On May 23rd, ESPN’s Mets beat reporter Adam Rubin asked where all the “Moneyball” players are. Where are the players you could sign at bargain-basement prices who could become the Mets’ version of Scott Hatteberg (as seen in the book and movie “Moneyball”)?
It was a fair question, given that the Mets were still fumbling with players like Collin Cowgill, Shaun Marcum, and Scott Atchison (as he mentioned) at the time.
But since then, several “hidden-value” players worthy of Billy Beane’s teams of the aughts have emerged.
The only questions about Flores are when and where.
Infielder Wilmer Flores and first baseman Allan Dykstra are headed to their respective league’s all-star games this year – Flores in Triple-A and Dykstra in Double-A. Each player took a different path to get to where they are now, and may still take a different path to the majors. Let’s take a look where these two might end up in the Mets plans.
Wilmer Flores
Flores has steadily grown more comfortable at the Triple-A level, and he’s starting to make it look easy. On Tuesday, he went 5-6 with 2 doubles. He’s hitting .320/.357/.520 this year with 27 doubles, 4 triples, 10 home runs, and 64 RBIs. Sandy Alderson considers him a propsect, and that’s not going out on a limb.
The 6’3″, 190 lb Flores was signed out of Venezuela at the ripe old age of 16. It feels like he’s been in the Mets farm system forever, but even after 6 seasons in the minor leagues, he’s still only 21 (turning 22 on August 6th).
He projected to fill out into a Miguel Cabrera-type frame, and that still may be a possibility. He doesn’t have Cabrera’s power as of now, but there’s no question he can hit. And his 41 extra base hits this year shows that he’s no slap hitter.
In case you missed it, Ike Davis was sent down to Triple-A Las Vegas after another embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Marlins. Mike Baxter and Rob Carson joined Davis on the trip to Sin City. In their place, the team is expected to recall 1B Josh Satin (who is having a tremendous year, … Read more
