Wright is currently a contender, but not a leading one. He needs to improve his Sept. consistency and needs to get some more key hits. The series against Philly is (hopefully) the last high-leverage series the Mets play, and he had 3 shots at putting his stamp on it. Had he succeeded in one of the three, he would have really contributed to his case. It will be harder for him now.

What Wright has going for him is that he has done something only 3 Mets in history have done before, that he plays a crucial defensive position very well, that he is doing what he is doing in a decidedly pitcher’s park, and that, as so many are pointing out, he is the one constant in a first place team otherwise filled with dissapointing performances.

As for what the prevailing sentiment is here, I think very few are saying it’s an open-and-shut case for Wright. The sentiment is all over the place, even among Mets fans.

Valid arguments can be made for 4-5 players right now. And the next two weeks will probably clinch it for one of these players.

I never downplayed Wright’s chances for MVP because of his supporting cast. I just criticized another post for a negative mischaracterization of Beltran’s and Reyes’s performance this year.

I think Wright is having a great, MVP-caliber season, but there are several players having season’s which are equally as worthy of consideration. If I had a vote, I would vote for Wright, but if Holliday, Rollins or Fielder win I wouldn’t view it as a travesty of justice. It’s not an open or shut case for any candidate despite what the posters here think.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/index.php?view=fielding&linesToDisplay=50&orderBy=zone_rating&direction=DESC&qual_filter=1&season_filter%5B%5D=2007&league_filter%5B%5D=All&team_filter%5B%5D=All&pos_filter%5B%5D=5&Submit=Submit

Lets dispense with words like “poor” or “excellent” to describe Wright’s fielding. Lets just look at the rate at which he fields balls in his zone (Zone Rating). Have a look at this [http://www.hardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/index.php?view=fielding&linesToDisplay=50&orderBy=zone_rating&direction=DESC&qual_filter=1&season_filter%5B%5D=2007&league_filter%5B%5D=All&team_filter%5B%5D=All&pos_filter%5B%5D=5&Submit=Submit chart] , particularly the last two columns. The first of these is the Zone Rating for third basemen. As you can see Wright is in the middle of the pack and better than A-Rod. Are you going to say A-Rod doesn’t deserve the MVP because his fielding is worse than Wright’s? The second of these columns is the balls fielded out of a typical third baseman’s zone. You can see that Wright leads the majors in fielding these balls. When you consider both columns, Wright is near the top in fielding metrics this year. You can characterize it however you like, but he’s one of the best.

The second half of my post was directed at your bringing up the fact that Wright has a good supporting cast. But Rollins has an even better supporting cast than Wright has. So if you’re going to take marks off of Wright’s eligibility to be an MVP because of his supporting cast, then you’ve got to take off even more for Rollins because he has an even better one. And what about A-Rod??? So my point is, don’t downplay Wright for having Beltran and Reyes playing around him. Because almost all the top MVP candidates have as many good supporting players or even more.

I do really watch the games, Carver (way to assume I know nothing about watching baseball) – I may have missed 10 this year, and I have attended around 20 – and I said he makes spectacular plays occasionally. Maybe “occasionally” is the wrong word since spectacular plays are spectacular because they are rare. My eyes tell me that Wright is way to inconsistent to be considered a great or terrific fielder, yet. I have seen numerous plays at third he should have made, but the scorer at Shea ruled hits. If you look at my post, I credit Wright with being deserving of MVP, I just took issue with the characterization of Wright as a great defender. I don’t understand why some Mets fans think Wright ought to be immune to criticism.

As to the last part of your post, I don’t even understand to what it is responding. I criticized another post’s attempt to bolster Wright’s MVP candidacy by denigrating the efforts of fellow Mets. If other fans watch the games they will see that Beltran and Reyes are having good seasons (maybe not as good as last year, but still way above average for their positions). I just think it is wrong to marginalize the contributions of the other players besides Wright. Wright is having a great season, there is no doubt about it, but if he wasn’t getting help from Reyes, Beltran, and whomever I neglect, the Mets would not be in 1st place – his production is not enough alone to push the Mets to the top of the NL.

I mean, if you really watch the games, Wright’s fielding has been terrific this year.

Further, you don’t need to tear down Mets players to enhance Wright anymore than you have to tear down Burrell, Utley, Howard, or Rowand to enhance Rollins. They all have better numbers than Rollins. In fact it could easily be argued Rollins has a better supporting cast than Wright does, because it’s true. Fielder’s supporting cast isn’t too shabby either as the Brewer’s team offense is actually better than the Mets. So there’s no need to minimize what Wright has done with faulty reasoning. It’s not for nothing that Wright leads the NL in Win Shares.

Wright is definitely a bonafide MVP candidate if not the leader right now. You don’t award the MVP based on 1 series, something you seem to fail to understand. And at any rate, neither Rollins or Wright or anyone else on either team with the exception of Dobbs had a standout series. So there was nothing to get excited about in terms of the MVP race over the weekend. And FYI, Wright and Rollins were on base at the same exact rate this weekend (actually Wright slightly higher) so if you thought Rollins “was on base everywhere u looked” then maybe you need to visit the optometrist because your eyes are decieving you.

I guess you also don’t know that Wright leads the NL in Win Shares? But, yeah, forget about that. Who cares about overall excellence in the NL? I mean why give out awards based on superior play when you can rely on faulty perception?

Really, there is no one in the NL having an extraordinary year like A-Rod. But in all-around play, Wright is at the very top. Hate to burst your bubble, but it’s true.