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Andy Martino asks a valid question about "The Franchise" v21st Century. But don't expect an honest answer from David. Maybe Jeff Francoeur knows the truth.
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Is it driving David Wright crazy that the NY Mets are still this bad?
BY Andy Martino
BASEBALL INSIDER
Thursday, June 19, 2014, 10:41 PM
MIAMI -- The only questions you want to ask David Wright lately are the hard ones: Why have you been so lost at the plate? Is it driving you crazy that the Mets are still this bad?
And -- this is the big one -- has ownership and the front office held to whatever assurances they gave you about spending money and improving the team, before you decided to sign a contract extension?
Oh, and this: One of these years, wouldn’t you like to hear happier questions?
“Of course,” Wright said on Thursday, during an extended conversation at his locker about the state of the franchise, and himself. “Of course. But it’s not like you snap your fingers, and sprinkle some magic dust over things, and then all of a sudden you’re going to go out there and get off to a start that’s 30 games over .500. I knew that it was going to be challenging.”
For several reasons, it seemed like the right time to hear the Captain’s thoughts. Through Thursday, he was batting .153 in the month of June, and slugging .254 -- and that was after going 4 for 12 in St. Louis this week.
“The worst I have ever seen him look,” said one evaluator, though the past several days strongly suggested improvement, including Wright’s first-inning home run on Thursday that was enough to turn Zack Wheeler’s shutout into a 1-0 Mets win.
“I haven’t felt great, but on the flip side of that, I haven’t felt lost going up there and not seeing the ball,” Wright said. “I haven’t felt overmatched, like I have in the past when I’ve gone through some slumps.”
But the franchise itself remains mired in irrelevance, having sunk to last place in the National League East.
After three-plus years of a focus on player development and long-term thinking, the Mets do not seem any closer to success (although, we should say, team officials insist otherwise), and have seen top prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Wheeler struggle at times in the major leagues, and Noah Syndergaard endure a middling year so far in Triple-A.
Remember, Wright’s decision to sign an eight-year, $138 million contract extension came after heart-to-hearts with Jeff Wilpon and Sandy Alderson, who laid out a plan for success. Has it proceeded more slowly than Wright imagined?
“Obviously, you’re talking about a time where some of the delays have to do with the injuries, for sure,” Wright said, mentioning Matt Harvey, Bobby Parnell and Dillon Gee.
“But with that being said, you never go into a season thinking that we’re going to be eight or nine games under .500 through 70 games. I was hoping for things to get off to a better start from what we had this year. But with the injuries, and poor play, we put ourselves in this position.”
But did the Mets do enough last winter, when they spent more than $80 million on free agents, but still did not lift the overall payroll for this year past $85 million?
“At the time, you’re happy -- or at least I was happy -- with the moves they made,” Wright said. “I think that the decision to develop from within, to keep on those young pitchers for another year, to see what you have and see what’s going to be a part of the solution, and who you might use to go out there and add another piece, was the correct one. And obviously, the injuries have set us back a little bit this year.”
He expressed an interesting thought in there, that this season is partly about evaluating which players to keep, and which ones to trade. Wright returned to it again, when asked yet another unpleasant question, if he still had faith in the current regime to build a winning team.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think that as much as we’re trying to win games, and obviously that’s the number one goal, there needs to be an evaluation period to see what we have with these young players, both pitchers and position players.”
That is remarkable patience, for a 31-year-old who tortures himself after losses, and has not played in the postseason since 2006. A few times over the years, Wright has opened up about how miserable baseball can make him, so I asked on Thursday if he has grown into being better able to handle frustration. He has not.
“I always put a lot of pressure on myself,” Wright said. “I don’t think I have gotten any better about it, or any worse. It’s just kind of ingrained in me to take things personally.
“This is something that I’m passionate about. My whole day revolves around the game. Everything from when I get up, thinking about who is pitching. The game plan. So my whole day revolves around preparing and getting ready for the game, and once that game is over, preparing for the next one, so it’s tough to not think about it.”
That must be exhausting. And it must be doubly tiring to lose so often during his prime years, and face annual questions about how the team can improve. Wright remains patient, but make no mistake -- he is looking for progress in the near future.
“Whether it’s the trade deadline, whether it’s this offseason, in the minor leagues, or here in the big league clubhouse, we all need to look ourselves in the mirror and say, we need to improve as a team,” he said. “Whether that’s from within, through trades, or through free agency, there is always more to be done.” |
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