A longtime agent who has had clients in the free-agent market this winter was asked recently about how much he had heard from the New York Mets. "Not a lot," he said. "It's like they're in a holding pattern."
They have virtually no money to spend as their ownership wades through its legal morass. But the future of their most prominent player, David Wright, can't be placed on hold for much longer; soon, the Mets will face a crossroads on what to do with the third baseman.
Wright is 29 years old and will make $15 million during the 2012 season; the Mets hold a $16 million option for 2013. Last season, Wright hit .254 with 14 homers and a .771 OPS, the worst of his career. But keep in mind that the lineup around Wright has been thin, generally, and he has played all the home games of his career in parks favorable toward pitchers -- first in Shea Stadium and then, in the last three seasons, Citi Field. The Mets have reconstructed the dimensions of their home ballpark, and Wright and other hitters should be helped by this. Wright's OPS+ has always been good; it was 114 in 2011.
The Mets have three options for how to handle Wright:
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Buster Olney
ESPN Insider- Senior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com
- Reporter for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
- Author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Buster Olney
Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of two books. "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," is a Times best-seller, and "How Lucky You Can Be", about basketball coaching legend Don Meyer, was released in 2011.
He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).
Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."
Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN
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