You can crank up the Wilmer Flores rumors again because the young prospect has landed at #10 on Major League Baseball's second-base rankings. Still just twenty-two years old, it feels as if we've been hearing about Flores' offensive abilities for a decade. The issue remains he has failed to improve upon his suspect defensive skills and has repeatedly been knocked for his lack of range and foot speed.
You may recall that Flores attended the same fitness camp in Michigan that Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada were subjected to. Rumor has it his overall speed improved with the work, but it will have to translate onto the diamond if he's going to breach the major league lineup on a regular basis. Flores finally made his way to the bigs last season, but struggled mightily. In just 95 at-bats, he hit just .211 with only one home run and thirteen RBIs.
Flores can add all the foot speed he wants, he will still find himself beached in AAA Las Vegas behind Daniel Murphy if he remains at second base. Fans who don't often read up on scouting reports will repeatedly ask about Flores shifting over the shortstop, however such a move isn't realistic. He simply isn't good enough. He can appear on all the prospect lists in the world, but until he shifts over to first base he really has no future with the Mets. In fact, I would even go as far as saying he has a much better change of being traded as a secondary piece in a bigger deal than he does of ever being a major league regular in Queens.
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