David Wright had surgery for a herniated disk last week and is out for the year. Meanwhile, Mark Teixeira is trying to work his way back from a knee injury that very well may end up costing him the season, as well. With Wright and Teixeira both spending more time on the DL than the field, it makes you wonder which oft-injured star is more of a financial burden on his team.
Let's start in Queens, where David Wright has been the face of the Mets for the better part of a decade. He's definitely earned that status. But for as much as Wright has earned his place in Mets history, his last few seasons have been defined by injuries. In 2011, he spent two months on the DL with a stress fracture in his back. Then in 2013, he missed six weeks after straining his hamstring. Wright did play 134 games in 2014, but his production was limited due to a shoulder injury.
Last year was actually an example of why David Wright is such a great leader. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in April. After missing four months, Wright hit a home run in his first at-bat of his first game back in August. Most importantly, he was able to play in the postseason, as the Mets reached the World Series for the first time in 15 years. Because of the spinal stenosis, Wright had to go through an extensive pregame routine this season and everything seemed to be working out...until hurting his neck. Wright played in just 38 games last season. This year, it was 37.
That means, in the last two seasons, he'll have played in a total of 75 out of a possible 324 regular season games. At the end of this season, Wright will have played in less than half of the Mets' games (321 of 648) since he signed an eight-year extension that pays him roughly $20 million annually until 2020. The Mets have taken out insurance on his contract, but David Wright will still be a part of the New York Mets for another four seasons. (Although, I think they'll finally be done paying Bobby Bonilla by then.)
Whether or not David Wright will ever be able to play again is a completely different question. Knowing him, he'll do everything he can to get on the field. But you know that even if he is able to make it back from his second major injury in two years, it's unlikely he'll ever be the same player again. Do you want to pay him $20 million a year for the next four years just for his leadership?
Moving uptown to the Bronx, we have Mark Teixeira, who's also been bitten by the injury bug a lot in recent seasons. When the entire Yankees team was injured in 2013, Teixeira managed to play in 15 games before being shut down for the season on July 1. He was still working his way back from his wrist surgery in 2014, when he had a couple stints on the DL, but did manage to play 123 games.
The Teixeira of old returned last season, and he actually made the All-Star team. Then he fouled a ball off his leg in August and missed two weeks with what everyone thought was a bone bruise. Turns out, it was a fractured shin that ended his season. And this year, after getting off to a slow start, Teixeira revealed he was having neck spasms and needed a cortisone shot. That was before they found torn cartilage in his knee. A lot of people thought this would end Teixeira's season. It still might. But he's going to try and come back. We'll see how that works out.
There's one big difference between Teixeira and Wright, though. Wright's got four years left on his contract. Teixeira is a free agent after this year. He's making $23 million this season, and it's highly unlikely the Yankees will re-sign him for 2017. They'll be freed of that very expensive burden very soon. Meanwhile, the Mets will still be on the hook for Wright's salary until 2020.
It's because of the remaining years that I think the Yankees are in a slightly better position than the Mets when it comes to these two contract situations. David Wright IS the New York Mets. But that's quite a commitment for someone you aren't sure can even play. Especially since you'll need to have another third baseman on the roster just in case (or need to give up a lot in a midseason trade to get that replacement).
Teixeira's absences have been felt each time he's been out of the Yankees lineup over the past few seasons. Especially this year, when they've had to trot another first baseman out there seemingly daily (for the record, it's six total not including the two catchers, four that have been on the DL, three that are out for the year).
But they'll soon be able to move on from Teixeira and his contract. Unless he takes it upon himself and retires before his deal is over, the Mets won't have that luxury with David Wright. For their sake, and his, I hope I'm wrong. But right now, it looks like that contract is going to be a burden for far longer than Teixiera's will be for the Yankees.
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