Wright officially steps in as the Mets long term face of the franchise, and I personally am happy about that. Above and beyond his talent, it's everything else he can bring to this team both on and off the playing field. One of the few, rare home grown talents the Mets have produced who can conceivably play out his career in 1 uniform. No, he can't carry a whole team, as some fans here have expected him to, and he is best served in a lineup with some protection, but neither can Jeter or anyone else for that matter.

Let the, "Who is better, Jeter or Wright?" debates ensue, but the Mets needed a figurehead player to anchor a team that is hopefully rebuilding in the next few years.

Jeter is a figurehead player who's come through time and again, in the clutch and in big situations. Wright is basically a nice, complimentary player who while putting up decent numbers, can not be compared to Jeter.

To be fair, Wright hasn't gotten many chances to bat in a legitimate big pressure situation since 2008. The Mets haven't played a meaningful September game since then. I think his reputation as a choker is mostly stems from the fact that hes basically expected to carry the team offensively.

i happen to agree....die hard mets fan but u can't compare the both of them

Jeter = Winner/Clutch player

Wright = Nice Player who puts up decent stats but can't carry a team or come up big in big games

My point is Jeter has done it.....over and over. In a big spot, somewhere in the future, DW might.

I think it stems from just the "eye test"

if it was the bottom of the 9th and we were down 1 run with 2 outs and the tieing run is at 2nd. There would be a list of Mets over the past few years I would rather have up in that spot than Wright. Which I find disturbing

Murphy, Tejada, Turner, Valdy, Davis just to mention the current guys.

And yet there wasn't a Yankee fan in NY who didn't think Jeter was washed up 2 years ago when he only hit .270 and there was strong debate whether or not to sign him. Wright is still only 30, a much better defensive player than Jeter, and even if his power numbers drop they'd be on par with Jeter's. I don't debate that Jeter is an important player, but Wright brings a different skill set to the table.

i don't disagree with what you are saying.

But remember Jeter makes up 1/8 of the Yankees payroll and pretty small portion for a star player. Wright now takes up 1/4 of the Mets payroll and we have so many holes to fill.

Wright is a very good player (dont get me wrong he does a lot of things well). But his production could have been easily replaced by cheaper options if we just upgraded OF and Catcher.

Thats how i feel.

And Mike Francesa is correct? Mike Francesa likes the move because Wright is a media's dream. Well spoken, intellegent, nice kid. That doesn't translate to wins.

As I have been saying from the beginning. And the question you need to answer is in the near future can we become a better team than the teams currently in front of us?

I have the last few years stating we aren't a good team. And we are pretty much keeping the roster the exact same. Minus shuffiling around some insignificant pieces.

Honest question where can you see us improving (with limited funds) and pretty much no trade pieces.

And no Murphy, Valdespin, Mejia, Familia aren't going to net us anything of importance.

fair enough. But as a fan i just think by locking up our 2 best trade chips.

Now Niese is the only thing that could really get us anything of substance. It's not like the FA OF market is swarming with quality players...the only way to improve the OF is via trade and we really don't have anyone to trade.

thats just my opinion.

"Jeter = Winner/Clutch player

Wright = Nice Player who puts up decent stats but can't carry a team or come up big in big games"

Bingo.

Jeets better start shaping up soon...
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/exclusive_photo_captain_munch_QNmVyqVl7eIPeKPH0sR53H

Derek Jeter has been surrounded by great talent his entire career. He's never had to deal with such a severe lack of talent like Wright's been surrounded with the past few years. The ultimate problem is that we treat winning as if it's an individual achievement. If Derek Jeter gets drafted by anybody but the Yankees do you think he'd be looked at as the player he is today? If I had to choose between the two, I'd take David Wright every day. You can't blame David for not being drafted into the same situation as Jeter.

"As I have been saying from the beginning. And the question you need to answer is in the near future can we become a better team than the teams currently in front of us?"

I think we need to define, "near future". Are we talking about 2013? 2014? Or a few years beyond that?

"I have the last few years stating we aren't a good team. And we are pretty much keeping the roster the exact same. Minus shuffiling around some insignificant pieces."

100% correct. We are NOT a good team. But you cannot say at this point in time that we are keeping the same roster long term. MAYBE 90% of it is intact for 2013, but beyond that?

Here's what I think will happen and why people opposed to re-signing Wright, or best player, need to possibly reconsider their position.

1. A GM who sinks a hefty chunk of available funds into 1 or 2 players and leaves himself with no money to work with to improve the team's holes is an idiot and needs to be fired, plain and simple. Do we think Sandy's an incompetent idiot who would do that, or do we think he might think he's got sufficient funds to address BOTH resigning Wright and improving the team's needs? I'm choosing the latter right now because I have to believe he's better qualified to have his job and understand the Mets' finances better than you or I do.

2. Money's freed up after 2013, with certain high salaried players soon to vacate. That should give the Mets additional flexibility to improve.

3. 2013 is by no means a throw away season. Sandy will probably do what he can to add a couple of players to address glaring holes, but probably nobody of high impact. It is, IMO, going to be a year of assessment and taking inventory for those players currently holding positions on the roster. A year of (hopefully) further development for some, and perhaps the final straw to prove something for others. Is Ike better than a .220 hitter with 30HR power? Does Tejada show continued batting potential? Do Thole, Duda, Niese, Murphy, Harvey, guys in the pen, etc. show improvement or continued growth/consistency? True, the Mets may have given some guys longer leashes than other teams due to limited resources and no alternative options, but we at least need to see what we have in value and talent before we knwo where we stand heading into 2014.