New York Mets: Why They Must Offer David Wright an Extension

David Wright has now cemented his legacy as one of the best players in the history of the New York Mets. He surpassed Darryl Strawberry as the Mets' all-time leader in RBI, with his 735th on Monday, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Everyone is wondering how much longer he will be a part of that history.

DiComo also mentioned that Wright is the franchise leader in career doubles with 282, and could possibly pass Ed Kranepool as the all-time hits leader before the end of the season (Kranepool had 1,418 and Wright currently has 1,267).

Typically, when a player is among the best in his franchise's history, he doesn't simply get away when free agency beckons.

Nevertheless, these rumors are circulating around David Wright because of the state the New York Mets franchise.

They are in a somewhat precarious financial situation, but many people, including Joel Sherman of the New York Post, have speculated that since the Mets did not re-sign star shortstop Jose Reyes last winter, and will be able to rid themselves of the large contracts currently held by former ace Johan Santana and left fielder Jason Bay after the 2013 season, they will be in a position to bring Wright back to the Big Apple long-term when his contract concurrently expires.

Sherman would argue that Wright won't demand the amount of money that Reyes, Santana and Bay are currently earning, so they might be able to spend the money that will be freed up on Wright as well as a few other pieces to help build a more well-rounded and deep franchise.

Sherman is spot-on throughout this entire article, but he is specifically correct about bringing David Wright back to New York for a long time.

First of all, as indicated at the beginning of this article, David Wright is one of the best offensive players to ever wear a New York Mets uniform.

Even though he has had a few slightly difficult seasons along the way, he still boasts a career .301 average and has averaged 27 home runs, 106 RBI and 22 stolen bases per 162 games throughout his entire career.

Those numbers would be very strong at any position, but there are very few third basemen who can provide that type of offense.

On top of that, all of that production has come wearing a New York Mets uniform. He has become the face of the franchise.

That position has even been enhanced further by the departure of the charismatic Jose Reyes. The New York Mets do not have any other homegrown stars, so they should be particularly interested in keeping him around.

Overall, the New York Mets need to do what they can to keep David Wright with the franchise. They do hold a team option on his contract for the 2013 season, so he will definitely be in New York next season— but it is not too early to think about bringing him back and what that long-term contract will need to look like.

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