Just Mets

David Wright has been rehabbing his injured back with Dr. Robert Watkins and his physical therapy group in Los Angeles for the last week, and is visiting with the Mets on Tuesday in San Diego.

Wright shared some information with reporters about his back, and said doctors have told him to avoid surgery on his spinal stenosis at this stage of his life.

For now, Wright is taking the condition on a week-by-week basis in an effort to improve his symptoms, and will consult with doctors on a weekly basis on his condition.

“We’re not just talking about playing baseball. We’re talking about walking and standing and being pain-free,” he explained, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

He said the cause of his stenosis is a combination of genetics plus the trauma he sustained when he broke his back colliding with Carlos Lee in 2011.

Wright expects to play this year and potentially sooner rather than later, but did not offer any specific timetable to return.

With that said, if the Mets intend to contend this summer, they probably need to consider a less make-shift and more permanent solution to their revolving doors around the infield. Ruben Tejada has done a nice job over the last week at third and has shown a spurt at the plate over the last four games, but that’s probably not going to cut it in the long-term.

Perhaps step one of this transition will be considering shifting Daniel Murphy to third, Tejada to shortstop and Wilmer Flores to second base. It offers the best possible infield alignment and protects ultimate weaknesses of two of the three infielders. There’s also Dilson Herrera to consider, who should be back relatively soon.

Of course juggling the same pieces doesn’t mean they’ll be able to sustain any kind of success. They might be forced to consider bringing up Matt Reynolds and/or finding a stop gap solution who can start on an everyday basis at a few positions, such as Martin Prado or Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is more of an ideal answer, as he’s owed less money and can walk at the end of the year.

It remains to be seen if they actually consider going outside the organization to fortify the roster. They could opt to wait and see how Wright progresses, which would buy time for the trade market to open up.

But with continued uncertainty, both in his ability to return and to return resembling the player they need him to be, it may be prudent to begin thinking worst-case scenario.

To read more about the replacement options for Wright, click here.