Better late than never?
After nearly three months as the Mets’ everyday shortstop, Wilmer Flores started at second base on Sunday, and wouldn’t you know it, he looked great.
Last week, Terry Collins told reporters he was coming around on moving Flores to second, after weeks and weeks of resisting it for fear of hurting Flores’ feelings.
“We told him he’s going to be our shortstop, how do you think he’s going to feel if I move him to second or third? I’m not going to do that to him.”
Honestly, Flores hasn’t ushered in the “end of days” like many feared as the Mets shortstop. He has 10 errors, so do a lot of other shortstops.
But if you have a wide open opportunity to play Flores at his best defensive position, and Ruben Tejada at his best defensive position, and Daniel Murphy at his best defensive position, why the hell did it take 2 1/2 months to get this done?
God knows this team isn’t an offensive juggernaut, so if pitching is your ticket to the post season, shouldn’t your best defensive alignment be a top priority to support that pitching?
Like I said, better late than never, I guess…
The move was supposed to go into effect on Tuesday, when Daniel Murphy would be activated from the disabled list and take over at third base. But Collins said he wanted to give it a test drive.
After the game, Collins sounded like he just invented the wheel. “I think this is going to be the best infield we’ve had and we’re gonna run it out there on a nightly basis,” he said. Great idea, Terry.
While Collins and Sandy Alderson remained tight-lipped about it, it sounds like Ruben Tejada has won himself an everyday job again as the Mets shortstop, which makes me believe that Dilson Herrera could be optioned to Las Vegas when Murphy is activated.
I don’t believe they’ll let a 21-year old prospect expected to be the second baseman of the future sit idly on the bench in a utility role. But I could be wrong.
I guess as long as Tejada keeps producing, and give him credit for how he’s performed this season, he’ll remain fixed as the everyday shortstop. But if his performance declines, then what?
Do they bring Herrera back to play short? Or does he go to second and Flores slides back to short? I guess we’ll deal with that issue if and when it occurs.
For now, all I care about is that we have our best defensive alignment in place and we’re getting a key bat back in the lineup on Tuesday. LGM
