David Wright has a new policy he’s enforcing for the team he is attempting to lead back into the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
Starting yesterday, he began mandating that every player in big league camp – whether they’re playing or not – will travel on road trips for the final week of camp.
The reason, according to reporters in Port St. Lucie, is for the team to begin bonding and forming a unity as they head towards a long – and often grueling – 162 game season starting next Monday in Washington.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Wright got the idea from the Cardinals, who have reached the playoffs 11 times in the last 15 years and have won two World Championships during that span.
“They have a pretty good thing going over there,” Wright told Sherman about the Cardinals. “There is something to them having success every year and you want to pick brains when you get the chance to learn.”
Terry Collins embraced Wright’s idea immediately when he was approached with it.
“David talked about another way to pull together,” Collins said. “So I said, ‘Sure, let’s try it,’ ” Collins explained.
All the bonding in the world won’t overcome a lack of talent, but I think it’s important the culture with this team continues to evolve and mature, and even taking long road trips in camp together – which many would consider insignificant – can help that. It may seem silly to outsiders, but in large measure, this life is all the players experience for eight months (and hopefully nine for the Mets this season), and it gets to be a grind mentally in the latter part of the season.
To me, this is part of the 90-win mentality Sandy Alderson started to foster a year ago. Again, none of it means they’re going to win 90 games or make the playoffs. It’s about a shift in how the club operates. Again, they need talent, but they finally have a strong base with an influx of talent coming through the pipeline.
Having a strong, positive culture and reinforcing the mentality can serve as a foundation for success.
Just ask the Cardinals…
Just Mets 
One response to “David Wright, team unity and the Cardinal Rule”
Nice post the negativity in this organization has been an ongoing issue. Many have no issue with Sandys sarcasm. But his negativity has an influence on the fans and organization. Maybe not as much with the players but be nice if he said something positive about the fans.
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