David Wright to leave New York Mets for World Baseball Classic

David Wright will be leaving the New York Mets’ spring training facilities to join his World Baseball Classic teammates in Phoenix this weekend. Wright is leaving the team for a few weeks to represent America at third base in the tournament, and will have to wait for before he is officially named captain.

Mets’ manager Terry Collins is planning on having the decision on Wright settled by Opening Day. Although Wright is an obvious choice for captain as the team’s best player and the face of the franchise, he wants to be named captain by his teammates, not the organization. This is nothing new from the selfless Wright, who has reportedly not been approached by Collins or anyone else about the captaincy.

Terry Collins has starting talking to some of his veteran players for approval of Wright being captain. New York signed veterans Marlon Byrd and LaTroy Hawks this offseason and Collins believes their experience should not be overlooked just because they are new to the team. Each has been in multiple clubhouses over their careers and may have insight into the situation.

If Wright is named captain he would be the Mets’ fourth and first since John Franco, who was last with the team in 2004. Wright exemplifies the qualities of a team’s captain, similar to New York Yankees’ shortstop and captain, Derek Jeter. While Wright’s resume is not nearly as impressive as Jeter’s, he is just as important to the Mets as Jeter is to the Yankees. David Wright is returning to the team in a few weeks, and will hopefully be named captain when he does.