Reassessing the shortstop situation with Franklin, Owings and Drew

The Mets shortstop situation seems to change weekly. It’s obvious that the Mets aren’t satisfied with their current players at the position (Ruben Tejada, Omar Quintanilla, Wilfredo Tovar and possibly Wilmer Flores), but are also not willing to go overboard for any shortstop that is not currently on the roster. So, we are all subject to a myriad of rumors and opinions. I myself have written directly about the subject twice and mentioned the situation on multiple other occasions. It’s an important situation, but it’s also become an endless litany of rumor and speculation.

So, here’s where we stand now:

It’s obvious that the Mets are not enamored with Ruben Tejada for multiple reasons. One is his work ethic, which has been challenged enough times that it meets the criteria for the saying, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”. Same goes with his conditioning. It was noted that last year, Tejada was out of shape. This winter he went to a fitness program, got to spring training a week early and the Mets still have leaks stating that some people feel he “looks the same as last year”. He also had an abysmal year last season and has very limited upside offensively. He’s a solid defender, but not spectacular by any means, so he doesn’t fit into the mold of the light hitting, excellent fielding shortstop. To sum up, Tejada is a major league player, but most likely best suited to be a utility infielder and spot starter at shortstop and second base.

Unfortunately for the Mets, they don’t have a better in house option. Flores has talent, but it’s unknown whether he can handle shortstop in the big leagues long term. Quintanilla is a borderline major leaguer who is really only suited to be a utility infielder and might really be one of those dreaded quadruple A players that will be productive one year and not productive the next. What Quintanilla definitely is not is a starting shortstop. Tovar is too young and inexperienced to take on the position this year, and although he totally fits the mold of the light hitting, excellent fielding shortstop, it is unknown whether he can hit enough at the major league level.

So, the Mets have a dilemma, which is why so much contradicting information has come out about Tejada. The Mets understand that Tejada very well might be their starting shortstop when Spring Training ends. That means that, even though they aren’t happy with the idea of Tejada being a starter this coming year, they also know that they can’t make that too public. This has left us with David Wright publically defending Tejada while Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins talk about seeing unspecified changes in Tejada and quoting that they are comfortable with the idea of Tejada starting the season at shortstop.

However, we all know the truth about that, which has been proven time and again as the Mets are repeatedly connected to every available shortstop known to man. This list has not only included major leaguer’s like Rafael Furcal and Jhonny Peralta, but also Cuban imports. What is definite is that they have been looking for shortstops and, to this point, have either been outbid in free agency, turned off by the money being asked by free agent shorstops and turned away by the asking price of shorstops in trades.

Where are we now then? The situation in camp hasn’t changed. Tejada is the teams’ shortstop right now, but how long that will be is unknown. Currently, Stephen Drew is still a free agent and the Mets seem to be playing chicken with his agent Scott Boras. It’s well known now that the Mets had conversations with the Mariners during the winter meetings about Nick Franklin, but that those talks never went anywhere. It seems that those talks might resume, as well as talks for one of the Arizona Diamondbacks shorstops. Discussions also occurred on that front during the winter meetings, but got no traction.

If I were to make an educated guess, the Mets are looking at Drew, Franklin and Arizona shortstop Chris Owings. They will also assess whether Flores can play the position, as well as Franklin. Whether they can swing a deal for Franklin or Owings remains to be seen. Kevin Towers publically stating a desire for a catcher seems to point to Travis d’Arnaud, but it’s doubtful that the Mets will trade the player that so many people still dub the best catching prospect in Baseball. On top of that, it’s thought that the Diamondbacks want a young pitcher to go along with the catcher. If that deal was Jacob DeGrom and Kevin Plawecki for Owings, then I’m in, but if its d’Arnaud and Rafael Montero, I’m out. That makes me think that Owings is probably not going anywhere, even if it appears that Towers really wants to move one of Arizona’s shortstops.

That leaves us with Franklin and Drew. I wrote against Franklin recently, but have learned some information since then that has made me change my mind a little bit. I’m still not certain that he can field the position well enough, but that also can be said for Flores. Reports state that Franklin doesn’t have a good arm for shortstop, but he’s also been described as someone who will “run through walls” as a baseball player. That’s the kind of player that no team can have enough of, along with switch hitting shorstops who have plus bats. Although it’s hard to view a middle of the infield tandem of Daniel Murphy and Franklin being defensively strong, it doesn’t hurt for the Mets to take a close look at Franklin this spring to see if he’s worth an asset. That being said, if the asking price is Montero, I walk.

In the end, it all comes down to Drew and Boras. This whole thing, building up Tejada, talking about Flores as a shortstop, revealing discussions with the Diamondbacks and Mariners, looks like it’s all been a big bluff in the direction of Boras. This Drew situation is as dramatic as free agency gets. The Mets seem to be his only real suitor. The Yankees have publically stated they are out. The Red Sox have said they will use him as a utility infielder. Other teams, the Twins for instance, have been mentioned as suitors, but nothing of substance seems to connect them with Drew. It’s pretty obvious that the Mets and Boras are in a staring contest, waiting for who will blink first.

Drew makes the most sense of all of them really. He’s a better fielder than Tejada or Franklin and more proven than Owings. He can also bat leadoff, which would give the Mets a lot more flexibility in their lineup. If he struggles against lefties like he did last year, Tejada will get plenty of at bats, thus not stunting his development. Since he wants a bigger contract, Drew would also probably come fairly cheap in terms of dollars and definitely years (I could see a two year deal with the second year being an option that was for the Mets, Drew or mutual).

However, I’m not totally sold that the Mets are going to go that route, or that Drew is going to lower his price enough for the Mets to bite.

To sum up this reassessment of the situation, the lowest odds for shortstop next year have to be Owings as it doesn’t look like the Mets and Diamondbacks are going to have that much common ground. The next least likely is Franklin, partially due to asking price and partially due to the fact that he would have to perform exceedingly well in order to have the Mets to trade away and asset for a similar situation that they could have with Flores (good hit, average/below average fielder at shortstop).

After that, it’s pretty even between Drew and the Mets sticking with their guns. In the sticking scenario, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Flores impresses somewhat in spring training, but that the Mets decide to get him back in the everyday scheme of things in the minor leagues, while they see what Tejada will bring, meaning that if Tejada flops and Flores is competent at shortstop, that Flores could be ending the year at the position. The odds that Drew comes are just logical. Drew’s a fit, the Mets want a shortstop and Drew wants a team.

All in all, it’s been pretty exhausting to be honest and an ending will be appreciated. Here’s hoping that’s soon, although it doesn’t look like a resolution is coming any time soon.