Mets shortstop prospect Wilmer Flores may figure prominently into the Cliff Lee trade rumors of the next few weeks. Let's learn more about him.
Flores was ranked second among Mets prospects by Baseball America heading into the season, behind only Jenrry Mejia. He placed 41st on Keith Law's top 100 list for ESPN - one spot above Twins catching prospect Wilson Ramos. BA, with more of an industry consensus approach, ranked him 88th. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus ranked him 84th. All of these rankings were compiled before the season, and Flores' stock has only risen.
Flores started the season at Low A Savannah, and despite being in the midst of a cold streak was promoted to High A St. Lucie recently. Though he's only 18 years old, and will be until August, Flores is raking in a tiny 28 plate appearance sample since the promotion.
Reading the opinions of the experts mentioned above, Flores is a special bat who will develop power. He is almost certainly going to move off shortstop, and Law doesn't see him at third base either. He does have a good arm, leading Goldstein to view him as a future right fielder. The prospect gurus seem most impressed that he's holding his own against much older competition.
According to Goldstein, Flores is "at least three years and a position switch away" from the Majors. Is he too far off to headline a deal for Cliff Lee? John Hickey of AOL FanHouse sees the Mariners seeking players who can make an impact around 2012, particularly outfielders and left-handed starters.
Stay tuned for haters refusing to acknowledge a strong Mets prospect and for Mets fans claiming he can stick on the left side of the infield while walking on water.
Lol. I read a post that said Flores, Tejada, and Havens for Lee. I laughed. But yeah, Flores will NOT stay at SS or 2B. He is either a 3B or 1B. He can be a RF or LF but is slow but hey, if Adam Dunn can play the OF, Flores can.I think Flores is too good to trade for a rental though. Flores > Manny Machado. Would you trade him for a rental? No.
I think preferring him to Machado is going too far, but I agree about not trading him for a rental. (And a negotiating window isn’t worth much, people.)
Eh. I think Flores has more raw power than Machado. But that’s for another debate.
But yeah, I totally agree that a negotiating window means nothing. Lee will decline anyway and will go to the Yankees.
Unless you give him his market value, in which case you could have gotten him in the offseason anyway.
Frankly, even though you oppose it, renting him is likely a far better deal.
Edit: Nebbermind. A few posts down, you say just this.
The M’s are definately going to want prospects that can make an impact soon.
Havens looks like he should be ready by opening day 2011. Not to say he would make the grade as the top prospect in a package for Lee, but he might pair with someone further away with more upside nicely.
Tejada, Thole and F-Mart could all be those guys
F-Mart might be the only impact caliber player among them, and he’s been injured or ineffective all season.
I think theres a chance flores can make it to the majors before 3 years. That being said hes probably the one prospect I wouldn’t trade if I were the mets. Tejada havens even martinez I’d trade before flores. Thankfully I’m not a mets fan because chances are they will overpay for Lee not resign him and he will go to the Yanks.
I agree about Flores. He is the prospect I would be most reluctant to part with at this point. He’s 18 and raking in the FSL, albeit in a small sample size, and has impressed scouts at every level he’s played in.
However, I would include him in a trade just so long as the other costs in that package weren’t too high.
The thing is Omar will be vilified no matter which way he decides. Some will say he is stupid not to give up top prospects for a good shot at it all … and others will say he is stupid for mortgaging the future for a half-year rental.
I’m pretty sure most Mets fans fall into the camp favoring the half-year rental — even if Lee signs with the Yankees. At least they get the two high draft picks back.
And any team who wants Lee this summer will overpay for him. I believe any package may have to be better than what the Mariners gave up for Lee, simply because there will be more teams in the bidding. If I’m not mistaken, Amaro never opened up the bidding for Lee over the winter, which explains his poor haul.
Two draft picks might be better than giving huge money over six years to a 32-year old with a short track record of success.
I agree. If I’m trading for Lee, I’d rather not resign him.
You’re out of your damn mind. 19 to 1 Strike out to walk ratio….that’s pretty amazing. Throws well over 200 innings a year. 4 – 0 and 1. something something in the post-season. Is tied with Halladay in WAR and he missed a month of the season. I’d lock him up for 6 years and feel real comfortable in my investment.
He’ll be 32 next opening day and has a short track record of success. I love him as a pitcher, but he’s human and subject to aging and sharply increased injury risk.
So you really think that at age 38 Lee will be worth his ~19MM dollars?
Mets always overvalue their prospects. Who is the last Met prospect to be traded and have panned out into a solid major league starter? It just doesn’t happen.
EVERY team overvalues their prospects. Thats how you get something out of them.
Sure. But the Mets do it better than most. Alex Escobar, Lastings Milledge, Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez… Preston Wilson, Mike Jacobs. Some of these guys had a few good years… but they never turn into what they’re projected to be. Granted Milledge, Humber, and Gomez are still young… but does anyone see them ever being in an all-star game?
Milledge was a big time bust. I’ll give you that. But you gotta remember, the Mets weren’t the only team that hyped him up. He was one of the best talents in his draft, he only fell because he got into troubles with the law. So the Mets weren’t the only people hyping him. Escobar got hurt. Preston Wilson was a serviceable major leaguer. I wouldn’t call him a bust. Mike Jacobs wasn’t ever a big time prospect. He came onto the scene with a huge bang hitting 11 HRs in like 60 ABs in August/September of 2005. Mets traded him while his value was high for Delgado.Out of Gomez, Humber, Mulvey, Guerra (guys traded for Santana), I would say only Gomez was hyped. The rest of the guys were top Mets prospects when the Mets system sucked. Anyone coulda told you those guys weren’t gonna do anything. Humber actually got hurt as well. And he was the 3rd pick in his draft, so other teams saw his potential as well.
Oh, and as others mentioned below, Kazmir.
Above reply is to MJK.
Every organization and its fanbase overvalues their prospects. The Mets are no exception.
Every organization has a group of once-vaunted players like Escobar and Milledge who they traded away and who never panned out.
Name an organization with a couple of ex-prospects who were elite at the time they were traded away and who went on to an all-star game.
As for former Mets prospects traded away who became solid players, here are two: Wigginton and Bay. Of course Bay was originally drafted by someone else, but he was in the Mets farm system before he ever played in the majors.
Heath Bell? Matt Lindstrom? Scott Kazmir? Ty Wigginton? Brian Bannister?
There’s been more then a couple they would like to have back.
But really, what you’re describing seems more like something the Mets should be given credit for. They held onto Reyes, Wright, Pelfrey, Niese, while they dealt away the “overvalued” prospects. That seems like having a very good understanding of your prospects to me.
David Wright was ‘almost’ traded! Fact is, the Mets do have solid prospects and sold Farm System (now). There was a dip, most will agree, but it’s been building over the past few years to rank middle of the pack, at the very least.
It’s not the Mets that are ranking thier players in the top 100, etc. It’s the scouts. The Mets are simply captializing on the rankings and touting their players, as any team should.
Besides, most teams would be reluctant to trade their #1 or #2 prospect for a rental.
It also should be noted that of their current MLB roster: Wright, Reyes, Tejada, Pagan, Davis, Pelfrey, Niese and Parnell are all prodcuts of the Mets farm system.
o idk..maybe a guy by the name of scott kazmir haha
Kazmir. Who was the last starting pitching prospect they traded that anyone thought was all that great at the time of the trade? You can’t fault them for fleecing the Twins.
On Mets currently: Jose Reyes, David Wright, Ike Davis (so far), Mike Pelfrey (starting to look like it finally), Jonathan Niese (so far), Angel Pagan (yes, originally a Met)
Other teams: Scott Kazmir, Lastings Milledge (still young…), Ty Wigginton, Heath Bell, Jesus Flores (still young…)
I agree, not a ton of Mets prospects succeed, but that’s the case of most prospects. Of the above bunch, there’s an elite SS, 3B, CL, SP (well, Kazmir has been for a bit), and some other solid players…