David Wright, Mets in Trouble

David Wright’s rehab has been shut down yet again after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis. It could jeopardize Wright’s career, along with the Mets current and future prospects.

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the open spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on your spinal cord and the nerves that travel through the spine.

It can also force an athlete to cut his career short, such as Lenny Dykstra, or abort it altogether, as was the case with Cooper Manning, the oldest brother of the quarterback clan.

Everybody concerned is obviously hoping it does not come to that. They are hoping more rest and additional exercises will do the trick.

“They thought at this point he should be pain-free for the most part,” Mets assistant GM John Ricco said. “He’s not, so this is the way they recommended to try to strengthen the core and hopefully stabilize the back.”

“I went to some of the guys yesterday and told them what was going on,” Terry Collins said on Sunday according to ESPN New York. “It is deflating a little bit. They were thinking he’s going to be back here in five or six days. Now we don’t know when that’s going to take place. But you’ve got to deal with adversity at this level and continue to pick yourself up and move forward. So we will do that.”

David Wright is in the third year of an eight-year, $138 million contract. He is still due $87 million after this season. That is a huge chunk of change for a player who in the worst case will not play, and in the best case will play but will never perform as he had in the past.

This entire ballclub is built around Wright being in the middle of the lineup. We have seen thus far how inept the offense is without him; it can only get worse if the Mets cannot afford to replace him with a quality player.

The Mets threw all of their eggs into the David Wright basket when they signed him to a team-record contract. If he is done or extremely diminished, the Mets are screwed — no two ways about it.