David Wright’s 30th birthday was a few weeks away, likely bringing the Mets third baseman as close — or closer — to the end of his career as its beginning.
It had been six seasons since Wright made his lone trip to the playoffs and four years since he had been on a winning team. His nights at Citi Field were played to half-empty crowds, void of teammates from the 97-win team of 2006. In one more year, though, Wright could walk in free agency, and perhaps sprint to a contender, no longer having to play the title role of the best player on a perennially bad team.