The Mets offseason should be an interesting one. There still is plenty of assessment needed to be made this offseason regarding the current roster with many variables to consider. Sandy Alderson’s continuous evaluation process of the shortstop position will need to be fine-tuned into a definitive answer eventually. There will be many decisions to make regarding another outfielder and the starting pitching but strategy in solidifying the middle infield situation should be a top priority. After all is said and done, don’t be surprised if Wilmer Flores is announced as the opening day starting shortstop on Opening Day.
Since Sandy Alderson arrived in 2011, the shortstop position has been an annual conundrum, or at least that’s how it seems from the outside. In year one of his regime, Jose Reyes’ contract situation became one of the GM’s main inherited tasks regarding the future of the franchise. After declining to make a serious offer to Reyes, the wheels were set in motion for a new shortstop to take the helm into the next era of Mets baseball; unfortunately those wheels are still spinning. Fans and media have criticized the front office for never truly replacing Reyes, but it’s still unclear if all or any criticism is justified.
There are a few avenues Alderson can go in regards to the middle infield including the status quo. As the roster stands right now, Daniel Murphy would be the second baseman and Flores the shortstop respectively. This would be the optimal offensive duo, but the defensive range would be lacking despite both surprisingly handling their positions fairly well. Last year, Flores started 50 games at shortstop compiling four errors while establishing a UZR of 4.0, (5.0 is considered above average, while 0.0 is average). He showed limited range, but made the routine plays while displaying a solid arm. Sound familiar? Much of the same could be said about Murphy ,who after switching positions from third to second in 2011, has shown similarly limited athletic ability up the middle as Flores, yet still exceeds expectations; a dynamic that could prompt a change despite their offensive ceilings. Prototypical is just not a word Flores and Murphy will ever hear regarding their defensive prowess, but GMs feel safer when they have one under that umbrella.
Offensively, the 23 year old Flores got off to a slow start while playing sporadically after his call-up in June. Once Terry Collins tasked him with regular playing time in July, Flores’ bat came to life and showed glimpses of the productivity the Mets had originally projected` for him. In 78 games, including 17 games at second base, Flores had a slash line of .251/.286/.378 in 259 AB. He also compiled 6 HR and 29 RBIs while striking out only 31 times. Without getting too involved in the statistics, if you were to simply double his numbers to reflect a full season it would tally to 12 HR and 58 RBIs. Now, if you acknowledge Flores’ MLB minimum salary plus a minimal raise for next season, can you conclude there is a better option outside of the organization?
Well, it all pretty much depends on how value is coveted or applied. Sure, a trade for Troy Tulowitzki would undoubtedly be an upgrade, but is that a realistic option? Of course the Cubs have a surplus of middle infielders, but what kind of package would it take to land of them? And is it worth it? Again, these are the questions that will hover around the conference room tables in Citi Field this offseason as the Mets’ brass figure out what the best plan is. Despite Flores’ youth and potential, they may look to free agency if they feel the payroll has the room.
So who’s available? Here are the top shortstops eligible when free agency begins, their 2014 statistics, and 2015 age and estimated market value range:
| Player | Age | AB | BA | OPS | HR | RBI | UZR(SS) | 2015 Salary Range |
| Hanley Ramirez | 31 | 449 | .283 | .817 | 13 | 71 | -10.3 | 15-19 Mil per yr. |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 29 | 553 | .241 | .694 | 14 | 61 | -6.6 | 12-16 Mil per yr. |
| Jed Lowrie | 31 | 502 | .249 | .676 | 6 | 59 | 0.6 | 9-13 Mil per yr. |
| Stephen Drew | 32 | 271 | .162 | .536 | 7 | 26 | 3.0 | 4-9 Mil per yr. |
| Wilmer Flores | 23 | 259 | .251 | .664 | 6 | 28 | 4.0 | 500-550K per yr. |
When you lay out the options matched with all the variables, it really seems like a no-brainer. Flores is young and still developing and has comparable or better numbers then players at the peak of their careers.
As for internal options, Ruben Tejada just has not developed like we all thought he would, and Triple-A shortstop Matthew Reynolds is no match to Flores’ offensive potential.
It’s an interesting scenario to monitor the next few months. The fan base seems lukewarm on Flores and desire that proven commodity manning the middle of the diamond like Reyes did for years. Free agency is always a gamble once big money begins being thrown around. There are many teams who have been burned the past few years with contracts that have proven to be overvalued; Stephen Drew being “Exhibit A.” After considering all the options, the risk of Flores’ as an everyday player just doesn’t appear to be high. Whether he passed the eye test of the general manager is a different story; the final decision on “starting shortstop” will obviously reflect the level of faith in Flores.
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When you compare to that list above, it’s obvious Flores is the cheaper, smarter option. Flores may be usurped through trades, though. In addition to Castro, Russell and Lindor, if the Dodgers resign Ramirez, they make look to trade Corey Seager. And the Mets could once again find a trade partner with the Pirates for Alen Hanson. His status as Opening Day SS is still very tenuous.
Good article Sean…..hopefully Alderson reads it….I believe, Flores will be a bit better defensively than average, and one of the better offensive threats at SS in the league for years..
I love Flores’ bat and hope the Mets give him the starting job in 2015. If so, I just hope Terry doesn’t jerk him around by benching him after an 0-fer. He needs to be given a legitimate shot in order to succeed, but I think it will payoff in a big way. I’m excited to see a full season of Wilmer in 2015.
Please pardon the me as I just couldn’t read passed the first few sentences. As I read every article on this site, I will read it later. I apologize in advance as this topic is really bothersome to me.
The whole question of whether Flores can handle shortstop or not should have been answered this year. It is utterly inexcusable that this moronic team totally wasted a year with a player they themselves deemed inadequate after the 2012 season and did not play Flores from the outset.
What were they expecting to learn from playing Tejada? The problem to me is the Wilpons owe Alderson, so they accept his whims. Alderson would like to win, but prefers a subject that gives him peace mind like Collins over a real manager. Collins is managing every game like it’s game 7 of the World Series because he knows he probably may not get another shot.
Hence, when a team doesn’t take the time to develop its players but rather will play a Lagares, a Flores, a MDD, a Kirk only after the Ankiels, Tejadas, Youngs, Abreus, Baxters, Turners, and every other non-rookie they have because someone once told Collins that playing a kid will cost him a game and Collins can’t lose a game to development. He has no time for that! He’s here to win games! But, while he’s trying to be Miller Huggins, this team doesn’t know if MDD can handle a full time role, or if Flores is ready to play shortstop every day.
Ruben Tejada. Still the best SS on this team, until Reynolds shows he can field the position.
And its not even as close as people would have you believe.
I mean, why bother listening to the entire baseball community (including the consensus opinion of everyone within your organization), when simply wishing Wilmer Flores into the position will make you happy?
Flores’ lack of range probably costs you a single every other game. To put that into perspective, its 125 OPS points he needs to make up, just to get to Ruben Tejada and Tejada is only in the upper levels of the bottom quartile of SS.
You will rue turning that position over to Flores and be damned if you combine him with Murphy.
JG, Tejada still can’t field going to his right and is slow going to his left. If the ball is two steps away, it’s almost always a single. Flores has made some nice plays in the hole, and while he may not range too much, he has a better arm and can make the play in the hole and I see Tejada’s and Flores’ range as similar. Furthermore, if Flores just makes the routine play, that’s fine because it’s not for sure Tejada will. But, my point is we should have seen more of Flores this year to know for sure.
I agree. We should have seen more of Flores.
I disagree. The short track record of Flores belies a broader context of what was seen in the minors and the actions of our own talent evaluators.
I think he can hit. I don’t think he’ll field the position even close to Tejada (who has an established track record of providing above average defense) – and Tejada still is not 25 with almost 3000 ML innings to his credit.
To me, its Duda once again. Its Mike Morse, it’s countless guys with a bat that are force fed into the wrong position to get a bat into the lineup.
Each his own.
Forget the players, if Joe Maddon isnt starting on the top step, it shows this ownership and FO has no stones. Fire Collins (meaning give him a social promotion to special assistant to the GM), and make Maddon skipper for 5 years (25-30M$) with the mandate to be in the WS in that tenure.
He’s the kind of manager that can do that.
I know I have said quite a bit in the comments, sorry. But, after reading the article, I’d like to point out something: Flores did not start playing everyday until August 3rd: in August and September (as those were the months of steady PT) he had 169 ABs, with 44 h, 5 HR, 23 R, 22 RBI while mostly batting eighth. On the rare occasion he didn’t bat eighth, he was batting fifth! That’s quite a promotion!
If we triple his small sample size we get just over 500 ABs, 15 HRs, 69 R, 66 RBIs. Not great, but, a good start. The kid should have never been moved from SS, but when this regime took over their crystal balls told them the kid will not be able to handle SS. So since they could tell the future, they didn’t let the kid try to keep his spot but rather they moved him. Every write-up I have read from Fangraphs to scouts quoted in articles say that he is about average fielding. How can this player not be given a chance?
Because when you’re being outhit by Tejada over the final 2 months… you know you suck as a hitter.
That’s a hell of a generalization Sean when you say the fan base “seems” to have gone lukewarm on Flores. Really? Has he played an entire season and floundered like Tejada? I can’t see how the “fan base” is down on a player when the GM should bear the brunt of the criticism. If you’re going to ask Flores to play SS I think it would be a good idea if you asked him to play the position in winter ball before the start of the season so he can get re-acclimated. But then again that would be asking for the front office to have a game plan in place instead of throwing darts blind-folded. Sign or trade for a left fielder. Give Flores the SS position for the outset of 2015. Players “seem” to perform better when they know they’re not going to be yanked out of a line up if they.take an o-fer in one game. And if he doesn’t outperform RT then at least you know what has to be done in2016
“If we triple his small sample size we get just over 500 ABs, 15 HRs, 69 R, 66 RBIs. Not great, but, a good start.”
Only five shortstops had 15 or more homeruns this year. Nine had more than 69 runs. And six had more than 66 RBI. Those are All-Star numbers.
On this present roster, Flores should be the starting shortstop. If the Mets want to increase their chances at a playoff spot they will upgrade at shortstop to a better defensive SS than Flores that can hit better than Flores which was a .664 OPS.His minor league numbers indicate, when translated from Las Vegas, that around .664 OPS is what should be expected.
If the Mets decide to trade Murphy because of financial reasons then I can see Flores sliding over to secondbase but that should be short lived because Herrera is a better option. I see Flores future as a utilitity infielder.
Two points that the posters picked up on. Flores did not get the job until August and Alderson did not go into the 2014 season with a plan for SS. Hopefully he won’t make the same mistake and instead upgrade the position for 2015.
If you pair Herrera with Tejada, you’ll get the best defensive alignment on the team and hardly lose a beat at the plate.
Get Plawecki at C, and you’ve created a young core through the middle with Lagares in CF that can choke off runs and play up your pitching.
Was that a suggestion that d’Arnaud should be traded, moved to the outfield, or just that both should play?
Is Wilmer the 2B if Murphy is traded?
Will Montero be swapped for Didi?
Will Thor be swapped for one of the Cubs SS?
I want Wilmer in the lineup. I want a top defender at SS. I want production in the corner OF slots.
Will be interesting how this plays out…
Interesting comments. I can’t see how any definitive conclusions regarding Flores’ can be made considering the guy hasn’t even played a full season yet. I use the “lukewarm” to reflect the indecision in the reception. I think the fans are hopeful he becomes a fixture, just unsure if he’s capable.
His defense was servicable last year, which is why I included the UZR to compare to veteran shortstops. Range is an issue definitely, as is his size which I imagine will become a factor soon. If money is indeed tight, than he becomes an asset IMO because spending could be used elsewhere to upgrade the offense.