Wilmer Flores' recent play is at least making the Mets stop to consider they won't have to venture outside the organization to find next year's shortstop.
"We're getting a lot more comfortable," general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post before the Mets' 4-3 loss to the Marlins. "One of the reasons for giving [Flores] as much playing time as we have is to build up his number of plate appearances to get him more comfortable to try to establish sort of a baseline."
Flores, who hit two homers and drove in six runs for the Mets on Tuesday, went 1-for-4 Wednesday night and was 9-for-32 (.281) on the homestand for one of his better offensive stretches since getting handed the starting job in early August.
And the fact he hasn't killed the Mets defensively has only bolstered his candidacy. But Alderson also warned that September — the equivalent of NBA garbage time for teams eliminated from the pennant race — isn't always the best time to judge a young player.
"There are a lot of things to take into account," Alderson said. "The more recent at-bats I think are probably, one would hope, more reflective of his ability. At the same time, it is September and there may be a certain discount there, I'm not sure how much."
Flores was batting .323 with 13 homers and 57 RBIs in 220 at-bats for Triple-A Las Vegas, giving the Mets hope he could produce at the major league level. With David Wright and Lucas Duda entrenched at the corner-infield positions and it likely Daniel Murphy will return at second base, Flores' only chance with the Mets is probably at shortstop.
The Mets' hesitancy to trade their young pitching will make it difficult to swing an offseason deal for a shortstop — think the Cubs' Starlin Castro, Addison Russell or Javier Baez — and the club's limited free-agent dollars (thanks to ownership's tight wallet) could be better served for a left-field upgrade, according to a major league talent evaluator who has scouted the Mets.
"If they went into the offseason and [Flores] is their shortstop and they don't find anybody else, I mean they have bigger issues than shortstop," the talent evaluator said. "Left field is probably their biggest need.
"Why not Flores? He's going to give you more offense than [Ruben] Tejada — he's probably not the defender Tejada is. I think Tejada needs a change of scenery."
Alderson listed Flores, Tejada and Matt Reynolds as the organization's internal options at shortstop. Reynolds batted .333 with five homers and 40 RBIs in 68 games at Las Vegas and has grown on team officials.
"We've seen some positive things out of both Flores and Reynolds," Alderson said. "So we just have to at some point assess how far they've come and what their upside is and what the alternatives might be."
Flores is better suited for a corner-infield position, according to many talent evaluators, but the Mets might be willing to overlook his defensive shortcomings if he continues to produce offensively.
"He's made most of the plays," Alderson said. "He's probably not going to be spectacular, but in his own way he gets to balls, he's got a strong arm, he turns the double play well from both sides of the bag. He's done a very nice job."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
This Met might be the team’s starting shortstop in 2015
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-met-might-be-teamas-starting.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
This Met might be the team’s starting shortstop in 2015
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
This Met might be the team’s starting shortstop in 2015
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar