Just Mets

On Wednesday, David Wright apologized to Noah Syndergaard for confronting him in the clubhouse for not being in the dugout during the team’s intrasquad game on Tuesday.

Originally, I felt Wright had nothing to apologize for. He is the captain and he did what a captain should do. He saw something he felt didn’t match the philosophy he and the club were trying to preach. I commend him for taking a proactive approach to ensure the player is aligned with the team philosophy, but as he said on Wednesday, he probably chose the wrong forum to do it.

“That’s not the way I like to handle things, and I wasn’t aware of my surroundings,” Wright said. “I just wish it would have gone a little more privately.”

Look, this is a New York sports team, and with that comes a ton more media coverage and a ton more people in the clubhouse. There are that many more eyes and ears on the players and staff. I’m sure these kinds of things happen in other clubhouses – we just don’t hear about it that often because there aren’t enough people to see and report these incidents. Having said that, given he probably knew the clubhouse was open to the media at that time, the only thing Wright might be guilty of is where he spoke to the player, but not the action itself.

No single moment defines a team, and it certainly is about the talent on the field at the end of the day. In this particular case, Syndergaard might have had a multitude of reasons why he decided to eat lunch at that time from his perspective, and that is respectable. And again, this kind of incident might have happened before both with the Mets and in other clubhouses.

However, as I wrote yesterday, there is a new seriousness and level of professionalism embedded in this clubhouse, and that’s what Wright’s message was about.

This incident – which is quite insignificant at the end of the day – is about developing and adapting to a winning culture, and unifying everyone – from the major leagues to the minors – on a common, long-term goal to win. This started over the winter with declarations and predictions from the manager, and that attitude has clearly transcended into the clubhouse and workout routines during Spring Training.

This is a very good thing, and when this got out, it kind of pumped me up and got me very excited.

Wright confronting Syndergaard serves only as another example of that. The goals defined by this club represent a cultural shift, in that the building is over and it’s time to be a winner. I have no problem with a little swagger and confidence with the Mets, finally.

Yes, anyone who flexes their muscle needs to back it up with action and execution, and I certainly understand why many think all of this talk and attitude is a little awkward and premature. But the fact they believe they can actually do that is something we haven’t seen with the club since they opened Citi Field and to me, it’s rather refreshing.