Mets Off-Season 2010: Why Trading David Wright Wouldn't Be Wrong

Before I get sent to the stake for the ultimate act of betrayal, hear me out fellow Mets fans. I've grown up watching this team from the days of Lance Johnson and Mel Rojas, to Robin Ventura and Turk Wendell, to Kris Benson and Jason Phillips. David Wright is the most complete player I have ever watched play for the New York Mets, but it's time for him to go.

Let's start out with David's strikeout rate from his peak year in 2007 to right now. Wright seemed to hover around the 113 mark. Currently he has struck out 149 times, with two weeks left to play in the season. That isn't too good considering David is mostly a power alley hitter, not a Mark Reynolds-type who is an everything or nothing swinger. However, David's power numbers have bounced back a bit after a dreadful 2009 campaign.

Next on my list is the batting average and on-base percentage. Wright's career high in batting was .325 in 2007, but has dropped quite a bit over the past 3 seasons. To directly relate that to the increased number of strikeouts is a strong possibility, but we also have to look at his OBP. Once again, in 2007 .416 to .361 this season. I don't know what's happened to David but those numbers are a bit frightening since he is the power bat in this otherwise miserable lineup.

What about slugging you say? From a career high .546 in 2007 to .491 this year. An improvement over last year's numbers but last year was a lost year for the cornerstone of this team. Even his OPS (on-base plus slugging) has dropped from that career year in 2007. It reads .963 to .851. Yikes. And last but not least, the walks are down. I can't really tell you why that is. Maybe there's more pressure on David to do well being the most experienced power bat on the team or maybe he's just not panning out the way we thought he would.

His fielding seems to match his career numbers so there isn't much to discuss with that. But the issue I will continue to see with Wright is the lack of protection in the lineup. Beltran is on his way out. Davis will need some time to mature into a possible home run monster. Bay just needs to get back to some kind of professional hitting form. Reyes the tablesetter needs to stay on the field for longer periods of time.

With all that said, the Mets don't have any wiggle room when it comes to adding onto this team. Santana, Beltran, Wright, Bay, Reyes, Perez, Castillo, K-Rod, and Igarashi are due about $120 million next season. And it doesn't seem likely that anyone will want to take the contracts of Castillo or Perez, so the Mets will be required to do something in the offseason. It just seems like maybe now is the time to implode the team and start anew.

The first step might be saying goodbye to a fan favorite. Good riddance David Wright, you've treated us well.