MLB

Wright optimistic the ‘ugly’ seasons are behind Mets

When David Wright signed a long-term contract extension with the Mets, he bought into general manager Sandy Alderson’s plan to propel the team back to contending in the National League, beginning in 2014.

And though ace Matt Harvey will miss the season following elbow surgery and the team’s payroll flexibility to woo free agents remains opaque, Wright says he is optimistic the front office will field an improved Mets team as soon as next season.

“I’m expecting us to field a much better team than we have in years past,” he said Monday afternoon on Mike Francesa’s WFAN show. “There are expectations. Does that mean that there’s certain dollar signs that I want to spend? Of course not. We’ve proven that we haven’t been able to get it done these last few years, so obviously, some upgrades are needed. I’m like a lot of Mets fans, where you obviously want to make this team better, and I think that Sandy wants that also, and that’s just a matter of balancing out between going out and spending money, making trades, trying to keep some of this young pitching … in the organization.”

Wright said despite the team not making a major splash in the opening weeks of the Hot Stove season, there’s still plenty of time.

“Obviously for us, the offseason has started out somewhat slow, he said. “We signed Chris Young, but I think things start heating up come Winter Meetings. Last year, when I signed my extension it was at the Winter Meetings and when I got down there and saw all the action going on, that’s when things started heating up for a lot of teams, and that’s what I’m hoping we go into.”

Wright, who signed an extension that keeps him under contract through 2020, acknowledged the Mets’ past few “ugly” seasons were difficult to endure. But he thinks the rut — an average of 75 wins the past five season, with four fourth-place finishes before last season’s third-place result — will make the franchise’s turnaround all the sweeter.

“It’s tough,” he said. “Being a competitor, being ultra-competitive, it’s just in my DNA. Just as equally important to that is, you want to experience the good, the winning. Unfortunately, I’ve only had one season of that, where we’ve been to the postseason, within a couple of runs of going to the World Series. It’s important to me that we go through this down period that we’ve been through, and everybody points to the winter of 2014 when we’re going to start getting things turned around. For me, that’s going to be the ultimate gratification, when we go through those lean years and get things going in the right direction, and I get a chance to be a part of that, through the good, the bad and the ugly.

“I’m not here to sugarcoat anything — it’s been ugly the last few years. I want to be one of those main reasons why we get things turned around going in that direction. I’ve had a little taste of what it’s like to win in New York, and it’s addicting. It’s something that you want to get back to, so that’s why I wanted to stay here. That’s why I believe that the plan that we have moving forward is going to be a successful one. I’m really going to enjoy sitting back after my career is over with, and having gone through what I’ve gone through, to get this thing turned around and to win here, it’s going to be extra-special.”