Last year, a friend in this business opened his laptop to write about the latest setback for New York Mets third baseman David Wright, who has been a model of effort and comportment in his career, a leader for the sport. But as the reporter related the next day, he didn't have the stomach for it, for immediately detailing a crossroad that inevitably leads to the end of Wright's career. "I needed a day," he said.

Mets officials can probably understand that sort of angst because, for the organization, it has been personal with Wright, not business.

But now that Wright is out indefinitely, with no guarantee that he'll ever be anything close to the same caliber of player he has been in the past -- or even that he'll ever play again -- the Mets must take a step back and evaluate this situation objectively and identify a replacement, for the immediate and long-term future.

And the truth of the matter is that Wright's injury and the timing of it -- unwanted, for sure -- might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Mets because of how diminished he has been and because the team is in a position to aggressively pursue alternatives.