David Wright could quickly go from underappreciated to ungrateful

The New York Mets and David Wright have both been clear they want to work out a new contract that will keep the third baseman at Citi Field for the rest of his career. But just a year after the Mets let Jose Reyes walk without getting anything in return, all signs pointed to a trade of Wright being the most likely outcome.

After all, with their finances still in shambles, the Mets would never be able to offer Wright a fair contract. This thinking has led a large part of an already angry fan base to lash out against the Wilpons.

"How dare they treat the face of the franchise so poorly! He deserves better," the complaints would usually sound like.

Then all of a sudden, rreports started to surface about a six-year, $100 million offer from the Mets. A promising first step, beyond what some believed GM Sandy Alderson would be able to include in his final proposal.

[Related: Negotiations with Wright getting serious]

Such an offer should be enough to get a deal done quickly a small bump. After all, with Ryan Zimmerman and Evan Longoria both signing 6-year, $100 million deals, paying Wright more than them is going beyond market value.

It seemed like a good deal for both sides. Then the contract offer reportedly jumped to as much as $140 million over eight years, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. All of a sudden the spotlight was on Wright, because he would be turning down an offer that by all appearances is more he could get next winter on the open market.

Obviously sensing the potential backlash, Wright quickly tried to get in front of the different reports.

"I have said from Day 1 that I want to play my entire career with the New York Mets. I remain hopeful that goal can be achieved. However, I am disappointed by reports that I have read today which are inaccurate."

Are the reports inaccurate? Well, we're probably splitting hairs, because no report is going to get any offer exactly right thanks to potential buy out numbers in option years and incentives for playing time and awards. So Wright can call the reports inaccurate and be right no matter how close they are to reality.

Speaking of reality, the reality of the situation is if Wright draws this process out with such a massive offer on the table, he can quickly go from underappreciated to ungrateful. And suddenly The Golden Child who was in danger of being low-balled by a franchise in financial ruin would be perceived no different than so many other players around the league that don't care about anything but bleeding the last penny out of every contract.