Breaking Down The Mets Leaders: Their Roles and Strengths and weaknesses

The Mets have a defacto captain in David Wright, who is the face and voice of the franchise, but there is a network of leaders in the clubhouse and on the field:

1) David Wright - The warrior who goes out every day and plays hard no matter what is hurting or his level of exhaustion. 

Wright gets to the stadium early every day and is probably the last to leave, because after the game he stands in front of the reporters and politely answers any questions that come his way. 

He is a quiet strength type clubhouse person who does not get up in anyone's face but tries very hard to find the good things that his teammates accomplish in any given game.   Wright will not publicly criticize his teammates and will never boast about his own merits.

Wright is the hugger in the group; he is always hugging one of his teammates, whether it’s Jose Reyes after a home run or a pitcher who has put in a phenomenal effort.  He has a lot of trouble in clutch situations but this is probably more of a stress factor than anything else.

2)  Johan Santana - The undisputed pitching ace now in his second year on the Mets.  Santana is very nurturing to the younger pitchers on the staff as well as any teammate who needs an emotional lift.

On Opening Day of 2009, Santana went from teammate to teammate in the dugout and gave them each a personalized handshake/hug greeting. This set the stage for team unity and a fun and spirited clubhouse.

Santana has been known to call out underperforming teammates to the media, this may end up being a huge problem in the clubhouse.

3)  Carlos Delgado - The established veteran who is a verbal clubhouse leader and guy the whole team looks to for any advice on hitting approach as Delgado keeps a detailed journal of how he is being pitched to each day.

Daniel Murphy who is one of the most hard working Mets in the batting cages has recently adopted this approach to hitting.

4) Carlos Beltran - The quiet leader who is the outfield general, as most centerfielders are, but with the revolving door in both right and left fields the last few seasons, Beltran has been the glue holding it together.

As valuable as Beltran is, his lack of hustle and lame excuses are a very poor example to the younger players.

5)  Jose Reyes - The sparkplug lead off hitter who makes things happen when he gets on base.  Jerry Manuel wants Reyes to be an infield leader as far as positioning the other players; he thinks this will be good for Reyes to be able to grow as a player.