David Wright Diagnosed with Lower Back Stress Fracture

David Wright appears to have a stress fracture in his lower back, and it has the potential to put him on the disabled list for the rest of the 2011 MLB season. Wright's recent struggles pointed to a back problem, but there were no indications the injury could be quite this serious.

ESPN's Adam Rubin took to Twitter Monday to post news of Wright's injury, stating, "David Wright examined at Hospital for Special Surgery to look at back. Stress fracture in lower back."

This news could be about as bad as it gets for a star player; there is no set timetable for how much time he could end up missing from the Mets lineup. What is definitely known is Wright will seek a second opinion before moving forward. For one of the cornerstones of this franchise, it will also be in the Mets' best interest to make sure that Wright gets the right treatment.

A recent story from the New York Daily News reported Wright had a lot of back discomfort, but he wasn't going to blame any injuries for his hitting problems. It was pretty respectable for Wright to not try to come up with an excuse for his struggles at the plate this season, but now it seems like he had every right to do some complaining. Now his toughness won't be questioned again, and hopefully he can find a way to get back on the field soon.

During this season, Wright had been hitting just .226, with six home runs and 18 RBI. He had recently gone through a stretch of hitting just .118 over the past week, though, and it has become very clear that something was wrong. Now it has come to light that his back problems could be extremely serious, potentially even requiring surgery. No diagnosis has been made official yet, so it is only a preliminary prognosis until Wright receives a second opinion.

For the franchise, this could be exactly the excuse it was looking for to completely re-haul the roster. The Mets are putting along at a 19-21 record this year, tied for last place in the National League East. Though they aren't playing that badly, it would be a very tough year to try to compete for a division title. Losing Wright could signal that it is time to start trading off assets like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran in order to build a stronger team for the future. The market should be very good on Reyes, and that could net New York quite a few A-list prospects.