#OnDeck: Mets' hunt for a shortstop seems to have ended
The NL East has been home to several of baseball's most productive shortstops in recent years.
The NL East has been home to several of baseball's most productive shortstops in recent years. Jose Reyes got on base and infuriated Larry Andersen for a generations of Phillies-Mets games. In the same era, Jimmy Rollins kept a lid on the hole between second and third for the Phillies. As time went on, the Nationals found a rare power-hitting shortstop in Ian Desmond, and the Braves dug a defensive whiz named Andrelton Simmons out of their farm system. But now, Rollins and Reyes have since departed, lowering the bar considerably, and with Desmond a free agent, the golden age of NL East shortstops looks close to an end.
Since the departure of Reyes, the Mets have had particular trouble filling his role. This offseason, the issue has remained for New York, growing in concern among fans with each passing day as the position lacks a reliable, productive starter on a team slowly reconstructing.
Many times, Rockies' All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has been linked to the team, his tantalizing numbers seeming too good for Flushing: a .340 BA last year with a skyrocketing OPS of 1.035; but these numbers come with the demoralizing fact that he only made it into 91 games - the second year out of the last three in which he was failed to make it into at least 100. Regardless, Tulowitzki would be a huge get - but the Mets won't get him. He's a franchise player worth $157 million, and as a Mets beat writer put it in early January, acquiring him had "never been a likely scenario."
Nor is it likely that they'll land 2016 free agent-to-be Desmond, with whom they had also been linked this offseason. A three-way trade involving Washington and Tampa had been discussed, but in the end, the other two teams decided they could pull the deal off without involving the Mets, and did. Pulling in Desmond would have likely been a mere rental for one year anyway, and cost the Mets one of their very valuable young pitching prospects. And the Mets aren't close enough that a single Ian Desmond would have put them over the top.
Prior to both Tulo and Desmond, the Mets had even attempted to snare Jimmy Rollins, who refused to go. The closest the Mets may get to a real starting shortstop is their GM Sandy Alderson introducing Cal Ripken at a recent awards event this month:
"It's a big night for me and for Mets fans who have been waiting all winter for me to introduce a shortstop."
While Mets fans buried their faces into their hands, there continued to not be an answer at shortstop on their 40-man roster. In lieu of a Desmond or Tulowitzki, they seem to be settling on Wilmer Flores.
Poor, poor Wilmer Flores.
The 23-year-old, after 105 games in the majors and 354 at-bats, is hitting .240/.275/.356. Not awful, especially for a younger guy, but the concerns lie in Flores' fielding range, placement, and accuracy. But it's not really his fault; he was stationed at third in the minors in 2011, having been moved from short for exactly the reasons just listed. However, the Mets didn't need a third baseman last season, they needed a shortstop, and with middle infielder supplies low, they dropped Flores in the spot and watched what happened.
What happened was not quite the menacing of the National League that other Mets shortstops have managed over the years.
Most of Flores' career at-bats have, in fact, come against the Phillies. He has put up a respectable .266/.288/.359 against the Philadelphia staff, with one of his seven career home runs and 17 of his 84 hits. This season, Fangraphs projects him to stay relatively the same offensively, except for his power, as they see his SLG going from .378 to .396 and his WAR raising from 1.3 to 1.7. They even pointed out how the Mets' could make up for not having an elite shortstop by adding offense at other positions.
Granted, Flores departed on an immediate winter baseball tour in the Dominican following the close of Mets' business on the 2014 season, and headed to Port St. Lucie for a voluntary training session January 11. He's putting in his time, and the team is optimistic about his bat, it's just that he just may not physically be capable of handling shortstop full time.
At this point, with Tulowitzki a fairy tale, Desmond not an option, and Stephen Drew's main appeal being that he's not Wilmer Flores, Flores will almost definitely be starting for the Mets this year. The other tangible option is Ruben Tejada, who was Wilmer Flores last season in that he was being tasked with the Mets' shortstop role mostly because somebody had to do it.
Mets fans can feel themselves close to the end of what has been a six-year playoff drought. Solving several problems this winter has gone a long way toward development with more pieces in place than ever. If Flores is at shortstop on opening day, it will be seen as a shortcoming, despite his work and his ability to step up in big moments, unlike some of the Mets' other hitters.
A sense of dread and cynicism isn't unexpected of Mets fans, after all they've been through, so it is easy for them not to see the potential Flores may bring. With no huge star on the horison, 2015 could be the season in which Flores emerges as more than a stop-gap.