Reyes or Wright?

I recently heard a rumor that the Mets are considering trying to trade David Wright instead of Jose Reyes if, as seems likely, they are forced to get rid of someone to rather drastically cut their payroll. I don't want to see either of these players moved, but I have to say that I think this would make a lot of sense. Wright is owed $15 million next year, and if Reyes is even slightly in the mood to give the Mets a home-team discount on his free-agent deal I think it's unlikely he'd be making more than that next year. Moving Wright would give Daniel Murphy a home, since third base is his natural position and appears to be his best one. From a defensive point of view, Murphy at third might be an upgrade over Wright, and Murphy-Reyes-Tejada-Davis is pretty clearly an upgrade over Wright-Tejada-Murphy-Davis.

Then there's the offensive component: would the lineup rather have Reyes or Wright in it? Historically David Wright's been the better offensive player, hitting .302/.382/.512 with an average of 27 home runs, 42 doubles, and 23 steals per 162 games, while Reyes hits just .288/.338/.437 with an average of 12 homers, 15 triples, 35 doubles, and 58 steals per 162. But over the last three years, or, that is, since the Mets build Citi Field, Wright has hit just .286/.367/.468 while averaging just 22 home runs and 164 strikeouts per 162 games. At Shea Stadium David Wright hit .318/.403/.555 and Reyes hit .297/.343/.447, but at Citi Field Wright has managed just .288/.382/.472 while Reyes is putting up a .322/.375/.500 line at the Mets' new home. This all makes sense: Citi Field was built for Jose Reyes. The bizarre right-field wall, which removed Wright's favorite home-run spot from Shea, provides lots of acreage in which for Jose to hit his triples. This year, his first year (so far!) fully healthy at Citi Field, he's on pace to hit about 25 triples, which is very close to a 99-year record. They've all been hit at home. In fact, at Citi Field Reyes has 8 triples against just 7 doubles, so the majority of the time he gets in-play extra-base hits at home they're for three bases.

Through 2008, David Wright hit .300 and managed at least 25 home runs for all four of his full big-league seasons. He consistently hit for power and average, which made him one of the best offensive players in the game. Since 2009, he's had one year when he hit .300, barely, but managed only 10 home runs. Then he had a year when he slugged 29 home runs, but hit just .283, a new career low. Now, in 2011, he's on pace for just 18 home runs (given his injury) and hitting just .226. There's a considerable case to be made that Citi Field is slowly ruining David Wright. It's not an iron-clad case; after all, he's been dealing with the concussion from '09 and the back injury of '11 for the past few years, so who knows what's really causing it. But it makes some sense that taking away his favorite power zone might make him less able to do what he always used to do.

To reiterate, I do not want the Mets to let go of either David Wright or Jose Reyes. I think they ought to both spend their entire careers in New York and go into the Hall of Fame as the two best Mets position players ever. But if the Wilpons' financial quagmire is going to force them to let go of one of their two star players, I think the choice is clear. David Wright is a very good power hitter, historically, but there are other very good power hitters out there and Wright appears to struggle at the Mets' new ballpark. Jose Reyes, on the other hand, is clearly the best leadoff hitter in the game today, and one of the best-hitting shortstops, and simply thrives at Citi Field. Also, he's a lot more fun to watch, and since the Mets have already literally built around him, they might as well build around him, you know?