, frustration is an understatement. Again, it would be easy if I didn’t have that drive to get back out there. If I didn’t love what I did, it certainly would make things easier, but I do love what I do, and when it’s kind of abruptly taken away from you — I mentioned this earlier, when it’s all said and done, I want to be able to say I did everything I could.
“If it works, that’s obviously the goal and if it doesn’t work, I’ll rest easy knowing that I gave it my best shot.”
For practically 15 years now, Wright has been one of the most amicable and productive players ever produced by the Mets organization, and as such, I remain firmly in the camp that the decision to call it a career is his and his alone.
The Mets recouped 75 percent of Wright’s $20 million salary last season, and will do so on the remaining three years and $47 million owed him should he never resume a career that once seemed to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
“I’ve had a hard time with it certainly, but I guess you do what you can do and do everything in your power,” Wright said. “The biggest thing is I don’t want to when it’s all said and done I say I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that.
“You do it and then it’s out of your control. I challenge myself every day to be the best rehab patient I can possibly be and that’s kind of the competitiveness side I’m missing out on the field that I can still challenge myself in there. If it works out, that’s certainly the goal. If not, I did everything I can do. It’s as simple as that.”
To that end, Wright still has not even resumed running or any baseball activity. So even while saying he hopes to “begin to try to ramp it up a little bit more” in the coming weeks, any immediate return appears out of the question anyway.
Which is why the Mets were fully justified in signing Frazier to a two-year deal to man third base for the next two seasons after a couple of years of keeping the light on for Wright by mostly patch-working the position together.
“Jeff (Wilpon) called me the night that it came out, which I very much appreciated, and he said he wanted to give me a head’s up that, ‘hey, this is going to happen’ and that certainly meant a lot to me,” Wright said. “The way I look at is that we’re certainly, in my opinion, a very good team without me and my mindset is that we’ll be a better team with both of us out there.
“He’s certainly a terrific player and somebody that will fit in well with this team.”
Another typically diplomatic response, to be sure, but it’s impossible for even Wright to ignore that the Frazier signing finally represents some concession by the Mets that he can no longer be counted on to come back successfully.
“No, they’ve got to do certainly what’s best for them. I understand that,” Wright said. “You know, I think when you don’t play for as long as I haven’t and we’ve had a void there — this team is in a position to compete and they’ve got to
go out there and do what’s best for them.
“I don’t blame them one bit. This organization has always treated me with the upmost respect. I’ve been around so long, this, to me, is a family environment. I’m not just talking about the players, I’m talking about front office, ownership, everybody. The way that I’ve been treated has been more than fair, probably more than I deserve. These guys have to do what’s best for this team and I certainly think that it’s a good fit.”
In the meantime, the work and the hope will continue. And any painful discussions or decisions about retirement will remain on hold. “As I said earlier, it would be easier if I didn’t have that passion for what I do. I guess there’s something to be said for — it’s a decision that every athlete wants to make where it’s, you know, they get to make that decision,” Wright said. “You don’t want your body making that decision for you.
“I think that the mindset is now, as frustrating as it is and as many questions as I have about myself as there is, the only thing I can do is to come in every day, try to do better than I did the day before in rehab and if we get to the point where I’m feeling good enough to give it a go, then I certainly want to give it a go. If then I get to the point where the team decides that I’m helpful, that I’ll be helpful for them, then that’s certainly their decision. I want to get to that point where they have to make that decision.”