/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46541656/usa-today-8604836.0.jpg)
Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson says there is a "realistic possibility" that third baseman David Wright could return to the Mets at the All-Star break. Alderson, speaking at the VA Hospital in Brooklyn, said "Realistically I'm looking at probably the All-Star break as a possibility" for Wright's return. Alderson says this would be a target date for a return to the big league club, not for a rehab assignment. The timing of Alderson's quotes today coincides roughly with Wright's disabled list stint reaching 60 days, at which point his $20 million salary reportedly becomes 75% insured.
Wright, who has been out indefinitely with what has been diagnosed as spinal stenosis, has not seen game action since April 14, and has recently been rehabbing in Southern California. Before a hamstring injury landed him on the disabled list and morphed into a back issue, the Mets' captain was batting .333/.371/.424 in just 33 at bats. In his absence, the Mets have been forced to patch together an infield, giving time at third base to the likes of Eric Campbell, Ruben Tejada, and Daniel Murphy, none of whom can replace the type of production that Wright could offer the Mets.