A future GM?
Wright in Las Vegas advising Mets on players
LAS VEGAS — David Wright is still trying to figure out his future removed from the playing field, but the former Mets captain has taken a fast liking to player evaluation.
Invited to the winter meetings by general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to serve as a sounding board for team officials, Wright on Tuesday said he is enjoying the give-and-take that has occurred in the Mets’ suite.
Wright played his final game for the Mets in September as he battles spinal stenosis, but isn’t officially retired — he is owed $27 million over the next two seasons and will likely remain on the 40man roster until the team can work out an insurance settlement.
Van Wagenen contacted Wright last month about attending the winter meetings to lend his perspective.
“I definitely can see myself enjoying the kinds of discussions that have been going on the last day or so, as opposed to a coaching or broadcasting type of thing,” Wright said. “Brodie has been extremely gracious in letting me be a part of this, and I certainly don’t want to overstep my boundaries, so if he needs help I certainly would be willing to share and be a sounding board and just give him my perspective.”
Though Van Wagenen wasn’t Wright’s agent, the former cohead of CAA’s baseball division represented Ryan Zimmerman, with whom Wright is close. Wright said he got to know Van Wagenen over the years through that relationship.
“Brodie has been in contact since he got the job and I feel like I have developed a good relationship and obviously still have one with Omar [Minaya], Ruben [Amaro] and [John] Ricco and all those guys,” Wright said, referring to members of the Mets front office.
Wright acknowledged he received an offer to serve as a TV analyst during the postseason — he declined to name the network, but ESPN reportedly pursued him — but wasn’t interested.
“That doesn’t interest me, at least at this point, going on TV,” Wright said. “I will leave that up to Gary [Cohen], Keith [Hernandez] and Ron [Darling].”
So Wright doesn’t want to become the next Keith Hernandez?
“That’s a loaded question,” Wright said. “He really got the best of me the one time I was up there in the booth, so I will have to think of my comebacks.”