HAPPY NOTE: Regular Tuesday Titan, Big Ben Whitney is all jelly today as he and the Missus welcomed twin baby girls on Sunday night. Willow and Sienna have Daddy’s attention today, so Short Matt is pinch-hitting. Warm thoughts for the Whitneys, who join the Calhouns and Blabers in adding daughters to the MTM family.
FLUSHING, NY – With the chill in the air, Christmas songs in the stores, the New York Giants slapping the Dallas Cowboys and reruns of baseball games featuring names like Jordany Valdespin, many of us aren’t thinking about The Boys of Summer. But we’re not the “many” here, are we? We’re all sports junkies and with that comes a needed and constant MLB fix. And since this site was founded on an obsession for a certain National League team that wears orange and blue, this pundit is unapologetic in talking about the New York Mets Baseball Club and its haunting, teasing and dangerous relationship with their beloved captain. For as the Shadow of David Wright Looms, are the Mets Better Off Waiting for Godot?
Yes.
Here’s why.
Chad Pennington… Remember him, J-E-T-S fans? Gang Green has been sick at the quarterback situation since he got injured… and injured… and injured… again and again and again. Indeed, they resisted taking a signal-caller in the first two rounds during the hanging Chad years. That series of costly events led them to pick The Sanchise, Mark Sanchez and the No-Chise, Geno Smith. At least Ryan Fitzpatrick came in to save the day. Oh, wait. He didn’t… It’s now Bryce Petty. [Giggle, slap of knee]. The feeling here after watching the Jets nick the Niners is that Tom Petty could get lucky throwing the ball into a crowded Great Wide Open, as well. Sorry to say this, Jets Nation: Bryce sucks, too. But back to the point… The Jets set their franchise back years waiting for Chad Pennington. Hell, they even had to bring in Brett Favre – and we all know how that went.
And the Mets are doing the same thing with David Wright for too long now. His shadow has been lurking, taunting and negatively impacting the team for at least 4 seasons running. How many games can he play? What can we expect? Who plays when he inevitably returns to his DL recliner? These questions have been taking up talk radio for what seems to be a century. But it’s one thing for the fans to speculate and ponder, it’s another for the guys in the locker room. How do you think Wilmer Flores, Lucas Duda, TJ Rivera and even Jose Reyes feel about the team’s poster boy? They’ve all been towing the company line, some longer than others, about how important he is and how great it will be when he gets back. That’s some serious bullspit right there, folks… Even if Wright is some form of healthy, he’ll certainly be a different version of what he once was. And is that worthy of “captain status?” Is that worthy of automatic insertion into the lineup and and domino effect if will cause in position switches and jettisoning players to the bench? The answer to both questions is a resounding “no.”
The Ideal Solution:
The ideal and easiest solution would be for Wright to retire; tearfully walk away from a possible Cooperstown career so cruelly shortened by injury. We’d be sad. But we’d also be doing cartwheels if SNY let him talk hitting – rather than journeyman pitcher Nelson Figueroa or hack/puppet GM Jim Duquette. (Enough with the hair plugs, Jim. Jaysus, they’re distracting)… But retirement is not going to happen. David is on the books for $20,000,000.00 per season through 2020 and it doesn’t take hindsight to see that nobody in their right mind (Dave LaRoche & Mike Cuddyer are likely punching themselves in the face), would simply walk away from $80,000,000.00… to play baseball on occasion. Think about that. Eighty Million. I don’t care how much pride you have in your play or how good of a person you are, you DO NOT walk away from that jack. So what, then?
The Needed Solution:
What’s needed now, from an organizational standpoint, is for GM Sandy Alderson and David Wright to hold a joint press conference in which Wright sadly – but heroically – relinquishes his captaincy and says he can no longer carry that responsibility on his… wait for it… back. Wright would then say, “I’m prepared to be a bench player and spot starter but Rey-Rey, Ass-Dribs and Neilsie all earned the right to start. I can spell Duda at 1B against [only] the toughest lefties and give guys a day off here and there and see how that goes.” If Wright does well in that role and stays healthy, it’s a plus. Is it a 20/mil per year plus? No. But it’s a realistic potential solution. Otherwise, the Metropolitans are better off…
Waiting for Godot.
Spoiler Alert: Godot never shows.
That’s all for today, please come back tomorrow for Angry Ward – a man rumored not to be up for any role in Donald Trump’s cabinet. Does he even work here anymore? Also, follow us on Twitter at @benwhit8 & @MeetTheMatts, Instagram, @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
