Mets’ Michael Cuddyer looks to ease David Wright’s burden, both on and off the field Robert Sabo/New York Daily News Mets hope Michael Cuddyer has a few tricks up his sleeve for team that hopes to contend for playoffs. Robert Sabo/New York Daily News Cuddyer entertains some of his new friends from P.S. 92 in Queens. Previous Next Enlarge You spend enough years around David Wright, and you see a clear pattern emerge: The captain is happier, and often better, when sharing the clubhouse with a gregarious, media-friendly second in command. And for Wright, happiness means sleeping better, gripping the bat a little more loosely, granting fewer exhausting interviews — basically just lightening up, which the third baseman has many times admitted is hard to do. This is a guy who places heavy pressure on himself to save the Mets, and needs help easing the burden. It was once Jeff Francoeur who ran the clubhouse card games, and split the postgame media scrums with Wright. Jason Bay tried to help, but was driven into silence by his own struggles. Curtis Granderson arrived last year with a pleasant disposition, but a public persona that was so aggressively uninteresting that Wright remained the focal point. Now Wright’s longtime buddy Michael Cuddyer has rolled into town as the team’s lone major acquisition, and is poised to play a vital role. The season relies on Wright returning to health and All-Star form. Having an old friend around, and one who happens to be a people person, will be a relief. As Cuddyer demonstrated on Thursday when performing card tricks for a group of youngsters at Citi Field (if baseball doesn’t work out, he could clearly be a popular third grade teacher, the way he had those kids laughing), he is outgoing, on message, and ready to be a co-face of the Mets. With reporters, Cuddyer waved away questions about the team’s quiet offseason, and the Nationals’ signing of Max Scherzer, all with an easy smile. “We’ve got Matt Harvey coming back,” he said. “And sure, the Nats have pitching, but so do we.” This is the kind of material that Wright is always forced to deliver, season after miserable, draining season. It will be nice for him to have a guy around to take the load off, on many nights. Howard Simmons/New York Daily News David Wright needs to return to All-Star form, and his old friend may be just the guy to help. Cuddyer will also be a key veteran presence on a young team, one who sees leadership through the prism of uniting different factions. “I’m the kind of guy who likes to joke around and have fun with everybody, and incorporate everybody and everything into what I do,” he said. “The first thing that can be detrimental to a team is cliques. You don’t ever want to see that. You want to see 25 guys united, 40 guys united in the same direction.” Cliques do emerge in clubhouses, often along racial and ethnic lines. For Cuddyer’s words to become meaningful action, he will need to reach across differences in language and culture; in baseball, this happens less frequently than it should. Every manager runs his team differently, and it is Terry Collins’ style to deputize veterans to police the room. Immediately upon arriving in 2011, Collins forged alliances with Wright, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana. Later, he made clear that he respected Harvey and took him seriously. Especially since spearheading the campaign to make Wright the team captain in 2013, Collins has worked with his third baseman as a leadership partner. This year, if Cuddyer’s personality is as advertised, the manager will have another classy, mature veteran to serve as an intermediary between his office and the locker room. None of this matters if the team does not compete for a playoff spot. Every non-contending club sees its spirit fizzle in the second half, with nothing to play for but personal stats and bonus clauses. But if this is actually going to be the first interesting Mets team since the Omar Minaya years (we’ll believe it when we see it, but that’s what they’re selling right now), Cuddyer’s personality will a key element. “First and foremost, you can’t be an imposter,” Cuddyer said. “You’ve got to go out and be yourself.” If he can maintain this through the slog of a New York season, the team’s captain and most important player will be relieved. Source: nydailynews/ newsnyork/mets-michael-cuddyer-looks-to-ease-david-wrights-burden-both-on-and-off-the-field/
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 07:00:48 +0000
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