David Wright OR Curtis Granderson

The first thing that may come to mind for the reader
may be, why ask the question to begin with? They're
both very good players that play in New york, play
different positions, and realistically speaking have
zero to do with each other. Well, I will tell you
why I bring this up at all. Does David Wright get
too much credit for being this star that maybe he
really isn't, while Curtis Granderson doesn't get
enough? I'm not sure I'll have a definitive answer
for you here and now, but it may change your view.
Then again it may not, but here goes.

This thing came to mind just recently for me when
I saw that both these players had just hit their
200th home run, and it literally happened just days
apart. Now I am a Mets fan, so many times I can
admit to the fact that I can fall into the trap of
"don't know what you got til it's gone", but since
I listen to more Mets games than Yankees games, I
did notice that the broadcasters made a point to
let the listener know about it, and in more than
just the casual way. Now John Sterling may have
thrown a party for Granderson for all I know, but
somehow I wonder. All of this led me to bring up
their stats, I wanted to see their age, ab's etc.
What I found wasn't I suspected, Granderson has
great numbers, but the clear cut star isn't here.

By the numbers is just this: Granderson has 201 Hr's
while Wright is still at 200, and yes that is no big
deal, however Granderson has done this in 138 less
games, or just under a season. He hit them in 520
less at bats, and that is a full season. In the
time span Granderson also has 240 less Rbi's than
Wright, but that doesn't surprise me since he has
been more of a 1 or 2 hitter throughout his career
than he is now in NY. Here is where my argument
took a turn against me though. David Wright has
Curtis Granderson easily beat in the batting avg.
dept by 41 points with a .301 to .263 edge, stolen
bases which surprised the pants off of me with an
edge of 163 to 112, and in hits by a huge margin,
1401 to 1086.

So there's my story. I was looking to tell you that
Granderson might be better than Wright and very few
know about it, but I can't even definitively tell
you that Wright is clearly better than Granderson
either. Two real good players, both in New York,
and both good citizens. Sounds like a win win to me.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 5-30-12

We talk about that and the NBA playoffs, how the MLB
season is shaping out, and so much more in this Mad
Stork Sports podcast, so here you go!



Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 5-26-12

The "Ranting with Rizzo" podcast is available now,
hope you had a GREAT & Safe Memorial Day Weekend.
Now enjoy the podcast:



Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 5-16-12

Was Terry Collins right to pull David Wright against
the Brewers so he wouldn't get plunked? Is the MLB
drug policy a joke? We talk about that and the NBA
playoffs, the NHL playoffs, and some early season
surprises around Major League Baseball in this Mad
Stork Sports podcast, so here you go!



Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

He Can See ! He Can Seeeeeeee!

Al Bello/Getty Images

Well, at least it appears that Sandy Alderson
isn't that blind after all. I was getting to
write a piece about how the Mets got to about
3 games over .500 while David Wright was out
of the lineup, and how now they are 7 under
with him in the lineup when up comes a story
from Troy Renck of the Denver Post on how
the Mets earlier this month put David Wright
on waivers. I can see full well that Wright
hasn't lost all these games on his own, but
I feel confident in saying he hasn't won many
either, and even less at Citifield. It is
time for the Mets to cut their losses and hope
that some team makes them a reasonable offer.
Alderson, I hope is preparing for a Jose Reyes
bid to stay here, because it is quite evident
how much more competitive they can be with him
in the lineup, and Mets fans should be glad
Jose is out. The reason you ask? One they
got to see a David Wright led Mets team, and
they got to see a Jose Reyes Mets led team,
and there is no comparison, and secondly,
the injury made Jose more affordable to the
Mets. Contrary to popular belief Jose is not
injury prone, he plays hard and it seems that
way. Sandy, pull the trigger.

David Wright or Wrong?

Since David Wright went on the DL the NY
Mets are 3 games over .500 at 21-18,
they were 4 games under with him, and
though you can make the case that the
Mets are doing this without Ike Davis
as well as any sort of real fire power
from the bat of Jason Bay, it is clear
the Jose Reyes is making a real case
to receive a "Carl Crawford" type offer
from someone this off season. In this
writers opinion it's also becoming more
and more clear that perhaps that can
survive without David Wright, and should
consider using him as trade bait as soon
as he starts to show he's healthy.
Jose Reyes has more stolen bases and hits
in his first 1000 games than anyone except
Ty Cobb, yes even more than Ricky Henderson,
and you can get more for Wright who has a
1 1/2 left on his contract as opposed to
just a few months for Reyes. Just Sayin'.

NY Mets: Is Trading Wright Wrong?

Aristide Economopoulos/Star-Ledger

The short answer is, NO. Lots of talk this
past off season and season has the NY Mets,
making trades, starting over, and not being
able to sign Jose Reyes, but the truth of the
matter if they wanna save money is quite
simply this: Unload Jason Bay the minute he
becomes a commodity again, and he will.
Carlos Beltran's salary comes off the books
this year, so there you can go youth, and
David Wright can get you more in a trade than
Jose Reyes can right now, and Thank God for
that! Wright has one more year after this
left on his contract and that will make the
team that wants to acquire David much more
open to giving you more of what the Mets may
ask for as opposed to give you lots for the
possible rental of Jose Reyes for the
remainder of this season when Jose becomes
a very valuable free agent.

Yes the Mets have money problems, we all know
that, but one cure for that ill is bringing
fans to the ballpark with wins, and let's
face it, Jose Reyes is a much better player
than David Wright, that's RIGHT, much better.
David has been a disappointment for quite a
bit now, and his strikeouts just keep on
coming. As evidenced by today's 4-2 loss
to the Dodgers, Jose Reyes triples, and gets
and RBI in the bottom of the ninth, and David
Wright strikes out to end the game.

Next year Wright is set to earn over 15 million
dollars, but since 12 million from Oliver Perez,
6 million from Luis Castillo, and 1 million from
Gary Matthews Jr. (yes they are still paying him)
come off the books, it is simple to see that you
can afford to pay Jose to stay and use that money
and payroll still goes down. Fourteen million just
by those numbers alone, if the rumored 20 million
that Jose is supposed to earn is true, and he just
might give you a hometown discount if he really
feels wanted.

David Wright's legend has now reached a point where
it is bigger than he is. His numbers keep getting
worse, and his clutch(ness) is stuck in first gear.
Just look at what he's done the past three seasons
alone, while it's clear that Jose is that Carl
Crawford type of player teams were drooling over
this past off season. Look at recent history and
you can also see that Jose's numbers are on the
rise as opposed to decline. He's six months
younger and definitely more dynamic, and honestly
I just can't bear to watch Wright throw another
ball away. The errors were supposed to get better
once Ike Davis became the 1st baseman, but he
isn't a magician you know.

With whatever you get back from a David Wright
trade, Ike Davis, Jose Reyes (re-signed), and
a bit of youth that continues to mature, the
2012 Mets will definitely benefit from the
departure of David Wright and his monotone
excuse filled voice that has all the leadership
of a mating Panda bear. Time to move on !