SS...Will A Change Come Soon? Who Will be the SS in September?

[Mr. Magoo]

Late in the offseason, the Mets decided to take a shot on Tejada after Drew refused to sign, and Seattle and the D-Bags wanted Montero, Thor, and TdA/Plawecki for their sub-par or unproven SS prospects (Franklin, and DiDi).

The Met chose to stand pat, and thought they might have something in prospect Wilmer Flores, whose bat made him a top prospect, and had spent the winter at a fitness camp in Michigan to improve his athleticism...the same fitness camp Tejada attended.

After a solid spring traning, Flores was sent to Vegas to learn to play SS full time. There was also a guy named Wilfredo Tovar who is a great defender, with no bat.

Going further down the line, there was Matt Reynolds. An offense first SS drafted in the second round of the 2012 draft as compensation for losing Reyes (who Sandy screwed up by not trading or signing because we got "nothing in return.")

Tovar is hitting pretty well, and Reynolds is mashing. Cecchini is also coming along, but what of Flores? He got off to a horrible start in Vegas...yes, that Vegas, where everyone hits.

Almost a month ago on Metsblog, Cerrone posted this:

This past weekend, I talked with someone in baseball who has been watching Wilmer Flores play shortstop for Triple-A Las Vegas.

“He can make the routine play, his range is better than expected, but he needs to improve his awareness around the infield,” he told me.

For instance, if Flores gets a high chopper and a runner is advancing, the expert explained, he still shows a bit of panic or confusion on the play.

“It’s fine for now, but he’ll need to be quicker than that in the big-leagues, especially at shortstop,” he concluded.
Flores is batting just .176 with no extra base hits and five strike outs in eight games.

There is no way to know this for fact, but my initial thought here is that Flores may be struggling to hit, while working hard and spending time learning shortstop. Or, it’s just a rough start, bad luck, etc. It happens. In either case, though, it’s never wise to bring a kid learning a new position to the big leagues in the middle of a slump, no matter how justified. Team insiders seemed to be indicating all March that Flores would get at least a month in Triple-A to get comfortable, keep learning and show what he’s capable of doing for the Mets.

http://metsblog.com/metsblog/how-is-...where-is-drew/

So here we are, 3 weeks later, and Flores has gone from hitting .176 with no extra base hits to hitting .290/.351/.460 with 4 HR and 19 RBI in 100 AB's. This is a bat that we need in our lineup, and hope that he can play SS adequately. If his defense is at least as good as what we've seen so far, he's an upgrade.

The time has come to replace our SS with Flores, move Tovar to AAA to see if he can produce (I know it's Vegas), and evaluate Reynolds at AA. Flores can be our SS today, while the team figures out who is the SS of the future until Cecchini is ready.

My guess is that the Mets will makea move at SS by May 15th.

[YoungStuna]

Drew never refused to sign with the Mets. They never even made him an offer.

The Franklin/Didi rumor was just that, a rumor. Anyone could have came up with the names mentioned.

Flores is not a SS, and his Vegas numbers are not impressive in the slightest. I'm not against trying him though.

Reynolds is not hitting for any power, and he is not much of a SS either. He profiles best as a utility guy.

Tovar is probably our best option right now because his glove is better than Quintanilla's or Tejada's, and he literally can't be any worse with the bat. He is doing very well in AA, and Vegas isn't going to do anything for him.

All these guys should be stopgaps for when we finally sign Drew once and for all after the draft.

[metswon69]

With the way Tejada and Q basically turn neutral to negative WAR values and their lack of offense, I think it's time to see Flores at SS. We all know about his defensive inadequacies (he has 6 errors already at SS) but could he really be worse than the type of value Jeter provides defensively? Even if he is a negative 10 to 15 defender, you would have to believe his potential offense is worth meriting a shot.

That said, there are obvious questions within the organization whether he could even hold down the spot in the short term which suggests to me that his defense is even more of a concern at SS than we believe. I know they worked on the infield for Cashman Field before the season but the ball probably still has great exit speed off the bat on the ground (with the condition of the dirt) and in the air in 100 degree temperatures.

I don't know what to say with Flores. I would give him a shot though. His offense could be used and if it doesn't work out then they go back to Tejada until they trade for one or acquire one in FA (which is inevitable). Certainly him or Tovar should be considered at this point.

[Paulie6986]

Some weak options.......

Nothing looks appealing. All I see is a bunch of no-name unaccomplished or unpolished minor leaguers and a whole deal of wishful thinking.......

Let's face it, this was all planned by SA. He could have made a trade if he wanted in the off-season, but the plan wasn't to compete this year. Dammit, look at our crack BP. Why didn't SA pay LaTroy Hawkins? Oops, got off-topic.....

Anyway, SS will be an Achilles heel all year. It's embarrassing having AAAA players at such a critical infield position......

- - - - Juan Lagares should be playing everyday too!

[fanofclendennon]

Without using my tired line about urination and spark plugs, theyve got to do something. Might as well see what Flores can do at short.

But dont kid yourselves. As bad as Tejada and Q have been defensively, Flores could be worse under the big league lights.

But I agree with Magoo that we at least should see what we have.

[Claymation]

David Wright: What's your biggest fear?

Wilmer Flores: It's baseball being hit in my general direction.

[Sick Of It All]

I just don't think he will be even close to average at SS defensively.

[StoicSentry]

Drew never refused to sign with the Mets. They never even made him an offer.

The Franklin/Didi rumor was just that, a rumor. Anyone could have came up with the names mentioned.

Flores is not a SS, and his Vegas numbers are not impressive in the slightest. I'm not against trying him though.

Reynolds is not hitting for any power, and he is not much of a SS either. He profiles best as a utility guy.

Tovar is probably our best option right now because his glove is better than Quintanilla's or Tejada's, and he literally can't be any worse with the bat. He is doing very well in AA, and Vegas isn't going to do anything for him.

All these guys should be stopgaps for when we finally sign Drew once and for all after the draft.

You just saved me a post.

[Claymation]

Drew never refused to sign with the Mets. They never even made him an offer.

The Franklin/Didi rumor was just that, a rumor. Anyone could have came up with the names mentioned.

Flores is not a SS, and his Vegas numbers are not impressive in the slightest. I'm not against trying him though.

Reynolds is not hitting for any power, and he is not much of a SS either. He profiles best as a utility guy.

Tovar is probably our best option right now because his glove is better than Quintanilla's or Tejada's, and he literally can't be any worse with the bat. He is doing very well in AA, and Vegas isn't going to do anything for him.

All these guys should be stopgaps for when we finally sign Drew once and for all after the draft.

That's not what I heard.

[Dr Voodoo]

I hope Stuna is right about signing Drew after the draft but given Sandy's prudently prudent foot dragging I hold my nose and predict Tejada will be our SS in September.

[WrightStuff82]

We're not signing Drew. Just a Stuna pipedream.

[vtmet]

David Wright: What's your biggest fear?

Wilmer Flores: It's baseball being hit in my general direction.

With how bad Tej/Q are offensively, combined with neither one of them fielding like Ozzie..I really don't see where a Davey Johnson approach would make the team any worse...We have mostly flyball pitchers anyhow...

Give Flores a shot at short to see what he can do, if nothing else to establish how he hits MLB pitching....If we have a lead in the later innings, bring in Rafeal Santana, I mean Ruben Tejada, to close out the games...

If Flores winds up being an absolute butcher at short...then have David Wright do a Chipper Jones for the good of the team in a season where we have no viable shortstops, yet plenty of able 3rd basemen...

[WrightStuff82]

With how bad Tej/Q are offensively, combined with neither one of them fielding like Ozzie..I really don't see where a Davey Johnson approach would make the team any worse...We have mostly flyball pitchers anyhow...

We are league average on balls hit to our SS.

[vtmet]

We're not signing Drew. Just a Stuna pipedream.

too bad we didn't trade for Dee Gordon in the offseason when he still sucked offensively and nobody wanted him...now he's doing what Eric Young junior was supposed to do: .375 OBP; .817 OPS; 19 steals; 17 runs and 8 XBH in 30 games for the weak hitting shortstop that lost his job to Hanley Ramirez...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/30726/dee-gordon

[WrightStuff82]

Takes two teams to make a trade. There's no reason to believe that the Dodgers were willing to sell low on Dee Gordon.