Mets third baseman David Wright made progress last month in his recovery from a shoulder impingement, but the latest update on the seven-time All-Star isn’t nearly as promising. The Mets have halted Wright’s throwing program, assistant general manager John Ricco said earlier this week (via Abbey Mastracco of NJ.com; h/t: MetsBlog). It’s unclear when Wright will resume throwing, but Mastracco notes that it’s unlikely to happen in the near future. For now, he’ll continue working with the Mets’ physical therapists.
This is the second time since February that the Mets have had to shut down Wright from throwing, and it’s yet another setback for a player who has barely seen the field over the past two-plus seasons. After combining to make just 75 appearances from 2015-16, a stretch in which back and neck issues sidelined him, Wright could once again be on track to miss the majority of a campaign. Notably, if the 34-year-old doesn’t return before the 60-game mark, the Mets will recoup 75 percent of his contract for as long as he’s out, per Mastracco. New York purchased an insurance policy on Wright back in 2015, thereby enabling the club to recoup a large portion of the money it owed him over his past couple injury-truncated seasons. Wright is on a $20MM salary this year and is due another $47MM over the next three seasons.
The lengthy absences of Wright and a slew of other injured Mets, including Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, Jeurys Familia, Steven Matz and Travis d’Arnaud, have contributed heavily to their 18-23 start. Unlike the previous two years, when the Mets earned postseason berths and several players filled in admirably for Wright, the team has gotten little from third base this season. The four-man contingent of T.J. Rivera, Wilmer Flores, Jose Reyes and Matt Reynolds entered Saturday with an unappealing .230/.292/.364 line in 345 plate appearances.
Real title:
Another setback for the should-be but isn’t retired David Wright
His Topps Series 2 card should be him in a full-body cast. His career is injury killed and done. Great career good luck 🙂
Just retire with your dignity please
Why? If he retires he will forfeit the rest of his contract.
If this is it might as well cash in like prince fielder
“Cash in?” Both these guys got hurt doing their job.
Sorry. It sucks, but he needs to retire.
He’s done…should’ve retired after 14′
After playing 134 games at age 31 he should’ve retired?
Thank god his contract is insured (Mets reclaim 75% of salary if he spends > 60 days on the DL), otherwise it would be the worst contract in the game hands down.
On another note, I hate to say this, but DW is the only person who has yet to realize he is finished. I admire his drive and work ethic, I hope the team offers him a role in the organization.
Don’t the Rangers still have to pay Fielder though? Seems like that would be the worst
Fielder’s contract is mostly insured. Rangers pay a small portion of it and I believe Detroit pays a bit of it as well.
Yeah Detroit pays a decent amount and insurance pays like 50% I think. Rangers still on the hook for about $8ish million a year I think
Please, this isn’t even the worst contract on the Mets. Bobby Bonilla is still getting paid.
W
Just like bobby
Max’s contract with the nats is way worst
Yes, but the Mets are paying 20 million for no playing time, at least Bonilla played for the money he is getting, big difference.
The contact is insured. They’ll be paying about 25% of it, if I remember correctly.
That’s the best part of supporting such a storied franchise. There are so many loser stories.
Bonilla is only getting 1 mil a year and deferring his contact saved the Mets a ton of money. Please learn how financial analysis works before you attempt it.
Josh Hamilton’s contract with the Angels was pretty terrible. Jason Heyward’s is looking pretty bad right now, Pablo Sandoval’s is horrible, etc. Wright had some good years for them let’s not go there yet.
Heyward had a bad season in year 1, and the Cubs still won the World Series. And he was playing well before getting hurt in year 2. A bit early to say its anywhere near one of the worst.
Fowler in CF makes for a nice beard for Heyward. Not working as well this year as Happ needs a roster spot.
He said it’s looking pretty bad Right Now. Clearly, Right Now, I don’t think anyone except perhaps Cubs fans, will disagree that Heyward has one of the worst contracts in baseball. World Series win or not isn’t relevant. They didn’t win because of Heyward. And please do not give me the nonsense about the speech during the rain delay. They did not win because of that.
Hey ward? It was NEVER a good contract.
And about that tool that posted a steroids comment regarding Wright, as well as the guys that supported the comment….I know them all. They are heroin addicts. Free speech.
They didn’t win just because of Heyward no. But he was a huge part of them winning. And yes, actually winning the World Series in year one, has already paid for the contract. He can still opt out after years 3 and 4, so not like it’s the full 7 anyways.
Do you honestly think Heyward will opt out of his contract if he’s still playing poorly?
Unless Heyward rebounds in a major way Chicago is stuck paying that huge contract
Is that you, Mr. Wilpon? Has to be…. because fans know that money isn’t going back on the field.
Is he finished though? It’s just his throwing arm that’s destroyed, that’s not necessarily connected to his hitting action.
come on mate just retire, and if he does somehow manage to come back, he’ll just end up on the DL again
Padres also put Jered Weaver on the 10-day DL tonight with a fake injury. Dennis Lin oon Twitter broke the news.
Abusing the goofy new DL, like everyone else.
I don’t know how it’s abusing the system. Nobody really benefits from it that much except teams with depth. I’m assuming Weaver never goes off the DL and this is the Padres way of saving him some face rather than just releasing him.
I think David Wright should retire. Hr should think about his long term health and walk away from the game. Lucky for him he will still get paid even if he retire today. And I am sure he might be able to get a job with the Mets maybe a hitting coach of a manger of A or AA team should he chose to.
Mets fans are grateful for you, David. Keep trying if you must.
Thank you. Anybody that’s listened to DW over the years knows this is just devastating for him. Pathetic that he’s defamed. I get he has huge $$ incentive as well, but if ppl don’t see his passion for the game all these years, they aren’t fans of the game.
I just don’t understand how some idiot thinks that’s Wright took steroids without one piece of proof
Basically anyone who accuses any player of steroid or PED use has zero proof. But, hey, it makes for a fun narrative for some.
He never popped but Ortiz did
You want proof. It’s simple. Anyone that hits more homers at 22 than at 28 during steroid era did steroids. You are being naive if you believe otherwise.
So that’s proof? That makes literally zero sense. Proof is actual documented evidence of use, not random fluctuations in performance.
lmao I hope that’s a joke
Also, andremets, like many, many Mets fans, are entirely clueless about baseball – they would not say this if they knew that some players have always had a big power tool but for whatever reason (usually due to incompetent hitting coaches) can take a long time to unlock it at the MLB level. Anyone can unlock power at a later age, only an imbecile would argue otherwise..
They did it with Bagwell and Piazza, so idiots are gunna idiot. Don’t blame them though, blame ESPN’s disgusting preoccupation with steroids where they hire idiots to keep accusing players of being on them.
This headline seems familiar.
Man I feel bad for the guy! He just can’t stay healthy. Hopefully we get to see one last round of him. He was the man for the Mets!
Class act. Wish him the best.
Just another example why big contacts seldom work out
To be fair to half that 4 man contingent currently manning third base, the production from Flores and Rivera isn’t bad. The problem is when you mix in Reyes to almost any equation, it’s going to negatively weight the results.
He’s not retiring. None of us would walk away from 47 million dollars over the next 2 years. The Mets would get 75% back because his contract is insured. So don’t retire. What I do want to see is the The Mets stop being cheap and look for a long term solution at 3rd. They do this trying to sell us on he’s going back. Sadly he’s not
Yes they do, how about Cuddyer!
Cuddyer and the Mets reached an agreement about his retirement – he was given about 75% of his final season’s salary in exchange for retiring. I think Adam LaRoche was also given part of his remaining contract when he walked away from the game last year. Gil Meche is the example of a guy who retired and walked away from a substantial amount of money.
Courage and grace are one thing, delusion is another. Time for the Mets to move and commit to Flores or Rivera as the regular 3rd baseman — not a fill in.
Agreed. Thanks for all the memories David. The Mets may be stuck with the contract but they have to be realistic and plan for a new regular at 3rd
it’s not about being cheap, as long as Wright is lingering around Mets can’t devote significant resources to a player who might be redundant- not to mention, which free agent wants to sign to play 3b for the Mets, knowing that Wright is still diligently rehabbing and trying to get back.
I agree it’s absurd to ask him to walk away from the money, but I believe it can be worked out by the Mets, Wright, and the insurance company.
Jakec77 agreed. Sad situation all around. He wants to play. Mets would love their cptn back but reality is they also want to clear the contract if he’s not coming back. Situation sucks all around. We can all survive as fans without making anyone the bad guys. Novel concept!
They don’t need to sign a free agent. Flores can start. Cabrera or Rosario might be able to move to 3rd. Find an in house cheap replacement and find free agents to fill other voids
Yup.
they should have never given him that contract, nobody is worth 200 mil
Trout looks pretty good at any price
If you don’t think anyone is worth $200M you are about to be stunned at how much Harper is going to get He might touch $500M for real..
And yes, no pro athlete deserves even one million dollars a year, when other people work much much harder for $30K, but we allowed MLB to get this big in the first place, so its only fair to let the players get paid like 1/100th as much as the owners do.
Most of us don’t have people paying to watch us do our jobs. Like it or not, baseball (and the other major sports) generate massive amounts of money. Baseball players get a higher% of that income than the other sports, because the NBA and NFL unions are weak. But it’s still just about half. The owners and commissioner make a lot more money than most of the players do.
Just call it a career already… you got your money…. no point in keep going smh
Tony Romo of baseball
See, this is what happens when your dumbass league doesn’t use the DH, we all lose out on watching an elite hitter do his job, which is also one of the hardest things to do in pro sports, hitting a round ball with a round bat. Give up the dream of him ever being a defender and Paul Molitor him in the AL from now til he’s 40.
I hope he gets that chance. Nobody deserves it more. I just don’t see how a trade is possible. I doubt the Mets would agree to pay much on that contract or any AL team would take the chance he recovers
You have to feel bad for Wright, who’s always been a hard worker. And probably knows he’s not likely to get back on the field soon, and if he does, he’s going to be limited. And probably also knows that the Wilpons would be very happy if he stays out.
Most teams that are really trying to win will have a bad contract, it comes with the teritory. Show me a contender that doesn’t have one, or didn’t keep a good player.