WRIGHT TIME TO GO
Samuel: Diminished David should retire with dignity and let Mets move on
David Wright likely will never return to anywhere close to his All-Star form, so the Captain needs to bow out with his head held high.
This isn’t the end that anyone wanted for David Wright, not with the Mets’ sig nat u re player reduced f rom powerful and fast third baseman to feeble, frail bit of inspiration. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, how it was supposed to finish for the player who defined the Mets for the last decade.
And yet this is still better than the other ending, the ending that nobody wants to see. And that’s why David Wright needs to ride off into the sunset now, while he’s still a Mets icon, while the memories of his greatness remain his lasting impression.
That’s why, David Wright, it’s time for you to retire, because if you don’t, things can only go downhill from here.
We know Wright wants to come back. He said as much on Friday night, when, just 15 days after undergoing cervical fusion surgery to his neck, he showed up to Citi Field. Wright looked far less imposing than he had just months earlier, his once-barrel chest struggling to fill out his Mets sweatshirt. And on Saturday night, he told The News that he’s not ready to think retirement, in a very brief exchange. “At some point,” he said. “Not now.” But there’s no certainty, not anymore, not with anything about David Wright. He’s 33 years old now, and even before he returned to Flushing this weekend as a shell of his former self, he was playing like a shell of the Wright who owned Citi Field. And that’s hardly fair for the Mets, who have so many reasons to move on but undoubtedly won’t if Wright wants to play again next season. He has four years and $77 million remaining on his deal. It’s hard to see the Mets not indulging the comeback of the player who once defined the franchise, of not penciling him in at third base out of obligation. It’s hard to see Fred Wilpon, who called Wright “one of the best ever,” and Terry Collins not giving Wright a chance to play through his issues.
Thing is, even before all this, Wright was having issues. This was a player in decline even before late May, when he was diagnosed with the herniated disc that led to June surgery. David Wright just wasn’t — and isn’t — the David Wright of old, isn’t the same player who carried the franchise and its fans through so many middling years. He hasn’t hit .300 since 2013, hasn’t bopped 20 homers since 2012 (when he hit 21). And at his age, coming off major neck surgery, after years of hoisting the team on his shoulders (no wonder he has a bad back), does anyone actually think he can ever really be the player he once was? But the Mets were prepared to keep running him out there. They’d relied on Wright at third, Collins pencilling him in even as his back issues hurt his defense at third, even as the average fell to .226 with 55 strikeouts in 37 games this year, even when his back was so bad this year that his playing time was heavily managed from the very beginning of spring training.
These Mets don’t need this. They’re legitimate contenders, both this season and for the next few seasons, with all those arms and Yoenis Cespedes anchoring the lineup and Brandon Nimmo blossoming and Michael Conforto destined to return to the bigs as a better hitter.
But the window for a World Series title is always smaller than it seems, and the last thing this franchise needs is the ghost of David Wright flailing about at third base in 2017. And they don’t need the specter of a Wright comeback hanging over them this offseason, when Sandy Alderson just may want to explore his other third base options.
And Wright doesn’t need any of that ugliness sullying his 12 largely great years in Flushing, or ruining his shot at one more magical season. Long before Harvey and deGrom and Syndergaard, it was Wright who gave Met fans something to look forward to when the team lived in the NL East cellar.
And Wright can still have one heckuva going-away party, too. He’s limited to cheerleader duty sure, but his presence can still inspire the Mets, has done so in their three games against the Cubs.
“He’s our leader, he’s our captain,” said catcher Travis d’Arnaud. “He’s been here for two days and look at the energy we’ve gotten.”
That can still be Wright’s happy ending, driving the Mets to a championship from the sidelines, with his spirit instead of his bat. And maybe that’s how he’ll get the World Series title he’s always wanted, a different kind of happy ending.
Beats the grim alternative.