The 2014 roster is coming together: The Mets are building in a contingency for Bobby Parnell, re-kicking the tires on signing Stephen Drew and debating the value of having Ike Davis and Lucas Duda fight for starting first baseman. You may have seen Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson say wacky things like, “Wilmer Flores will get a look at shortstop this spring,” or, “Josh Satin is taking reps in the outfield.” The truth is that the Mets will have quality players who won’t make the roster because they are defensively limited. This is a quick list of players who might have been contenders for a starting position, had the offseason gone differently.
Wilmer Flores – Flores is not a shortstop. He doesn’t have the quickness, he doesn’t have the instincts and his arm is only adequate for the position. He’s got a future at second base or third base or… the Mets could teach him a new position and have him try first base. If Flores wins the starting shortstop job, a few things will be true: The Mets would have failed to sign Drew, Ruben Tejada and Wilfredo Tovar have proven inept with their bats and Flores has carried the Mets in spring training. I’d love to see it happen but I can’t see the magic. Looking to see Flores play outside of Las Vegas? You will be waiting for David Wright or Daniel Murphy to go down with injuries.
Allan Dykstra – Let us say that the Mets pick a winner in spring training and they end up trading Davis for spare parts. That will leave Duda and Satin splitting the time at first base and Allan Dykstra manning it in AAA. Dykstra has yet to play above AA and has plenty of flaws with his game, but he is definitely on the radar should the lefty half of the MLB platoon go down with injury.
Cesar Puello – A third player who might have been in the conversation for 2014’s opening day is Puello. With Curtis Granderson and Chris Young joining the Mets it isn’t all too likely that Puello has any hope of opening day. This is especially true with Juan Lagares, Eric Young Jr. and Matt Den Dekker gunning for those final three outfield spots. The Mets are hoping Puello will prove ready to step into Young’s shoes in 2015 but if Young or Granderson get hurt and the Mets need a player who can hit towards the heart of their order the answer is most likely going to be Puello. He needs to prove he still has it, but I have faith in him for now. Side note: He will not come up in place of one of the other outfielders unless all three wash out.
Rafael Montero – The Mets didn’t want to have to throw Montero into the big leagues to start the season. Had they not signed John Lannan and Daisuke Matsuzaka he would have been Jenrry Mejia’s primary competition for the rotation spot. As it stands the Mets will be waiting for someone to go down (probably waiting for late June too) before Montero even has a shot at making the rotation. He has no shot to make the rotation this spring, but if Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, Bartolo Colon or any of the others get hurt, he’s going to get his shot. Side note: people don’t like it when I get down on Montero and say things like, “Jacob deGrom has a higher ceiling.” I like Montero, but he’s not shown me anything beyond consistent inning eating with a bit of Dillon Gee’s magic. He is good, but he will never be great. deGrom is far less polished but his raw stuff is superior.
Funny you say that about Montero…Ive read quite a few bits here and there that peg Montero as a relief pitcher. I hope he will be a starter, but the alarm bells seem to be ringing. Wouldnt we have been smart to deal him for some power this off season? Im thinking specifically about Trumbo, and then just dumped all the problem players there?
Trumbo has power but he is another Duda in the OF.
I mean to play 1B. I’d dump Ike in a hurry and wouldn’t have extended him a contract.
I find amazing that a pitcher like Montero who had better stats than Syndergaard at Vegas is looked at by you as being less talented than Jacob degrom. Please look at Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Montero’s numbers and then put up a chart tomorrow telling us with proof how Montero is inferior. Montero deserves a lot more respect than he is getting, just like Dillon Gee doesn’t get respect either. He was only about the best pitcher outside of Harvey last year.
Beyond Minor League Box Scores…. Who here has *Watched* these guys pitch?….how much have you seen them?
I have seen Montero and deGrom pitch one game each back in 2012. I usually sit behind home a few rows back. I could not believe how Montero could consistently hit his spot every single pitch. Pinpoint control from a then 21 year old. DeGrom was no slouch either and pitched very good but wasn’t as polished as Montero at the time.That was two years ago and things may have changed.
If the Mets are really that sold on contending in 2015, why not just give Flores a ton of innings in the minors at SS. My answer is that he should be able to re-learn the position in about 4-5 months, followed by an extremely important call-up in August/September to showcase his skills at short for 2015.
the guy ain’t a shortstop that’s why they moved off the position two seasons ago. they don’t think he can even play a corner OF spot so how can he play SS? How do the Mets come up with all these so so hitters who don’t have positions? Murph,Satin,Duda and now Flores.
How about trade Montero for Didi Gregorius or Montero for starlin Castro?
Gregorius seems to have the lead over Owings, but I’d pull the trigger on that. Castro? No way. Hate the contract, don’t like the player.
Sounds too much like Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields for my taste.
No matter how good Flores plays in spring training he should start the year in AAA. If he shows that he is an adequate replacement then Murphy becomes deadline trade bait (and the Mets land some more top notch prospects) or next winter Murphy gets traded for some quality major league talent. Only an injury should see Flores sooner.
First base is such a mess. It sounds like Davis will get the first 150 at bats and if he fails then Duda will get his 150 at bats and if he fails then it is now July and who knows, maybe Murphy slides to first and Eric Young plays second or Flores comes up to play second. It is such a mess. I’m betting Duda plays as well as an average first baseman and holds the spot until Dominic Brown is ready. Allan Dykstra has better odds parlaying boxcars in Las Vegas.
It is nice to see some major league depth at the minor league level.
David, have you actually seen Montero pitch?