The New York Post’s Michael Morrissey interrupted the Mets’ Christmas bash in order to pester company man David Wright about the biggest remaining free agent prize on the market.

Mets 3B David Wright enthusiastically suggested that he would be a tour guide for Barry Zito to woo the top-notch free agent. And the franchise’s hot-corner cornerstone figures to do a hard, tough sell “if we get that far,” as he put it.

Wright said that anyone who doesn’t want to play on the biggest stage in baseball needs to be viewed skeptically. It’s a seeming shot across the bow, or a preemptive strike against Zito signing with a pretender like Texas instead of a contender like the Mets.

“I’d be more than open to showing Barry around and try to sell him on New York,” Wright said. “This place sells itself.”

I can’t imagine why anyone would glance at David Wright skeptically.

That said, I do hope The Wright Tour Of The City That Sells Itself comes to fruition, at least before Gray’s Papaya is forced to raise their prices again.

Baseball’s kindly goodwill ambassador, Tommy Lasorda played Santa at the Mattel Children’s Hospital yesterday.

I think it is fair to say those kids have suffered enough.

Though the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy couldn’t resist using the arrival of Daisuke Matsuzaka to take a couple of shots at Keith Foulke and Bill James, there’s at least one halfway funny bit in his “open letter” to the former Seibu Lion.

Be wary of a large teammate with a blond mullet wearing No. 38. He will explain that he is a spokesman for all of the other players and instruct you on everything from tipping the clubhouse kids to throwing the splitter. He will show you his copious notes on all major league umpires. He will tell you which media members to trust and which ones are snakes. He will also urge you to vote Republican.

Actually, that’s the only funny bit.