David Wright Announces retirement from Mets and MLB

Mets third baseman David Wright will retire after the 2018 season ends on September 29.

Before he hangs up his cleats for the final time, Wright will be activated by the Mets for the final home stand of the 2018 season on September 25, and will start at third base on September 29 against the Miami Marlins.

It has been a long road for Wright. He spent a better part of the last three years battling neck, back and shoulder injuries and a number of surgeries, causing him to miss the majority of the 2016 season and all of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

In many ways the writing was on the wall for a long time. With each attempted comeback, Wright would suffer a setback.

“Throughout this process, a lot of times, my mind and heart was telling me one thing and my body was telling me something completely different,” an emotional Wright told reporters from Citi Field on Thursday September 13.  “Once things ramped up and baseball activates became tougher, and games were harder to get through, it became apparent that goal was just to put that uniform on again. I needed the baseball stuff and games for my body to tell me its not happening.”

This season, Wright started vigorous training in Port St. Lucie in August in hopes of making a comeback happen. In 12 games between Port St. Lucie and Triple-A Las Vegas, Wright hit .195 with two RBI.

While this will be the final time that Wright touches the field, in his mind he is at peace; he accomplished his goal of coming back.

“I’m appreciative about running out there again, kicking third base. It will be emotional, but I am accomplishing the goal that I wanted to get back out there and put the uniform on,” Wright added.

Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and Acting General Manager John Ricco flanked Wright during the 30 minutes press conference. Wilpon and Wright shared a joke when Wright said, “I thought this was about a contract extension,” to which Wilpon said, “You want John Heyman’s job?”

Wilpon said the decision on Wright had nothing to do with insurance. Wright was under contract through 2020 that would have paid him $33 million. The Mets have been insured for about 75 percent of that contract since 2015 when the injuries began. 

“This is a difficult day for me. David Wright is a Mets icon and clearly our fan favorite, despite two years of hard work his body is preventing him from coming back. Based on his accomplishments, he deserves the opportunity to return to a major league field,” said Wilpon.

A tearful Wright thanked the Mets for their support throughout his 18-year career, and thanked his family for their love and support through his difficult ordeal the past three years.

One of Wright’s goals was to make sure that his children got a chance to see him play one last time. Now he gets to fulfill that goal as well.

“I am certainly happy to put the uniform on again. That has been my goal. It has been a long road to get to that goal. The love and support I received inside and outside the organization was first class. I bleed orange and blue and throughout this process, the love and support and respect from outside the organization has meant the world to me.”