David Wright Fantasy Prospect Profile

DOB: 12/20/82, Age: 20, Bats/Throws: R/R, Height: 6’0’’, Weight: 195. Acquired: Mets - Drafted in the 1st Round of the 2001 Draft (Hickory HS, Chesapeake, VA). 2002 Stats: (Low-A - Columbia) .266 AVG, 496 AB, 30 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 21 SB, 76 BB, 114 K, .367 OBP, .401 SLG. 2003 Stats: (High-A - St. Lucie) .341 AVG, 41 AB, 2 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 1 SB, 2 BB, 2 K, .372 OBP, .610 SLG.

David Wright is the present “heir apparent” at the hot corner for the New York Mets. A first-round sandwich choice in the 2001 amateur draft, Wright seems to be a solid player across the board, but without the star potential (or hype) that one usually associates with Big Apple-bound minor leaguers. A line-drive hitter, Wright is capable of hitting the ball to all fields with some power. As cold as he was to start last season, (.235 BA in April) the remainder of his season makes me think that he is capable of being a .300 hitter. I don’t know how much more his power will develop…right now he does not have a lot of lift in his swing. That fact, coupled with his body type, leads me to believe that he will settle in the 20-25 homer range annually. His plate discipline borders on excessive, similar to a player like Mark Bellhorn. He has not started off this season with the same degree of patience, but he’s been hitting everything hard, so maybe he’s just getting a lot of good pitches. His 2002 batting eye will serve him very well going forward. On the basepaths, Wright has made the most out of his average speed. I would not expect him to be a 20-steal player in the majors, but 10-15 should be achievable. Wright’s defensive numbers don’t look particularly appealing so far, but everything that I have read suggests that he has the ability to become an excellent defensive third baseman, so I will stand by the non-proprietary research in this case. With those endorsements, I suppose it is safe to say that Wright will be able to stay at the hot corner, a position for which he has a fairly clear path to Shea at the present time.

It could be argued that the only meaningful player on the Mets’ current roster that will be productive in 5 years is Cliff Floyd, who ought to be declining heavily at that point. Personally, that is exactly the side of the argument that I would choose. In their farm system, they have two quality starting pitching prospects (Kazmir and Heilman), a decent catching prospect (Huber), and a shortstop prospect that I am convinced is slightly overrated (Reyes, but still very solid nonetheless) to go along with Wright. Other than that, there appears to be very little that will help the big league club long-term in the system. There certainly is empty space in front of David Wright, with short-term solution Ty Wigginton, utility man Russ Johnson, and organizational soldier Rodney Nye occupying third base above him. In all likelihood, the Mets will continue to overpay declining veterans at the positions without prospects in order to maintain some level of competitive play, but I would expect them to leave room for the five aforementioned phenoms. With that said, I would expect Wright, who has started this season in the FSL, to move consistently up the ladder and be ready for New York by the end of 2005. My closest comparisons for Wright include Jeff Cirillo, Mike Lowell, and Scott Rolen. I think Rolen is a bit of a reach, but the other two are within his means, in my opinion. I expect him to be a solid major leaguer, but not a star.

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By Schuyler Dombroske