I must admit that David Wright is my all-time favorite Mets player. I don’t mean that as a backhanded insult, even though I’m having trouble thinking of who my second-favorite Met is. (I can think of former Mets players that I admire, but I associate them more with other teams they played for than the Mets.) But I couldn’t help but admire Wright’s all-around game and his attitude on and off the field. He was also “Captain America” for Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
- The Mets announced on Thursday that third baseman David Wright will be activated from the disabled list on September 25 and will start on September 29. After that, Wright’s playing career will be over. No one is saying “retired” because that has all kinds of financial ramifications, but like Prince Fielder a few years ago, they’ll declare that he’s physically unable to play and collect on the insurance.
- Eric Chesterton ranks the best moments of Wright’s career.
- Mets fans reacted with the same kinds of sadness that you would expect out of the retirement of a team legend.
- Dan Szymborski looks at how terrific Wright’s career was before he got hurt and what it might have been like had he stayed healthy.
- Sarah Langs also looks at Wright’s stats and what might have been.
- Ken Davidoff explains why Wright was as important off-the-field and in the community as he was on it.
- Before we leave the Mets, Jeff Sullivan takes a look at Citi Field and how it has become the best pitchers’ park in the majors for reasons that no one can explain. As a home run park, it’s pretty neutral, but somehow it yields the worst batting average on balls in play in the majors.
- One other one-team legend may also be hanging it up. Twins first baseman Joe Mauer says he need to “sit down and think” this winter to decide whether or not he wants to play in 2019. His contract is up at the end of the year and it’s hard to see him playing for any team other than the Twins.
- Braves pitcher Brandon McCarthy is definitely retired. As one of the most social-media active ballplayers, it’s only fitting that his career statistics are tailor-made for a online memes.
- Tim Brown looks at the NL West race and the 11 factors that will decide who ends up on top.
- Michael Baumann explains why the Dodgers might not even make the postseason.
- Bill Baer thinks that Rockies ace Kyle Freeland deserves more of our attention with his amazing season. I’d like to point out that I’ve linked to a few articles about Freeland in this space over the past couple months, but one more is not a problem.
- Matt Snyder argues that the MVP-case for Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado may be derailed by the season that Rockies shortstop Trevor Story is having.
- David Schoenfield thinks there is a terrific race for the American League MVP Award.
- Gabe Lacques looks at the Oakland Athletics pitching staff and notes that because of injuries, they may have no choice but to go with a “bullpenning” strategy in the playoffs. Oakland has three healthy starters. Two of them are ex-Cubs Edwin Jackson and Trevor Cahill. The other one is Mike Fiers. Not exactly “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain” although they’re all having solid seasons.
- A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty has a 14-game hitting streak.
- Evan Drellich argues that after all the drama of his first two seasons with the Red Sox, David Price is turning out to be a perfect fit in Boston.
- Alden Gonzalez looks at Clayton Kershaw and his drive to win even though the signs of aging are clear. Gonzalez also looks at Kershaw’s decision on whether or not to become a free agent this winter.
- Jon Heyman talks to executives on which free agent will get the bigger contract this winter: Bryce Harper or Manny Machado?
- Heyman also talks about the Orioles missed opportunity to sign Machado to an extension.
- David Schoenfield ranks some possible World Series matchups.
- Aaron Gleeman looks at the breakout players of 2018.
- Bradford Doolittle has a nice piece on all of the “rebuilding” teams and where they are in the process. (ESPN+ sub. req.) Doolittle points out that not every team that underwent a “rebuild” is actually making good progress towards contending. (That’s Cincinnati and Texas, for those who are curious.) Most of them are at least moving in the right direction.
- Ken Rosenthal reports on a major problem with the Orioles rebuild. Owner Peter Angelos is in poor health and is not expected to ever be involved in running the team again. (The Athletic sub. req.) Right now, no one knows who is supposed to be in charge of the Orioles and who has the authority to make the necessary changes in the front office and on the field. And there are some big decisions to be made, as Rosenthal notes.
- The Mariners’ Nelson Cruz got his 1000th career RBI on a home run.
- The Red Sox and the Nationals are the only two teams that will pay the luxury tax this year. This is the first time the Yankees will not pay the tax.
- Sheryl Ring writes that will all due respect, decisions about the rules of baseball should be left to the lawyers.
- The Nationals are holding a auction to pay for the leukemia treatments of one of their assistant general managers. Nationals executive Bob Miller is auctioning off his 2001 Diamondbacks World Series ring. No word on what team owners Ted Lerner, who is worth about $4 billion, is auctioning. He should buy Miller’s ring because it’s the only way he’s ever going to get one.
- Grant Brisbee dissects an epic bat flip from the independent leagues.
- A Red Sox fan was taken to the hospital after getting hit in the head with a bat. Yes, the bat went all the way over the protective netting.
- And finally, this usher at Fenway Park made a terrific bare-handed catch on a foul ball without even breaking a sweat.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.