David Stearns makes two key hires, and David Wright's hall of fame candidacy
David Stearns makes two key hires, and David Wright's hall of fame candidacy
David Wright enters his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame
What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets will hire former Padre manager Andy Green in a senior player development role, and Kris Gross will be coming on board in a lead role in the amateur scouting department (New York Post)
Rumor Mill 💭
The Mets are showing interesting in Luis Severino (Athletic)
Pete Alonso would like to become the highest paid first baseman among current active comps (ESPN)
Every big market team as well as some small and mid market teams (Tigers, Diamondbacks) are showing interest in signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who will be posted today (New York Post)
David Wright enters Hall of Fame eligibility for the first time ✍️
The 2024 Hall of Fame ballot will be released this week and David Wright’s name will appear on it for the first time since his retirement.
Wright unquestionably belongs in the Mets Hall of Fame and is arguably the best position player this franchise has ever produced. He holds the franchise records for hits, runs, RBIs, and extra base hits. He is the leader in bWAR for position players and trails only Darryl Strawberry in home runs.
Wright’s number 5 should soon join 24, 17, 36, 31, 41, 14, 37, 18, and 16 atop Citi Field Field among their retired numbers. It’s just a matter of when. The Citi Field faithful will fill the stadium with Wright jerseys on their backs and tissues in hand whenever that day comes. It will be another deserving honor for the beloved Captain, but unfortunately a trip to Cooperstown is far less likely. His career 49.2 bWAR puts him third from last from those on the 2024 ballot which puts him ahead of just Bartolo Colón and Matt Holliday and behind Chase Utley.
At his peak, Wright was one of the top players in the game and unquestionably on a Hall of Fame trajectory through 2012. He was a seven-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner. Who could forget his first All-Star game in 2006 and the show he put on in the Home Run Derby before falling to Ryan Howard? He then followed that performance up with a home run in his first at-bat in the the All-Star Game. In 2007, the Mets collapse unfortunately robbed him of a potential MVP but he produced a 30/30 season and finished the year hitting .325/.416/.546 with 30 home runs and 107 RBI. The following year, he tied Mike Piazza for the single-season franchise record in RBIs with 124 which Pete Alonso just recently surpassed.
In 2009, Citi Field’s original cavernous dimensions robbed him of much of his power, but despite hitting just 10 home runs that year he was still an All-Star and hit .307/.390/.447.
For a full decade, from 2004-2014, Mets fans were spoiled with greatness from Wright. Over that time, Wright hit .298/.377/.494 with 230 home runs and 939 RBIs. He also stole 191 bases over that time span. He was a complete player who for much of that time was the only reason to tune into games, especially between 2009 and 2013 when the team had reached their nadir. His loyalty to the franchise never waivered, and he was ultimately rewarded with his lifetime contract and the team’s captaincy.
But unfortunately, as we all know, injuries set in and cut his stellar career short. But it wasn’t without leaving fans with countless magical moments magical moments. Until the day comes where Hall of Fame voters don’t place longevity as high on their priority list, Wright will simply remain as one of the best Mets to ever don the uniform, which for now will have to do.
Hot Stove 🔥
Aaron Nola returned to the Phillies after signing a seven-year deal worth $172 million
The Mariners are not expected to pursue Shohei Ohtani (MLB.com)
Despite Mike Trout’s name coming up in trade rumors he will most likely stay with the Angels for the 2024 season (Nightengale)
The Dodgers are interested in acquiring starter Dylan Cease from the White Sox (Nightengale)
The Blue Jays are open to trading righty Alek Manoah (Rosenthal)
The Braves and Cardinals are both interested in signing Sonny Gray