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The Mets have probably lost David Wright for 2016
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes David Wright’s neck surgery, a new Cubs’ prospect, and early trade deadline thoughts.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
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The David Wright Mets fans have loved for the last decade-plus is probably gone. That’s a depressing thought, given it was clear even as he was coming up back in 2004 that he was a special player destined for a special career. He hit .301/.382/.506 -- a 137 OPS+ -- over the first 10 years of his major league career. It was a Hall of Fame start to a Hall of Fame career, but things are suddenly looking dire. Wright is likely to miss the rest of 2016 after undergoing neck surgery, and this is on top of the spinal stenosis that limited him to 38 games this year and had him on a limited schedule this spring.
Wright is under contract through 2020, at $20 million this season and the next two, and then $15 million and $12 million in the last two. His contract does have insurance on it for when he misses significant time, but that’s only comforting to the people spending the money. His neck should heal after the surgery, but his back issues aren’t going away, and his playing time needs to be managed like it was before this new injury. You hope he can return and put things together and be like the old Wright -- just not for 150 games at a time -- but there’s no guarantee that will happen.
As for the Mets’ roster, it’s not in a great place at the moment. The team was already without Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud, and since Wright has been on the DL they were also missing their starting third baseman. James Loney has been playing first base for them, Wilmer Flores is now officially an everyday player until they find someone else for third, Michael Conforto is having serious sophomore slump issues ... this is a whole lot of problems. They can make a trade or two to help shore things up, and they certainly still have their pitching -- especially now that Matt Harvey appears to be back -- so the Mets aren’t doomed by any means. They are without Wright, though, and that just doesn’t sit, well, you know.
- Cheer up, Mets fans. This is what a Noah Syndergaard slider looks like to a hitter.
- Dads catching foul balls while holding a kid? It’s been done. Dads catching foul balls while holding a kid and holding hot dogs? That’s the new thing.
- The Orioles are going to trade a prospect fans love for a pitcher they will not. Such is the nature of the starting pitcher market this summer!
- Speaking of needing starters, the Blue Jays plan to convert Aaron Sanchez back to the bullpen to save his arm, reigniting a debate about pitcher health.
- The Yankees needed first base help, but they didn’t need it so badly that they had to turn to Nick Swisher. Yanks fans can still appreciate him for what he was, even if they can’t appreciate him for what he now is.
- J.D. Martinez fractured his elbow and will miss four to six weeks. The Tigers were not exactly in a great place to begin with, and this isn’t going to help them any.
- The Cubs have promoted the latest prospect you’ll see their fans get all excited about: catcher Wilson Contreras.
- Robin Ventura is in the hot seat in Chicago.
- The Padres are willing to trade Wil Myers. Should the Red Sox, who need help in left now and at first base next year, bite?
- Were you looking forward to your team trading prospects for Julio Teheran or Freddie Freeman? It sounds like the two are staying put on the Braves.
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