Reese Kaplan -- What's on Second; I Don't Know's on Third

The Mets are in an interesting position with two seemingly productive ballplayers who, against all odds (and against the wishes of a certain manager who shall remain nameless) seem to be forcing their way into the lineup on a regular basis with their bats if not their gloves.  T.J. Rivera and Wilmer Flores profile somewhat similarly as bat-first players who, like Michael Jackson, wear a single glove on one hand for no apparent reason. 

This year’s spate of injuries is providing the team the opportunity to see how beneficial it can be to have their bats to help score runs.  While neither of them will win a Gold Glove (or a Silver or a Bronze) anytime soon, you have to wonder if given the opportunity whether or not their offensive games will be sufficiently good to compensate for their defensive shortcomings. 

By some accounts they have penciled in T.J. Rivera to be the everyday third baseman for 2018.  (This assessment, of course, came before his torn UCL which could end up requiring Tommy John surgery).  While corner infielders are traditionally boppers, Rivera is more of the Placido Polanco type who had a long and productive career, finishing with a .297 career batting average despite only hitting double digits in home runs three times and in stolen bases twice. 

Perhaps as parallel for T.J. Rivera who is familiar to Mets fans (and makes them cringe) is Justin Turner.  He was a Baltimore infield prospect who floated from position to position, always having hit well in the minors with a career .308 mark.  He never tallied more than 12 HRs in a single season so it was assumed he was a singles/doubles hitter when Sandy Alderson chose to let his $800K utility player leave.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Interestingly Turner provided 27 HRs in 2016 for the Dodgers during his age 31 season so he’s either a late bloomer or perhaps he found the syringe of youth (no rumors nor accusations, but it was out of character). 

The other big stick who gets no respect is Wilmer Flores.  He’s demonstrated an ability to mash left handed pitching, and although he struggles more with righties, his numbers speak for themselves.  If you extrapolate what he’s done over the past few years he’s good for about 25 HRs and 88 RBIs over the course of a full season while batting in the .260s. 

The analogous player in Mets lore who comes to mind also causes some cringing – Jeff Kent.  He was a guy who did 20/80 production but the Mets thought he was not a good fit and banished him to Cleveland as part of a trade to get Carlos Baerga, the poster child for underperforming former All-Stars until Jason Bay came to town.  Kent didn’t really become a mainstay regular until age 29 with the San Francisco Giants but he put together an extremely solid run producing career that saw him make multiple All Star Selections as well as an MVP award. 

Although sometimes it seems as if Flores has been around forever, he’s not yet hit his 26^th birthday and that suggests there’s still time for him to get even better.  With a more supportive manager he might develop into an All-Star himself. 

Many people have clamored (myself included) for the Mets to go hot and heavy after Mike Moustakas to take over 3B for 2018.  Moustakas is also a late bloomer, having his first truly noteworthy season as part of the 2015 World Series Champion Royals when he hit .284/22/82 with only 76 Ks for the year at age 26.  The following season was lost to injury, but he's come back with a vengeance, already having hit 29 HRs, 62 RBIs and batting .277.  There is an uptick in his strikeouts with 62 already, but he's on a pace for around 110, hardly a high number for someone who should crack 40 HRs.  The question is do you want to fork over $80 million or more in a FA contract to someone like Moustakas or roll the dice on your homegrown, under $3 million solution in Wilmer Flores?

The question for the Mets in 2018 is who plays where?  Everyone is assuming the two minor league blue chippers – Amed Rosario and Dom Smith – are being handed the jobs at shortstop and first base respectively.  With perhaps no Asdrubal Cabrera, no Neil Walker and no Jose Reyes next season, could the strong gloved rookie duo help make up for the defensive liabilities of both Rivera and Flores with one at 2B and the other at 3B?  As bad as Wilmer Flores has shown at SS and 3B, he makes himself look like Brooks Robinson compared to Rivera at 3B.  Maybe the flip-flop makes sense with Flores at 3B and Rivera at 2B.  

Many have written here about the need for strong defense up the middle.  If that’s the new direction, then catcher, 2B and CF are all up for grabs.  If the team pitched the way everyone had hoped they would, then you could probably withstand glove-first players in those positions with sufficient offense coming from Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, Dom Smith, Amed Rosario and one half of the lead-gloved duo at 3B.  However, with a staff ERA closer to 6.00 than it is to 3.00, is that the right path to take?

Oddly, I think a lot rides on how well Chris Flexen does in his part-year trial in Queens.  If he can show flashes of success, they may opt for the defensive route assuming you have solid contributions from Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, more consistency from Steve Matz and a comeback from Matt Harvey.  If he merely muddles through the last two months then the Mets may continue looking to put a team capable of scoring 6 runs per game on the field in support of lackluster pitching.  Or they could surprise us all and actually reinforce the roster with more pitching and have contingency plans for a change.  

Do Rivera and/or Flores see what they could do with 500+ ABs?  If you're the Mets, do you take a chance on making both of them full-time infielders and thus freeing up all of your departing FA money to go after pitching and catching?