Should David Wright Offer to Change Positions for A-Rod?

This past spring training Alex Rodriguez was once again in the news and many people wondered if Alex Rodriguez would opt out of his contract and leave the New York Yankees at the end of this season.

Then came a voice from that other New York team. The New York Mets third baseman and superstar of the future, David Wright, decided to chime in. David Wright told reporters that if Alex Rodriguez wanted to come play for the New York Mets he would change positions.

For some reason people were shocked David Wright would say such a thing. Many people, including his own Manager Willie Randolph, said he shouldn't have said that. The main reason people felt this way is because they think David Wright should not be handing over his team captain spot to somebody else. David Wright is a star on the New York Mets and is only 24 years old. He'll hopefully be in a New York Mets jersey for the next 10 or 15 years to come. The New York Mets are expecting David Wright to be their Derek Jeter.

I don't get what the big deal is. David Wright never said, "I'll give my team captain spot to Alex Rodriguez because I don't want it." All David Wright did was offer Alex Rodriguez the third base position, not the team captain position.

If I recall correctly when Alex Rodriguez was traded from the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees, the New York Yankees had a dilemma. They now have two shortstops, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Many fans and people in the media thought that Derek Jeter should do the right thing, be the team captain that he is and offer to change positions to accommodate the new member of the team, Alex Rodriguez. Isn't that what a team captain does? Welcome people to the team? Do whatever the team asks of them? When Derek Jeter never offered to move to third base and Alex Rodriguez was forced to be the one to move to third base people were all over Derek Jeter, saying he should've offered Alex Rodriguez the shortstop position.

Fast forward a couple of seasons later and now David Wright is doing exactly what people said Derek Jeter should've done years ago. David Wright is being a team captain when he says that he would change positions for a player that was brought in. David Wright understands that Alex Rodriguez is possibly the best player in baseball. David Wright understands that Alex Rodriguez is possibly the best player of all time. David Wright understands that at this point in their careers Alex Rodriguez is better than David Wright. David Wright was absolutely doing the right thing by saying if Alex Rodriguez came to the New York Mets he would change positions. David Wright was not giving Alex Rodriguez his spot as team captain; he was being the team captain.

But of course the media pounced on him too. Why? The media can not have it both ways. Either what Derek Jeter did a few years ago is wrong and David Wright is right now or Derek Jeter was right then and David Wright is wrong now. It makes no sense to say that Derek Jeter was wrong then and David Wright is wrong now. I really wish the media would let us know what they want in order for a single person to satisfy them for once.