David Wright: Trade Bait or Leader of New York Mets for Years To Come?

The Mets need to make wholesale changes this winter and many new faces are expected in Queens for the 2011 season. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel will likely not return and the coaching staff and several players will be finding new employment.

As the de-facto captain of the Mets, David Wright is always front and foremost in fans minds as the culprit of what is wrong with this team and organization.

Fans expect him to be Albert Pujols and carry his teammates on his back for the entire year and also to speak to the media while pointing the finger at himself first for "choking" in late game situations or throwing his manager and teammates under the bus.

None of this is realistic, Wright is a terrific player who is out there every game no matter what and takes full responsibility for his role in any loss while trying to put a positive spin on what went right during the game (starting pitcher, a good defensive play, etc).

As the face of the franchise and "Captain", most likely Wright will not be traded this winter, much to the displeasure of some fans, they feel that from the top down, complete cleansing of this team is what is needed, and a superstar can come in and be the new face of the franchise and take their media script directly from the fans.

The fact that Wright is loyal to Mets management is no doubt lost on anyone, but fans do not see that as a good thing, they only see the high strikeout numbers and errant throws. Loyalty and toughness seems to have no place in fan's hearts, they only want bragging rights against the Phillies and Yankees.

In order to acquire quality players, the Mets know they will need to give up quality prospects and players and teams may demand that an All Star caliber 3rd baseman be put on the table as part of a trade deal.

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