Wilmer Flores SS Venezuela
Flores was signed as an international free agent in October 2007.
In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Flores as the 17th overall Mets prospect, adding:
"should grow into his body and become a force with the bat ... ..internal comparisons to Miguel Cabrera for his present pull power and ability to use the whole field."
In February 2008, Baseball Prospectus named Florez a 3-star prospect, and ranked him as th 4th overall Mets prospect.
Also in February 2008, Rotoworld ranked Flores as the #15 Mets prospect.
In March 2008, Baseball America wrote:
Ten prospects to watch out for in 2008:
Wilmer Flores, SS
Since Omar Minaya took over as general manager, the Mets have been extremely active on the Latin American scouting front. Flores is the latest high-profile prospect to join the system and the Mets are very excited about what he can do, especially after a strong showing at instructs. Flores is lean and tall and his best tool is undoubtedly his bat, drawing comparisons to a Miguel Cabrera when he first began his pro career. He'll stay at shortstop for now, but there's a chance he'll grow out of the position and end up at third. It's up in the air where he'll begin the year and the Mets will use Spring Training to determine if he's ready to go to Savannah on Opening Day or if having him stick around in extended spring training makes more sense
Baseball America printed their “Hot 10” prospects on 6/27:
No. 10 WILMER FLORES, SS - METS - Team: Rookie-level Kingsport (Appalachian)
Age: 16 - Why He's Here: .400/.417/.578, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 0 BB, 7 SO
The Scoop: Flores is a 16 year old playing in a league where the average age is more than 20, and he has been arguably the best player in the league for the first week and a half. After belting a home run in his professional debut, Flores has continued his steady production. Enduring the loss of manager Nick Leyva, who also served as his Flores' translator, could have been a hitch in the road for Flores, who had grown close to Leyva, but the teenager's makeup impressed observers in Kingsport as he kept up his steady production under new leadership. The only knock on Flores is his defense, which at times can be shaky. He made three errors in a game on Tuesday night, but played the next two games error-free. Flores' hitting is his best present tool and he showed it on Thursday night, going 4-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.
In late July 2008, ProjectProspect updated their “top 25 non-top 100 prospects” and guess who made the list:
#10 Wilmer Flores SS What a way to start a career: .360 BA, .640 SLG, 5 HR in 75 AB
Also in late July 2008, ProjectProspect.com updated their top 10 Mets prospect list and Flores was ranked 6th
In August 2008, NYBaseballDigest wrote:
Wilmer Flores was the top International Free Agent signed by Omar Minaya in the 2007 season. He was signed for roughly $800,000 in comparison to some other “top level” talent that got bonuses in excess of a million dollars, or like Michel Inoa who received over $4 million. Flores is quickly emerging as a premium talent, even being mentioned by Minaya in an article about the importance of Pedro Martinez and how his signing led to guys like Flores and Fernando Martinez signing.
Flores just turned 17 years of age at the beginning of August. He was expected to be brought to the US for this season, but it was widely expected he’d play in the Gulf Coast League where he’d still be young, as the average age of a player in the GCL is roughly 18-19. But instead, the Mets decided to push Flores and see what he could do in Kingsport against competition with an average age of 21-22.
Flores has responded. He has played in 53 games thus far, and is sporting a .332 batting average to go with 8 home runs and 40 RBI. His on-base percentage is at .374, while his OPS(on base+slugging) is hovering near .900 at .897. He also has 12 doubles, and 3 triples to go with his 8 home runs to make 23 extra base hits in 53 games. He will need to work on his plate discipline, as he only has 11 walks, with 25 strike outs.
Flores gets a lot of comparisons to Miguel Cabrera by scouts. Cabrera also was signed as a 16 year old out of the International Free Agent market for what was at the time the biggest bonus given to an international free agent at roughly $1.6 million. Cabrera came state side for his 16 year old/17 year old season, and played in the aforementioned Gulf Coast League with the average age of 18-19. Comparatively speaking he played against younger, and more raw talent than Flores has experienced in the Appalachian League.
Cabrera played in 57 games, hitting .260 with a .344 on base percentage, and had an OPS of .696. He hit 2 home runs, and drove in 22 runs with 10 doubles, and 2 triples. He struck out 46 times, while walking 23. It’s early to deem Flores the next superstar, or the next Miguel Cabrera, but statistically speaking based on age/level, he’s more than comparable. They both played the shorstop position at the 16/17 age. Flores is expected to outgrow short, and possibly be a third baseman, or a first baseman, or even a left fielder long term. Ironically those are the three positions Cabrera has played.
To compare, Flores has hit for a higher average, hit more home runs, drove in more runs, reach base at a higher clip, and OPS significantly higher. He has more doubles, more triples, struck out almost half as many times as Cabrera, but also has walked less. Flores ranked 10th on my Mets Top 10 prospect list back in July, I imagine end of the season list he will be much higher. Flores is very much a prospect to keep an eye on for the long term.
Flores palyed most of the 2008 season for K-Port, played one game for Savannah, and finished the year with Brooklyn. His combined stats were: .307/.347/.468/.815, 8 HRs, 42 RBIs, in 68 games.
Flores won the Sterling Award as the the top Met player for the 2008 Kingsport team.
In October 2008, From Kevin Czerwinski/MiLB.com:
It's not as if what Wilmer Flores was doing this season was without precedent.
After all, Elvis Andrus played in the Gulf Coast and Appalachian Leagues as a 16-year-old in 2005, while Carlos Triunfel played in the Midwest and California Leagues last year just after turning 17. Yet it still remains remarkable that someone so young could do so much so far from home at such a young age.
Flores split the 2008 season between the Appalachian and New York-Penn Leagues. He didn't turn 17 until August, yet for much of his time in Kingsport, his batting average hovered around .340. Only a late-season slump -- he had three hits in his final 25 at-bats -- brought his average down to a still-impressive .310.
The Venezuelan native also spent a day with Savannah of the Class A South Atlantic League (he went 2-for-5) and finished up the season by spending two weeks with Brooklyn, where he hit .267 in 30 at-bats. Overall, Flores -- who missed a week in July with a strained oblique muscle -- hit .307 with eight homers, 42 RBIs and a .347 on-base percentage this season.
Now, he's down in Port St. Lucie participating in the Mets' Florida Instructional League program, doing even more to prepare for what New York is hoping will be a big Sally League season in 2009.
"He's a very impressive young player," said Adam Wogan, New York's director of Minor League operations. "He's a very talented player and he's making great strides. He certainly is an impressive individual."
Flores, though young, has never played as much ball as he did this season. While some may be fearful that he's worn down by this point in the year, Wogan and the Mets aren't concerned. They won't work the kid until he drops in Florida but they also aren't planning to let him skate through camp. Wogan said that New York's Instructional League program is a bit different than it was a few years back. He said there is much more focus on the mental side of the game and more attention is paid to intra-squad games. With that in mind, the Mets have targeted a program for Flores and all their prospects.
"His individual play will be based on specific areas rather than game activity," Wogan said. "There might be guys who signed later and aren't quite as far along that it might be more important for them to get into games than it is in Wilmer's case. But we're certainly not worried or concerned that it's too much for him."
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