In his column for the New York Post yesterday, Joel Sherman implied that the Mets may have passed on Jhonny Peralta thinking that they had a “Jhonny Peralta lite” already on the roster in Wilmer Flores:
But more and more, Flores is — of all things — Jhonny Peralta Lite. He is hitting homers and evolving into a more reliable shortstop. Peralta has long had the reputation as a shortstop who lacked range, but made all the plays he should, which was more than tolerable because of the power he brought to the position. However, the advanced stats almost always liked Peralta more on defense than scouts.
Now, the same is true with Flores. He has 10 errors. Nevertheless, according to the data at Fangraphs.com, Flores ranks ninth out of 26 qualifiers in Ultimate Zone Rating/150, which attempts to produce an average of defensive runs saved by a player with a formula that, for a shortstop, encompasses range, double plays and errors, among other items.
Sherman goes on to almost justify the Mets’ passing on Peralta in favor of the younger Flores. He actually knocks the Yankees for not grabbing him because they didn’t have another viable option in waiting like the Mets did.
My Take: The comparison between Peralta and Flores, even if Sherman is saying that Flores is a less talented Peralta, is kind of absurd. Peralta’s wRC+ this season is 147, compared to 94 for Flores. That puts Peralta among the 20 or 30 best hitters in all of baseball while Flores is a borderline top ten hitter at his own position. Peralta is lightyears away from where Flores is right now.
I almost get the connection between the two because they both hit for power at positions which typically lack it. Flores’ ISO of .173 is actually not too far off from Peralta’s .205. However, the comparison really ends there. Peralta is a very good fielder and just a better overall hitter. If three more of Flores’ fly balls fell ten feet short instead of going over the wall, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
Then of course, there’s the question of finances. The evidence points towards the Mets passing on Peralta because they simply didn’t have the money to get him, rather than passing on him thinking that Flores was the future. That’s an answer we’ll probably never get.
