Like his playing career, David Wright’s Hall of Fame case is primarily overshadowed by what-might-have-been scenarios. However, misfortune does not fully describe him, and he ought not to be a one-and-done player.
During his nine-year prime, Wright was among the best third basemen of his generation. He led an often-maligned team in a major media market, was a seven-time All-Star, won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards, and made several strong arguments for National League MVP before injuries derailed his progress. Although his corpus of work was little, it was undoubtedly impressive.
Here are six arguments for Wright’s induction into the Hall of Fame that will be presented when he appears on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for the first time in 2024.
1. Wright performs better than you may expect
Without any fault of his own, Wright seems to be up against a steep hill in this situation. However, judging only by his performance, his chances appear to be favorable. Wright played in 1,585 games and has a career OPS+ of 133. Sixty-one players in AL/NL history with an OPS+ of 133 or above and at least 1,500 games played are in the Hall of Fame. Four more (Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Sheffield) are still on the ballot in addition to the nine others who are either too recently retired or still active to be on it. That means that fewer than 25% of the group is unquestionably excluded, and for several more people, the issue surrounding alleged steroid use was the deciding factor. Wright is already in by that measure.
2. Wright was one of his generation’s finest.
Wright was an unquestionable superstar in his heyday. He played in 145 games a year on average from 2005 to 2013, with a slash line of.302/.384/.505 and 23 home runs, 93 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases every season. Compared to the rest of the league, Wright’s numbers are every bit as impressive, if not more so. In those nine seasons, he finished seventh in runs scored, eighth in hits, tenth in RBIs, and sixth in doubles among all Major Leaguers. He also made seven of the nine NL All-Star teams, and four of the top ten votes for the NL MVP Award.
3. Wright continues to represent a franchise.
True franchise players are hard to come by for expansion teams, even for those that were around prior to free agency. The Mets have a lengthy history of losing out on free agency or acquiring icons late in life, which doesn’t lessen their legacy in New York but decreases their chances of being regarded as the franchise’s pillars in the future.
This background is quite important. There was no other legendary player in Mets history who never played in a different uniform before Wright. With 1,585 games played, he is the second-most in Mets history (behind Ed Kranepool), and at the end of his career, he held the franchise records for walks, sac flies, extra-base hits, hits, runs scored, and total bases. With an overall fWAR of 51.2, Wright is the highest-scoring position player for the Mets behind just Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver.
Also keep in mind that since Wright’s peak, the Mets have had excellent players and have been successful. Nevertheless, given how many of their trips would eventually take them outside of New York, it’s difficult to say that any of them have truly replaced him as the primary Met of the twenty-first century. With 22.1 fWAR during his first eight seasons, Brandon Nimmo is the best Met by career fWAR, behind only Wright. When counting pitchers, Nimmo is ranked 17th among Mets position players, but he is ninth overall in lifetime fWAR. That was and still is something unique, and the fact that Wright is still that person is more significant than we may be letting him get away with.
4. Among the greatest third basemen in MLB history is Wright.
Two players finished their careers in the Negro Leagues, but the other fourteen AL/NL Hall of Famers played at least half of their games at third base. Even though their styles and times differ, that’s a sizable enough sample size to evaluate Wright against. The following is how his career statistics would look if he were added as the fifteenth member of that group:
Games played: 1,585 (11th)
Average: .296 (Ninth)
OBP: .376 (Tied for fourth)
SLG: .491 (Fourth)
OPS: .867 (Fourth)
Hits: 1,777 (13th)
Homers: 242 (Eighth)
Career bWAR: 49.2 (10th)
Wright fits into that club even when considering just his counting statistics, which are the weakest part of his case.
5. Wright’s case is not brand-new…
An average Hall of Famer participated in nearly 2,075 games, played in 18 Major League seasons, and reached base more than 8,700 times, scoring 2,321 runs. Wright (14 seasons, 1,585 games, 1,777 hits in 6,872 plate appearances) appears a little underwhelming in this regard.
Nevertheless, the typical Hall of Fame position player also had a career slash line of.303/.377/.468 with a career OPS of.845 and 223 home runs. With an.867 OPS and 242 home runs, Wright’s stats (.296/.376/.491) are spot on for his on-field accomplishments.
He would also not be an exception for the voters. Because of their exceptional play during their prime, some players—like Ralph Kiner (1,472 games over 10 seasons), Joe Gordon (1,566 games in 11 seasons), Tony Oliva (1,676 games in 15 seasons), and Earle Combs (1,455 games in 12 seasons)—have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame despite having shorter careers.
6…. and he has support
The definition of what constitutes a Hall of Famer changes depending on who is nominated. In light of that, Joe Mauer will be running alongside Wright. Just 921 of Mauer’s 1,858 games were spent behind the plate. In the event that we revisit this topic in a few years, Buster Posey—who will be eligible in 2027—played 1,371. Although their cases are distinct—a 200–500 game differential is a significant difference—it is still worthwhile to compare them.
Unlike other position players, catchers are rarely benched due to worries about their longevity. Wright was clearly not a catcher. But all three stayed with the team that drafted them for the duration of their careers. All three served as the team’s cornerstones and left with a mix of league-wide honors, franchise records, and postseason triumphs. Before suffering serious injuries that hindered their careers or otherwise derailed them, all three of them had established an exceptional résumé and were headed for legendary status. Considering that neither the Giants nor the Twins have named a team captain since at least the 1980s, Wright’s designation as the team’s captain is fairly notable.
It so raises the question, “Why not Wright?” if those factors were sufficient for his peers.