New York Mets Announcement

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, everybody, for coming. Without further ado I'd like to introduce Sandy Alderson, the Mets' general manager, to get our program started.

SANDY ALDERSON: Thank you, Jason. Thank you all for coming today. We're here today to confirm that David Wright has signed a long extension with the New York Mets to remain with the franchise over the next eight years. David has had an extraordinary career as a Met over the last nine years. He's the offensive leader in many, many categories already during his career, and obviously we want to thank David for his contributions to date, in addition and equally important for his loyalty to the organization and the way in which he has represented the New York Mets over the entire nine years of his time in New York.

We're very excited about this contract. We're very excited about the continuing relationship. It's symbolic in many ways, I think, of where the Mets are going but also the commitment that we have to our history and to our tradition, and to those who have performed for us and been home grown and been with the Mets their entire career.

Today is about the future of the Mets, and this is a cornerstone relationship that we think will allow us to continue to build and provide a winning future for the Mets going forward.

There are lots of people to thank who were involved in this process. I want to start with Seth and Sam Levinson, Keith Miller, Peter Pedalino from Aces. From the Mets organization, this would not have happened without John Ricco and David Cone. And finally I want to thank Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz. Without this commitment on their part to David and the Mets, we would not be having this press conference.

So it's with real pleasure that I introduce David Wright, or reintroduce David Wright, as a great New York Met and a New York Met for many years into the future.

DAVID WRIGHT: Hi, guys. There's a laundry list of people that I'd like to start out by thanking. First and foremost, Mr. Wilpon, Mr. Katz. Is it okay to start calling you Jeff now? Jeff Wilpon. I think that the ownership with me starting out as an 18 year old, it's become a family. I consider those families part of my extended family, and I'm humbled, I'm excited. I can't thank them enough for the commitment that they've made to me the first nine years and the next eight. It's been a blessing, a pleasure to play for you guys, and there's going to be a lot of good times to come.

You know, secondly, I'd like to thank my family, my mother, my father, my beautiful girlfriend Molly is here, my little brothers, all of my family that has been there for me from the start and obviously wouldn't be here today without them.

Thirdly, I'd like to thank my representation, the best in the business, Sam and Seth Levinson, Keith Miller, Peter Pedalino, all the people behind the scenes, all the girls at the office. I couldn't have done it without you guys, and it means a lot to have you guys in my corner.

And I think lastly and probably well, before lastly, I'd like to take time to thank the writers, the media. There is no No. 5, there is no third baseman for the New York Mets without the media. You guys have really given me a fair shake from the beginning, and I can't thank you enough for the relationships that I have with you guys and hopefully have those relationships moving forward.

And lastly, and probably most importantly, I'd like to thank the Met fans. Again, from day one, the Mets fans have had my back. They've seen a lot of strikeouts, a lot of errors, and they've stuck with me through the good times and the bad. I'm here today to promise you that I'm going to give everything I have out there to bring a championship back to Queens, and I'm going to do everything I can to get this organization back going in the direction that I think we're going, and it's important to me. I take a lot of pride in putting this uniform on every day. I take a lot of pride in going out there and trying to play hard in front of those fans every day. And there's a lot of good times to come.

Sandy, obviously a tremendous thank you for putting up with the Levinson brothers during his negotiations. The front office was fantastic. Sandy, John Ricco, Paul, J.P., obviously couldn't have gotten this done without you, so I appreciate the commitment. I appreciate the just the entire process. Like I said, we're going to go out there and win for you, we're going to go out there and win for ownership, we're going to go out there and win for the Mets fans.

Thank you. As I mentioned before, I'm humbled, privileged, emotional. It was very important to me from day one that I start or finish what I started, and things haven't gone the way we would have liked them to the last couple years, but that's going to change and we're going to get this thing going in the direction where I want it to go and all those Mets fans want it to go. So thank you to everybody involved. This is where I've wanted to play from day one. I grew up a Met fan, going out to our Triple A affiliate, Norfolk Tides, and just humbled to be here and a dream come true to be able to finish my career where I've started it and hopefully add a championship or two.

Q. David, was there a point maybe the last game of the season, any point at all, that you just envisioned yourself, what if you were putting on a different uniform next year or in a year and a half? Did that ever enter your mind? I know you always talked about you wanted to stay here, but did that thought ever cross your mind?

DAVID WRIGHT: No, no. I made it very clear after Sandy visited me in Norfolk after a round of golf and sitting having a late lunch, that was the first step. After I heard the conviction, the plan moving forward, I was all in.

From then on, I informed my guys that we need to get this done. So to me there was no thought of ever putting another uniform on.