The sports genius Mike Francesa was at it again today on Miked Up, Francesa on the Fan. He was once again touting the idea of trading David Wright. He defended not trading Carlos Beltran because there is no other center fielder in baseball with comparable numbers. I agree with that. Mike also defended not trading Jose Reyes because he is an outstanding leadoff hitter and a great defensive shortstop. I agree with that too. But in his infinite wisdom, Francesa then proclaimed that Wright is expendable because there are lots of third basemen out there. This is where I disagree with the self exalted sports maverick.

Let’s take a look at what the Mets have in David Wright. Wright came up in the middle of the 2004 season. In 69 games, Wright batted .293 with 77 hits, 17 doubles, a triple, 14 homeruns, and 40 runs batted in. He scored 41 runs and had a slugging percentage of .525. Since David Wright began playing full seasons starting in ’05, he has batted in over 100 runs each season. He hit over .300 every year averaging .309 with a slugging percentage of .533. Wright’s homerun total has gone up each season with 33 in 2008. He also reached a season high of 124 RBI, a Mets record surpassing Mike Piazza. David has hit 42 doubles every year since 2005 except 2006 when he hit 40. He already has 819 hits meaning he will likely reach 1000 hits by the end of next season provided he stays healthy and it will only be his fifth full season in the Majors. Wright sports some of the best stats in baseball since he came up.

David is also a tireless worker, a gamer who has to be dragged out of the lineup. He has worked tremendously on his defense taking ground ball after ground ball before games. He worked so hard that he won the gold glove last year and it’s likely he will win it again this season. There isn’t a week that goes by during the season that David Wright doesn’t make the highlight reel on ESPN.

Then there are the intangibles. David Wright has become the face of the Mets. He’s a standup guy who is always ready to talk to the press no matter what the circumstance. Most importantly, he absolutely loves being a New York Met. He is one of a handful of prospects the Mets have developed who, if he stays healthy, could be headed to the Hall of Fame. Tom Seaver was one of them. Nolan Ryan was another but he didn’t go in as a Met because he was traded away. The point is David is a franchise player. Players like Wright do not grow on trees. The Mets would never receive the talent back that could justify such a deal.

Is David Wright perfect? No, but he’s damn close. I know Wright struggled with runners in scoring position this year. That can happen to any player, ask Alex Rodriguez. But was David Wright the number one reason the Mets failed this season? Don’t just look at the final game of the season. That is not where the Mets lost a playoff spot. They lost it in many other games throughout the year. The bullpen was the number one problem. The corner outfielders were another area of concern due to injuries. Pedro Martinez struggled as the fifth starter. There was little production from the catcher position and second base also was a huge issue. And don’t forget for the first half of the season, Carlos Delgado struggled mightily.

David Wright’s production with runners in scoring position may have been a problem but it was not near the top of the list of reasons why the Mets are not still playing. And if you don’t think his numbers meant anything this year, I shudder to think where the Mets would have been without them.

An optimist would look at the 2008 season and say given all the adversity, it's incredible that the Mets made it to game 162 and were still relevant.

David Wright will continue to grow. There were lessons to be learned this season and Wright is a good learner. He tried too hard at times pressing to do it all himself. He will learn to stay within himself and be the clutch player he can be. Remember, during last year’s collapse in September, Wright had a phenomenal month. He simply struggled this year at a time when the Mets needed him to produce. But to be fare, other Mets hitters were not contributing either.

Mike Francesa, for all the accolades made about him, really has no idea what he is talking about. His basic thesis is that the Mets have won nothing with David Wright. And only a fool would assume that coming within a game of the World Series in 2006 is winning nothing. David Wright was part of a division championship team. That is an accomplishment. A true baseball fan understands that winning championships takes time. Only the self absorbed instant gratification types do not understand that. I guarantee that if the Mets traded David Wright, they would take a step backward before they would move forward. It’s simply a foolish idea from a foolish sports talk show host.