David Wright, and The Value Of a Clubhouse Leader

Courtesy of Fansided

     I typically am one that looks up all different types of stats, and to me, they are a very important way to evaluate a player. However, there are a few cases where a player's value goes beyond the stats. David Wright is one of those few players

     Now look, I'll be honest here. I think David Wright is great when he's healthy, and has come to play very good defense in the past few years. The problem though is my first statement, when he's healthy. It's no secret that he doesn't have the cleanest health record, and at 32, it's not like that is going to go away any time soon. Despite this though, he is still an integral part of the team, and will be heavily relied on for their success in 2015 and beyond, just for different reasons than you think.

     David was named the fourth team captain in the team's history back in 2013, the same offseason where he signed an eight year contract that could make him a Met for life. David's response to being named captain? "This is probably one of the proudest days of my career". That quote probably says all there is to know about how David Wright cares deeply about the franchise, and how much he admires the fans. 

     The other day, Wright confronted top prospect, Noah Syndergaard after he spotted him eating lunch during a split squad game, when Wright felt he should have been in the dugout with his teammates. As much as the media has been trying to spin this as a negative story, this is really an instance where after years of being criticized for not stepping up, David Wright proved his critics wrong. This should be more of praising David Wright, because he is embracing his role as captain. 

     Essentially, I feel like Wright is making a mold of what he feels a New York Met should be. In a sense, he is starting to create a "Mets way" of playing baseball. This "Mets way" is likely playing the way that he plays, which is hustling on every play, and always working to play to their potential. Even if no one has outright said this, it seems to me that Wright has been creating a "Mets way" through him leading by example. In fact, from what I heard, Wright has been leading the team in drills, and that he hustles as much as anyone in those drills.
     The following comes from Terry Collins, "He's always been the one guy you turn to,' manager Terry Collins said Tuesday.' 'We're all talking about what we need to do to win. I saw something yesterday in a baserunning drill, the most simple baserunning drill which every team does every spring, the best effort I have ever seen out of a Major League team running the bases just in a drill. And it was led by him. He was the first guy to do it, ran every ball hard, made all the turns, did all the things. And it was just one after the other, guys caught on to it. That's the mentality that he's bringing to the table."  That doesn't sound like too much, but when you're seeing the longest tenured and highest paid player going about the Spring as if he's trying to make it as the twenty fifth guy on the roster, that shows a lot about the positive example he is giving for his teammates.

The Twins are confident that Torii Hunter and his positive leadership will have an impact like David Wright's for the Mets.
Courtesy of Twins trivia

     The value a leader in the clubhouse can bring is vastly important, as seen with how the Twins brought in Torii Hunter this past offseason. Like the Mets, the Twins have a young group of players that they feel will make a major impact on the parent club, albeit that time being farther away for the Twins than for the Mets. Also similar to the Mets situation with David Wright, the Twins feel like Hunter who was a long time member of the team, can help out the young kids on the team like Byron Buxton and Aaron Hicks with his positive attitude and leadership.

     If you want to even think about David Wrights impact on a stats kind of level, he is having an impact on the way that potentially twenty four others are playing. To me, this is a very big deal because it is one thing when one player can be a 5-win player. However, it is a completely different story where if he may only be a 2.5-win player, yet due to the influence he has on the other players around him, they become immediately better. Not only helping them out with making any adjustments, but also adapting to life in the Major Leagues, and the big spotlight that is New York. Imagine the impact Wright has had on players like Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Lucas Duda and Travis d'Arnaud and the positive impact he could have on Noah Syndergaard, Wilmer Flores and Steven Matz.
     Think of the value a player has on his own. He might be worth around $25 million dollars if he's really good. What about how much he is worth though, if he is able to turn multiple players from a $5-10 million dollar value into a $10-15 million dollar value. It's not that hard to imagine, as that one player can teach multiple players how to act like proper Major Leaguers and in turn, those players become better Major Leaguers. With that in mind, David Wright has been worth (and will be worth) every penny on his current deal.

     David Wright may never be an big impact player on his own again. However, he doesn't need to be. I would love to have a player on my team that despite not producing at superstar caliber levels anymore, can still be a very good player and help make his teammates better.  In my opinion, with the influence David Wright has had/will have on the young players, he is as big of a positive impact to this Mets team as ever.