The New York Metropolitans haven’t been around for that long – as a matter of fact, this season marks their 50th anniversary. In their short lifespan, the Mets have had several owners and countless GM’s and front office personnel and let’s just say, not a whole lot of success. Sure the 1969 Miracle Mets were…well, miraculous; the 1973 ‘Ya Gotta’ Believe’ Mets were a game away from their 2nd World Series Championship; the 1986 Mets were relentless badasses with a second run in ’88; The 2000 Mets turned the World Series into the Subway Series and the 2006 Mets were a game away from the biggest stage in baseball once again- but that’s not much when you compare it to the success of other ball clubs and it’s most certainly not much when you consider the talented teams and talented players the Mets have had in their history.

So what  does any of this have to do with David Wright? Well, in my opinion, it has everything to do with David Wright.

David hasn’t brought this team a championship, because no one player can do that. Sure guys have been known to carry their team into and throughout the postseason, but a single player cannot do it all on his own. Because of that, David has been a part of both great and terrible Mets teams. More importantly, terrible teams assembled by the administration put in place by the Wilpons and members of the front office. Although they’re not to blame for the terrible execution of the players – they are to blame for the terrible contracts, signings, trades and for not addressing blatant needs (I’m looking at you, Omar) that could’ve given the Mets the roster needed to compete as long as the players executed.

I keep steering, but with reason. Now back to David specifically; the organization knows that if they want to win, if they want to be taken seriously, if they want to send a message out to the future stars and players through all levels of the organization that they mean business, that they reward loyalty and solid play, and if they want the much needed fan support – then they know they need to sign David Wright.

Everything that could possibly go wrong for a ball club both on and off the field has happened to the Mets. The owners of this team have proven time and time again that they are absolutely clueless about the business of baseball and about putting the correct people in place to run the team the right way. In no way shape or form am I saying they do it all intentionally, but they never seem to learn from their mistakes.

Except for now.

Bud Selig pointed the Mets in the right direction with telling the Wilpons to hire Sandy Alderson – and he has done a tremendous job cleaning up Omar’s mess in such a short time.

Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo both released, Beltran traded for a top pitching prospect, The oft-injured Reyes was allowed to walk (instead of topping Miami’s silly contract offer), Took a chance and went overslot to draft high-ceiling guys, Extended Niese, Adressed the Bullpen and traded Pagan for a real solid reliever, etc.

What’s next? Extending David Wright.

He has continually voiced his opinion about wanting to remain a Met for life and never shied away from the question. He has also many times spoken about being a part of the good and the bad, and hopefully the good once more. He wants to help guide this mostly home-grown team to a championship. He grew up rooting for this very team!  This is the biggest market in the world. Of course he would accept a contract extension.

David is a class act. David is the face of the franchise. David is our generation’s Tom Seaver or Darryl Strawberry or Mike Piazza in the sense that he represents the NY Mets and the organization knows that.

The Mets have made the mistake of letting their homegrown star go to another organization and allow the fans to see them thrive elsewhere like a kick in the guts. They won’t let it happen again if they intend to right this ship as they seem to be trying to do. Let’s not forget many fans viewed Reyes as Face of the Franchise 1B – right next to David. But Jose Reyes did not bring to the team what David has brought, however that debate would call for a separate post on its own.

The fact is David Wright has spent every single  year of his professional career as a Met and within a few years can reach #1 on most, if not all, of the franchises’ offensive leader boards if given the chance to do so. He will be a Met for life if the organization knows what’s best for this team and this franchise.