The rehab clock is up, but it does not appear as if David Wright will be activated from the 60 day disabled list any time soon. The New York Mets announced on their Twitter account this morning that Wright will join the team in San Francisco and resume his rehab with the major league training staff, but he will not be activated from the disabled list. Wright most recently played two games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, going 1 for 9 while playing nine innings at third base on back to back days for the first time. Since the minor league season is concluding shortly, the Mets wouldn’t have any place to send Wright to play games even if they wanted to fudge a setback, but they still do not feel like their captain is ready to contribute to the big league roster.
Instead of creating a feel good story by having their captain come back to the big leagues for the first time in over two years, the Mets are instead preparing to dig in their heels and fight the issue. Wright has made it clear that he plans on playing this year, telling SNY’s Andy Martino that “the simple answer is yes” to a question about whether or not he would play for the Mets this season. The Mets don’t return home until September 7th, when they begin a series with the Philadelphia Phillies, but Wright indicated that he simply wants to get out there and play again. Wright did indicate that he was “cautiously optimistic” about his chances of rejoining the team.
In the meantime, the Mets have continued to dump cold water on the notion of a return from Wright, with assistant GM John Ricco indicating the other day that Wright was unlikely to be activated anytime soon. There has been a lot of speculation that the Mets don’t want to lose the insurance money they are recouping on Wright’s contract if their captain isn’t ready to contribute on a big league level. The insurance policy on Wright’s contract has been paying 75% of his salary once he hits the disabled list for a 60 day period, which has covered pretty much all of the past two years. If Wright returns in September, the Mets would not only be responsible for the roughly $3 million left on his 2018 salary, but would have to actually pay him in 2019 if he chooses to return. That savings is roughly $2.4 million for the remainder of this season, and would cost the Mets roughly the same amount at the start of 2019 since Wright’s salary drops to $15 million next season.
The fact that the Mets are publicly fighting their captain’s attempt to get back on the field is utterly ridiculous and shows how tone deaf they are in regards to their fan base. Wright is one of the most beloved players in franchise history and has given everything to the organization over the course of his career. The Mets appeared to be on board with Wright’s desire to come back, never pressuring him to retire or take a step back, but now that he is actually on the verge of returning they appear to be hesitating to try and save money. That is an absurd stance, especially since the franchise has made it clear that they haven’t been re-investing that money into the current payroll. The insurance money has simply been lining the pockets of ownership, and now it appears that the higher ups are upset that some free cash is about to evaporate.
The Mets also can’t act like the idea of him not being able to contribute to the team is a valid excuse to not activate Wright. If the team was in a playoff hunt and needed everyone on the roster to contribute, the Mets’ argument would hold water. The Mets enter play tomorrow 15 games below .500 and completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, so having Wright back on the roster could be a boost of good publicity in an otherwise lost year. For much of the same reasons that Peter Alonso won’t be called up, the Mets are trying to deny their loyal fan base something that could be exciting to try and save a few bucks. The Mets’ excuse about having Wright be a contributor also doesn’t hold water when the franchise has bent over backwards to keep Jose Reyes and his .596 OPS on the active roster at the expense of young players like Luis Guillorme, Dominic Smith, and Phillip Evans all year. Enough is enough. If Wright is ready to play, the Mets need to let him come back, even if it costs them financially to do so. A guy who has literally given his back for the franchise deserves better treatment than that.
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