Who's Better? David Wright Or Jose Reyes

The past week has been a whirlwind of New York sports news, what with football back in business and the Carlos Beltran trade, so maybe it's time for a breather and some good old-fashioned innocent fun. Which means it's the right time for the second installment of an every-once-in-a-while feature here at SB Nation New York called Who's Better? The first one pitted Derek Jeter against Mariano Rivera, and in a somewhat surprising result, Rivera won in a romp, with 79 percent of the vote. We're not going to go the New York Yankees vs. New York Mets route, as most Yankee fans will vote for the Yankee and the majority of Met fans will vote for the Met, which will prove nothing. We want to make things more interesting than that. So this time around, it's Met vs. Met. David Wright vs. Jose Reyes.

They came up to the Mets one year apart, and only six months separate them in age. Reyes debuted with much fanfare as a teenage phenom in 2003, while Wright also arrived with trumpets and huzzahs. The franchise hasn't ever had a pair of homegrown position players with this much talent playing together for more than a few years the way Wright and Reyes have. There have been pitchers (Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman) or a mixture of pitcher and everyday player (Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry), but a pair of homegrown everyday players that spanned the same era joined at the hip? Cleon Jones and Bud Harrelson? Strawberry and Mookie Wilson or Wally Backman or Lenny Dykstra? Edgardo Alfonzo and Benny Agbayani? Probably not.

Of course, Reyes is in the midst of an MVP-caliber season, and Wright has been hurt for much of the year (but now he's as hot as Reyes was last month). But we're not asking who is having the better season, but who is having the better career. They've both made All-Star Games (five selections for Wright, four for Reyes), and are breaking one franchise record after another. They've been the face of the Mets for almost a decade now, and while there haven't been any World Series appearances, and the team has had an up-and-down rocky road during much of their time in Queens, neither has been involved in scandals or controversy. And they've represented the Mets in a classy way, always willing to face the music when times have been bad. (Bad times for the Mets? When did that ever happen?)

If we take a look at the franchise leader board, the duo is all over it: Reyes is the Met leader in triples and stolen bases (and has led the National League in triples three times, stolen bases three times and hits once). Wright is atop the team's doubles list and has the highest batting average, and is second in RBIs and OBP. And if they both last a few more years in Queens, they'll be one and two in hits and runs. Defensively, Wright has won two Gold Gloves (whether he earned them is up to debate), but Reyes is certainly the superior defender. Here are the career stats for both players:

DAVID WRIGHT:

.303/.382/.513 (.895 OPS); 1,054 games; 1,202 hits; 672 runs; 269 doubles; 16 triples; 177 home runs: 614 RBIs; 147 stolen bases; 510 walks; .294/.382/.485 (.867 OPS) with RISP; .288/.392/.459 (.851 OPS) in late and close situations: 135 OPS+; 32.1 WAR

JOSE REYES:

.291/.339/.441 (.780 OPS); 1,018 games; 1,260 hits; 712 runs; 217 doubles; 99 triples; 78 home runs: 414 RBIs; 363 stolen bases; 319 walks; .290/.367/.457 (.824 OPS) with RISP; .283/.356/.397 (.753 OPS) in late and close situations: 105 OPS+; 27.9 WAR

State your case in the comment section and let the debate begin. Vote now!