David Wright: Why Hot Start Should Force Sandy Alderson's Hand to Extend Him

The 2012 season has gotten off to a nice start for the New York Mets. Written off by many "experts" before the season even started, the Mets are showing why true fans still believed in the amazin's.

If the season had gotten off to a different start, there could be a lot of talk already about if Sandy Alderson was looking to trade David Wright in order to continue the Mets' rebuild. However, the Mets are showing that just because they're a young team doesn't mean they can't compete in the National League East.

The unquestioned leader of the Mets, David Wright, has gotten off to an unbelievably fast start, with splits of a ridiculous .542/.600/.792, including two home runs and five RBI. Wright has also reached base at least twice in each of the seven games he's played in. The Mets are 6-1 in those seven games.

Sandy Alderson appears to have done a terrific job at rebuilding the Mets, rebuilding them with young talent that was able to immediately compete at the major league level.

Wright is signed through this season, but there is a team option for next year, raising some questions for the organization. The options that are on the table right now are threefold. The Mets can either still try to trade Wright to go into full rebuild mode, they can let the season play out and use the team option for next season, or they can re-sign Wright for the long term.

In my opinion, the best option for everyone would be for the team to re-sign their All-Star third baseman to a long-term extension right now. Wright has proven to be the leader of the Mets, both in the clubhouse and on the field. The Mets have surrounded Wright with plenty of young talent, and they need to keep Wright around in order to have that veteran presence in the heart of their lineup.

It appears as though the old Wright is back this year, and the troubles of last season were caused solely by his nagging injuries. Now that he's healthy and back in top form, Alderson truly should have no choice but to extend Wright for the long term.

And when the Mets lock up Wright for the foreseeable future—like they should—I think they should give him a nice new jersey with a sewn-on "C" in the top left corner.