David Wright isn’t on the field for the New York Mets anymore, but the new special advisor played a crucial role in extending Jacob deGrom.
The New York Mets made the decisive move to lock up Jacob deGrom for five years at $137.5 million. They let the negotiations run dangerously close to the Opening Day, but apparently, David Wright stepped up and help advance the process.
Brodie Van Wagenen details how David Wright helped get Jacob deGrom's deal done 5⃣@GMBVW says jokingly: "He is now officially the most valuable special advisor in baseball history" pic.twitter.com/O0KDZcNYIV
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 27, 2019
“Ultimately, I think one of the key points, or turning points in the process was David Wright’s role and involvement,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said. “As Jeff [Wilpon] and I joked, I think he is now officially the most valuable special advisor in baseball history.”
The captain is stepping up for the organization after transitioning into a special advisor role. Usually, that role is reserved for former players who want to come down in the spring and hang around the organization.
Clearly, Wright is taking on different responsibilities in his role. However unclear his work on the back-end was, Van Wagenen crediting Wright for his creativeness.
“His work on our end and his help in ultimately coming up with a creative deal structure that we could then go to work on was important. Jacob if you didn’t know that you should thank David through this process once we’re done.”
If Wright is actually playing a vital role in the front office, that’s excellent news for the organization. He can bring a different point of view to the table. Perhaps he can play a vital role going forward.
Of course, there’s the chance that this is just eyewash to make the fanbase feel good. But I’d argue that we should give Van Wagenen the benefit of the doubt. After a week of terrible press, the Mets signed deGrom and are on the eve of Opening Day.
There’s no need to manufacture any good press at this point. Now all the team needs to do is win. Signing deGrom is a great start.
