During a day when Cliff Lee and trade talk dominates the baseball landscape, Dave Lennon of Newsday wrote a under the radar piece about the growth of David Wright.

We know what David has done on the field: .316, 14 homers, 64 RBI, OPS of .935. Even more impressive is how he made mechanical adjustments in season when it appeared his game was headed into the abyss. It wasn’t that long ago, as a matter of fact during that first Subway Series which was referenced in the article, that Wright was a .250 hitter with power- essentially a modern day Howard Johnson. According to Lennon, Wright implored Jerry Manuel to hold a team meeting and clear the air. Not only did this appear to turn around the season (27-16 since), but saved his managers job.

After years of hearing about a “fractured clubhouse” mainly due to Carlos Delgado‘s reported “you’re in or you’re out” type of leadership, it’s refreshing to hear that David is taking on the leadership role that has been his destiny since debuting in 2004. Jose Reyes may be the “engine” that fuels the Mets, but Wright is the heart and soul of this club. He has the kind of personality, almost Jeter like, the team can rely on. When you become a member of the Mets going forward you are walking into his clubhouse, not yours. Lennon describes Wright’s leadership as “discreet” where most of the confrontation comes in private.  The most interesting comment comes from Jason Bay who describes Wright as “hard guy to get to know, in meeting everybody, [Jeff] Francoeur could get along with this chair in two minutes. With David, you have to be around him. But I don’t mean that in a bad way. I’m the same way. But once he’s comfortable being around you, I feel like he’s opened up a lot.”

Fortunately for the Mets he has because they are going to need him. The organization has lacked leadership since the days of Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez. The Bobby Valentine editions were led more by the hardworking example of Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo, hence why John Franco, a reliever, donned the “C” throughout his tenure. I had my doubts about whether David had it in him to actually step up and claim the leadership role. Perhaps if Delgado was what stood in his way all this time. There has been a lot of surprising developments on this Mets team. This might be the most impressive one of all.

Tags: David Wright, Edgardo Alfonzo, Jason Bay, Jerry Manuel, John Franco, Jose Reyes, Mike Piazza, New York Mets