Mets fans have grown used to watching homegrown stars end up in another team’s uniform, from Tom Seaver to Darryl Strawberry and most recently Jose Reyes. David Wright’s recent eight-year contract with the Mets means that cycle might be broken.
Wright’s $138 million extension, first reported at the end of November, was officially signed on Tuesday, and will keep the third baseman with the team through 2020, when he will be 38.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to finish my career where I started it and hopefully add a championship or two,” Wright said at a press conference announcing the deal at baseball’s Winter Meetings in Nashville.
“To me there was no thought of ever putting on another uniform,” he said.
Wright thanked Mets fans who he said have stood by him through the ups and downs in his career. “They’ve seen a lot of strike outs, a lot of errors,” he said.
The Mets all-time leader in hits, runs, RBI, doubles, walks and total bases had one year remaining on his contract coming into the offseason, though both he and the team expressed a desire to complete a deal.
“This is a cornerstone relationship that we think will allow us to continue to build and provide a winning future for the Mets going forward,” said General Manager Sandy Alderson.
Wright is coming off a year in which he batted .306, scored 91 runs, slugged 21 home runs and knocked in 93 while coming in sixth in the National League’s Most Valuable Player voting.
The future of the Mets remains up in the air as the team has finished below .500 for four consecutive years and is listening to offers for Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, but Wright’s confidence has not wavered.
“Things haven’t gone the way we would have liked them to the last couple of years, but that’s going to change,” Wright said.
“I’m going to give everything I have out there to bring a championship back to Queens.”
