3:28pm: Per a club announcement, the Mets and Wright have “mutually agreed” upon his release from the active roster. He’ll take on a new role as a special advisor to COO Jeff Wilpon and Van Wagenen. Though the specifics of his new position were not divulged, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that Wright will spend less time in uniform as a coach/mentor than other retired players-turned-front office advisors and will spend more time actually in the front office.
“David attended the recent Winter Meetings at the suggestion of myself and Brodie Van Wagenen where he contributed throughout with our baseball operations group and wanted to pursue this route,” said Wilpon in a statement accompanying the press release. “We are thrilled he will remain close to the Mets family and will be a great asset in this new role.”
There’s no mention of the remaining money on his contract, though presumably the Mets reached a buyout agreement with the insurance company. The new role for Wright opens up a spot for Wright on the 40-man roster, which had previously been full.
12:30pm: David Wright‘s playing days are done, but the Mets icon will transition into a front office role with the team and serve as a special assistant to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen moving forward, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.
Wright, of course, is still under contract with the Mets for another two seasons but made clear upon his emotional return to the field in late September that the lone game he started would be the final one of his career. After more than two years of grueling rehab from neck, shoulder and spinal injuries, medical professionals informed Wright that his condition simply would not improve to the point where he could safely resume the rigors of playing baseball professionally. Wright is owed $27MM through the 2020 season, though that sum is heavily insured, and the Mets are working toward a buyout arrangement that would not require Wright to be on the 40-man roster throughout the remainder of this offseason and next offseason. (Simply releasing him would mean paying the whole $27MM sum.)
Ackert notes that Wright’s role will be a part-time position that allows him to stay involved in the game and with an organization to which he remains extremely loyal, while still affording him ample time to spend with his family. Such roles are hardly uncommon for retired players — particularly those who had a long history with a specific organization. Ichiro Suzuki moved into that type of role with the Mariners early last season, and the Twins gave Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and LaTroy Hawkins comparable positions a couple years ago. Michael Young holds a similar position in the Rangers organization, and a look through the front-office directories throughout the game would reveal dozens more familiar names.
Responsibilities involved with special assistant roles vary case by case, though it’s common for former players turned special assistants to be on-hand as a coach/mentor in Spring Training. They also frequently visit minor league affiliates throughout the season to work with younger players as they rise through organizational ranks. Some also have a hand in evaluations leading up the amateur draft each June and also in various player development and in internal player evaluation.
David Wright is a class act.
Yep—just not worth the money he received.
yes he was. He more than earned every penny throughout his career. He was an allstar up until 2016
He was an all star in 14, 15?
His last all star appearance was 2013
Really? He signed his contract for the 2014 season onward. You can look up his numbers. They’re awful. His contract is actually one of the worst ever. (Thank goodness there’s insurance!)
I mean it’s kind of misleading to say his numbers were awful. His batting line remained fine, he just hardly played.
Technically it was from 2013 onward. And he was great that first year. Yeah he got hurt and pretty much barely played after that. But he was worth the contract he got at the time.
mets bid against themselves on it
Zz, I appreciate what you’re saying, but come on. The guy underperformed as bad as anyone ever has. Too bad it was due to injury – but that doesn’t change the facts.
Well technically yes, because he wasnt a FA when he signed it.
But he woud have gotten much more on the open market had they waited. Similar (and significantly inferior) players got a lot more money than he did
I’m not disputing that particular contract didn’t work out well. I’m just saying I think there is a difference between a player just underperforming (i.e being terrible) and a player being too hurt to play. There was also a pretty large financial difference between the two in this particular case.
And Wright still netted the Mets more money than they paid him overall over the course of his career. So it’s not like some deals where player goes to a new team and busts. Mets overall still came out on top for all their years of Wright investment
you’re a neophyte. He never underperformed. He barely played. When he was really he was a legit threat from 2 sides and could steal too. He’s not that old. This injury came on in his early thirties. Stop shilling
Nearly always, underperformance on big contracts is due to injury. Just like it was in Wright’s case.
Barely playing is underperforming. The biggest part of the job is to be on the field every day and he underperformed badly on that part of his job.
Most important ability? Availability!
Let’s see then. ‘16, ‘17 , ‘18, ‘19 &20!
Dimi’s right. He was not even close to being worth the money.
Politans loves to distort reality. Ho’s comment would be, “what’s the difference? 13-14-15? It’s no big deal.”
Hey Daddy, you’re making politans very sad.
At the time he was offered his contract he was a career .301 hitter, had 201 home runs, 166 stolen bases, and had a career obp of .376.
Bryce harper, who has the same amount of years played as Wright at the time of his contract, has 17 fewer home runs, is hitting .22 points lower than David, stolen 91 fewer bases, and has almost 300 fewer RBI.
In comparison he was worth the money he got vs what Harper will get.
Why are we using performance prior to a contract to determine if the player is worth the contract?
I’m good at my job right now, but if I move over to another company and do a terrible job, am I called worth it because I was good when they hired me?
I am justifying giving the contract. At the time the contract was given he was clearly worth every penny offered. Hence in my prior comment, “At the time he was offered the contract…”
ok, but no one was talking about that. the question was about whether he was worth the money he received, has nothing to do with whether he should’ve got the big deal or not
later contract ended up not being worth it, but over the course of his full career he ended up being worth much more than the Mets paid him. And that’s even without factoring in insurance reimbursement
Because the entirety of baseballs pay structure is based on passed performance. See arbitration and free agency. If Wright was on the open market he would have EASILY got more than that. Obviously it didn’t work out with the benefit of hindsight, but it wasn’t a poor decision given the facts available at the time.
Also, even if you take your point at face value, it’s not even the worst contract in Mets history. Any conversation about the worst contract in baseball history comes with a huge asterisk, and the footnote reads “*Other than Bobby Bonilla.”
Bryce Harper is 5 years younger than Wright was at the beginning if his extension. Apples and Oranges.
Peak is 26-30 years old for a position player. Wright was already a year beyond that. Harper is going into his age 26 season in 2019.
Unless you have created a time machine so we can see what people will do in the future, contracts will always be based on past performance.
Hey 2001-how about Mo Vaughn?
NO athlete is WORTH their overpaid million dollar contract
someones jealous.
little league trophy not enough for you?
Sure they are. The players are how/why the owners make money.
wannabe Jeter
Only in the eyes of Yankee fans
Couldn’t just retire…
Why should he? It’s not his fault he got hurt, and he signed a guaranteed contract
Sources say David wright will be on fmla, can’t sit in office chair for long periods of time, will still win gold glove for office work
you’re a JO
But you are all class
He played through a lot of pain. I was pretty tough on him. He is a good guy, and was a good ball player.
Yes he was.
Mets just announced Wright will be Senior VP of Insurance Claims.
Can’t believe you have more downvotes, this is actually pretty funny.
Well keep in mind it’s mostly mets fans here, not the smartest bunch.
Yo – this is funny right here.
Curious how someone can state that Wright is a class act, yet he is holding the Mets to the contract. It’s a massive financial burden and holds over a roster spot, which takes the opportunity away from another player. Yet, the Mets welcome him to their front office. Seems to me the Mets have been all class here. The headline should read one thing and one thing only – David Wright who hasn’t played a full season in years will announce official retirement and forego the remainder of the contract salary considering how generous and gracious the Mets have been to him. Once I see that, then we can claim Wright as a class act.
this is laughable… it’s a business and Wright has every right (no pun intended) to collect on his guaranteed contract. Not only that, if he were to tell the team not to pay him, he would have a law suit from the player’s union on his hands for not collecting money that is owed to him. insurance is going to pay him his money. There is obviously no hard feelings from the Mets here, or they wouldn’t be giving him a front office role.
I love how the same people are crunching through analytics of spin rate and launch angle, then turn around bring emotion into it in cases like this. SMH
Wright got hurt doing his job. Of course he deserves to be paid for that, just as you would be if you were hurt doing your job. And he could just do nothing for the rest of his life and still earn that salary – he’s actually going to go to work, doing….something I guess. But this is why guaranteed contracts are important to the player and risky for a team, but also necessary. Nobody wants to see a Lou Gehrig situation, where after his baseball career he had to go work for the city just to earn a paycheck, in a job without any real duties, because he didn’t make nearly enough in his career because of the reserve clause. Wright suffered a series of career-ending injuries hastened by playing baseball. I’m glad this isn’t the NFL, where players whose careers are ruined by concussions are released without full pay. That, to me, is immoral.
Did you read the article? Or are you just trolling? ‘The contract is heavily insured’ & ‘the Mets are working on a buyout arrangement that would not keep Wight on the 40-Man roster’♂️♂️♂️
Baseball365 – I don’t think the 1/40 roster spot Wright is on is blocking any one player that will help the mets to the world series. He got hurt technically on the job.. like any other job with a union, if you get hurt you collect. He is getting paid what he earned prior to his injuries. It’s a business and he has every right to collect his guaranteed contract that is insured.
If you were in Wright’s position would you give up that remaining 27M? I doubt you would. Let’s be real here, most if not all of us on this site would collect the money. He has every right to collect it. It’s a business. Why is it in sports, that when a team makes a business focused decision and looks out for their own best interest it’s perfectly fine and smart, but when a player does the same they get attacked for it?
If he were an hourly-paid athlete it’d be one thing, but why is it not right to expect him to abandon any future contract commitments when he’s expecting the Mets would not do the same thing? So does insurance pick-up a majority of the remaining portion of his future contract?
I just don’t understand how someone can sign a contract then retire and expect not to take a paycut if they’re not fulfilling their obligation. Am I missing something here in terms of expectation of services rendered?
He’s not willingly retiring. He is medically unable to play. Doctors have told him he won’t improve enough to be able to play again.Guaranteed contracts allow players to get their full contract if unable to play due to injury.
Independent of that, the Mets also happen to have an insurance policy on Wright’s contract that allows them to be reimbursed for 75% of his salary if he misses more than 60 games. So yes insurance will be paying a big chunk of it
He’s considered a class act because he was known to be an uncommonly nice guy who treated virtually everyone wonderfully over his time with the Mets. FO loved him, coaches loved him, teammates loved him and even the “little people” like media members and team clubbies and bullpen catchers loved him.
The fact that he has had to deal with serious injuries and still accepts money off his guaranteed contract doesn’t make him “unclassy”. It just means he isn’t an idiot. It’s his money – and protecting players against injury is big part of why the players pushed for guaranteed contracts ages ago in the first place. It’d be foolish of him to just give his money back to a corporation just because he got hurt. And the contract has minimal effect on the Mets. As said in the article the contract is largely insured. And the Mets are a big corporation anyway….they have a lot more money than Wright does. And the Mets are free to negotiate with the insurance company to free up the 40 man roster spot if they value it that much.
Why does everybody want to do badly be on the side of the owners? David Wright sold tickets. The Wilpons, henrys, Steinbrenners etc. never did. Do you really think that a team in New York City should’ve been hamstrung because of one bad deal? It’s not like they were even close to the luxury tax and couldn’t add because of that.
Not a Mets fan at all but would you be happier if he collected workman’s comp?
He’s hurt because he sacrificed his body for the Mets and their fans. That’s why the Mets had him heavily insured. Wright deserves every penny of that contract.
Still paying him. Might as well send him on coffee runs. Bobby Bonilla should be making copies on the copy machine.
You’re a sad excuse for a human being baseball365. Wright earned his contract. He could go home and still get every penny while doing nothing yet he’s willing to work to help the team he loves. You wouldn’t know true class of it but you, because class is something you have none of.
Wright has been performing this role since 2015 – he just takes a pay cut from $20MM/year.
Well kinda have to find something for him to do with the money he’s making. Lol
It’s really sad what happened to wright but it wasn’t his fault 🙁
Dustin Pedroia should take note…he can’t play anymore either. My guess is the Mets worked out a salary that allows Wright to make his money while contributing to the org and coming off the team payroll to the tune of $27M…meanwhile Peedy is going to gobble up $40M over the next 3 years in Boston.
Great player and fan favorite who has very similar stats to another NY infielder who also played 14 years and had a bad neck/back. Donnie Baseball. Good luck to ya David in your future endeavors!
what happened to the chats????????????????????////
Can’t wait for the day I can read a similar article about Albert Pujols and the Angels
I think I just read a series of absolutely ridiculous comments following mine. Wah, wah, wah is all I heard. As an athlete you make a commitment to yourself, your team and the sport. If you can’t honor your end of the contract because you are injured or can’t perform, the “honorable” thing to do is dismiss yourself. He has already made 10 lifetimes worth of money. The logic that he shouldn’t walk away is idiotic. Which he seems to have agreed to now in a later update. It is obvious my initial comment was very unpopular, but what I said was true. Maybe calling him classless wasn’t the right word, but it never sits right with me when players get paid for years on end and can’t even lift a bat anymore. I just have a very different interpretation of integrity than most people. People who served would understand what I mean.
If I was an athlete and I signed a $100M contract and couldn’t honor my part of it, I immediately walk away from. The comments that state “it’s not his fault” what??? Is he is victim of something? I’m not following.
It is obvious that you have no honor and you are not very smart. Wright signed a guaranteed contract and then got hurt while in the process of fulfilling that contract. He spent 2 seasons working full time all year round to get back on the field and the Mets doctors will not clear him. Wright fulfilled his end of the contract. Now the Mets and insurance fulfill their end and pay him for his guaranteed contract.
Nothing he has done would preclude him from exercising his right to get paid and nothing he has done is anything less than classy.
Everything you say points to your complete and utter lack of class. It is time for you to take a good long look in the mirror. It will be hard, but even total horses behind’s like you can change.
Ironic considering every person I conduct business with says the complete opposite of what you just said. You don’t have to understand it, but no need for the personal attack on another commenter. That says something about YOU. I’m talking about a player and a business not about you. Maybe you should take a long look in the mirror.
But I understand many people won’t agree with my comments because these people are soft and I accept that. I’ve long known this and the few that get them, well, they understand the level we’re on.
you’re obviously slow
Thanks Choo Choo Coleman.
You quote what they earn as a lot of money and it is but a team like the Braves are earning about 450 million dollars a year and they’re a small market team paying about a 100 million in payroll. So the amount many players are earning is peanuts to them.The Yankees with a 180 million dollar payroll take in 640 million dollars a year. As a business owner I,m sure your budget for payroll is based on what your business makes annually. Many teams payrolls are less than a 1/3 of their total revenues. That means they’re making a ton of money so don,t cry for the owners. If all was fair DeGrom would be worth about 40 million next year based on his performance. He’ll be lucky if he gets 15 million. Same is true for Mookie Betts and many other players who haven’t reach fa.Miguel Andujar will be lucky to earn a million dollars.. The systen is set up so that young players get shortchanged but they reap the benefits of fa
no, you wouldn’t (and neither would anyone posting on here. you types will always, always whine about people taking “free money”, but when it’s yours, you’ll scream “MINE!!!!!” at every breath, while whining about “moochers” ruining it for everyone).
so yeah, i think you’re completely full of s*** here
@ baseball365:
you wrote “People who served would understand what I mean.”
Okay, I assume you mean the military. Using your warped logic about Wright – that he shouldn’t get paid because he got injured doing HIS JOB, are you also then implying that wounded veterans – people who got wounded in war – should no longer get paid by the military or receive military benefits? Because that would seem to be what you think. And that is seriously immoral.
Major League Baseball players do not “make a commitment” to give up their money if they get hurt. It’s quite the opposite. A major factor of MLB guaranteed contracts is that players DON’T lose their money due to injury (unless the injury occurs by doing something that is in violation of the terms of the contract) and it is owners who make the commitment to continue to pay players who get hurt. It’s not wrong of players to accept what is a major part of the contract.
Yes, Wright has made tons of money in his career, but ownership has made much more money than he has. So if the argument is that Wright has enough money and doesn’t need the extra, that goes 1000-fold for ownership. They don’t need to and shouldn’t be able to weasel out of paying contracts just bc a player got hurt. Both sides enter into the guaranteed contract. Owners don’t have the right to only pay it if the end result is what they want.
I could see bringing up things like lack of integrity and class if you were talking about a guy who signed a big deal and then instantly decided he didn’t need to work hard anymore and just stop putting effort in. But not in the case of a guy who got hurt doing his job.
And again, when a player making $2 million a year has a season that productivity-wise is worth $25 mil a year, teams don’t go and hand the player a $23 mil check at the end of the year to make up the difference. Owners already have plenty of power. They don’t need any more. There are plenty of ways the structure of contracts work out for them too.
Pedroia next, I hate to say it.
He, along with Pujols and a few others. I’ve grown to have a great deal of resentment towards many players.
People are lamenting over “how baseball is broken” right now when players like Harper and Machado can’t sign big contracts, etc. This seems to be the narrative. Yet little if nothing is said about players not performing or fulfilling these contracts. The nonsense that the teams are wealthy and they can afford these “loses” is a bunch of horse manure. As a business owner myself if I offer a contact, it’s with the intent you will perform to expectations of that contract. Honestly, players have had all the leverage for years and in some ways, I applaud what’s happening right now in the sport and teams holding firm. Only three teams out of 30 had closing payrolls for 2018 under $100M. 27 teams had 2018 payrolls north of $100M – most with bloated non-performing contracts. 16 of those teams had payrolls $150M and above with a tax threshold of $198M. That means these businesses are running at or near full capacity already. But they have room to fit another $300M player???
Baseball is not broken, nor is free agency. What’s broken is an honor system with players. You can’t play, amend your contract, dude!
Disagree completely.
Players have (and should have) rights. No need to give even more power to the owners. They already have complete control and often get insane bargains off of players for their first 6 years. And when players vastly outproduce the value of their yearly salary, teams don’t pay them a bunch of extra money at the end of the year to make up for it.. Players shouldn’t have to give back money for getting hurt playing baseball..
Dude. Baseball had record revenues in 2018. And when you get hurt doing your job you should get paid. I truly hope in your business you don’t decide to not pay your employees who get injured at work. Because that’s illegal.
Beards are OK if you like the Rip Van Winkle look. The rule that should be enforced is the uniform rule, as in they should be uniform for any given game. All long pants or all knee pants and sanitary socks, etc. I shocked that we don’t see players wearing different colors because they just like it that way.
I’m happy for Wright. He was a great face of the franchise. Was a legit possibility for Cooperstown before injuries…
If eliminate the 3 seasons marred by injuries and project his 162 game averages for 8 more seasons…this is what you would get….
Career average….304
Runs 1000+
Hits 2700+
Homeruns 370
Rbi 1200+
Stolen Bases 270
Ops….860
War….50+
I know there would be decline as the years went on….i factored that in because the hits would have been well over 3000
The runs were closer to 1400
Homeruns were in the 400’s
Rbi closer to 1700
Stolen Bases 350
Ops 885
War closer to 70
I feel he would have made it at some point.
But being a Mets legend and given a job in the front office is a great gesture by the Wilpons (who I hate…but gotta give them props here)
Goods luck David…you were an amazing player who was unfortunately cut down and forced to miss the twilight of your career. Nobody can argue that you were a great pro..i will go as far as to say you were the Mets version of Derek Jeter. Not with the championships obviously..but as the face of the franchise…a great human being and you will be missed
Give the wilpons props? Lol
For a publicity stunt designed to get them good press?
Met fans just don’t get it
I don’t know about whether or not he would’ve been a hall of famer but you are overestimating his hrs. In 2012 his kast full season he had 21 hrs.In 2014 in 134 games he had 8 hrs.He ended up with 242 hrs. The idea he would’ve had 37o hrs is a pipe dream
Best wishes on your new gig, Captain!
Does his salary still count against the payroll this year? I know Mets are nowhere near the luxury tax but still curious about it
Does this mean the FO has to pay him and his salary is no longer covered by insurance? If so, that seems like a bad move.
If he were your own kin, you’d have true compassion for him. You’d give him thanks for what he contributed until he no longer could. That guy gave his all 100, 24/7 to the franchise, as well as our beloved game. Anyone that loves our game, anyone….it’s always been an obvious thing about David Wright. He cares about the fans and everyone around him. He’s a rare breed, a throw-back if you will….to a better era of person to play this game. With that having been said, the NYM management just took another fine step forward.
He was a nice guy and class act who also made a ton of money for little output that latter part of his career. Typical NY homer up above.I hope you had tissues nearby and a MOP. OMG get real.
Nice contribution there Bubba. I hate you effing keyboard warriors. If you really knew anything about actually playing the game alongside guys like David Wright or getting to know them and their families, you’d feel the same way….so go stick your tissues in your pants and make yourself look like a man. BTW- I never have liked the Mets.