Wilmer Flores Sent to Minors

Barring the unexpected trade or free agent signing, it appears Ruben Tejada will indeed be the Mets starting shortstop after Wilmer Flores was sent to the minors on Monday.

Flores was among some familiar names who were reassigned, joining Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Matt den Dekker and Zach Lutz.

Wilmer Flores is expected to see time plenty of time at shortstop in Las Vegas. If he is even halfway decent out there and Tejada continues to be a disaster, Wilmer Flores could get the call sooner rather than later.

Flores spent part of the winter at that conditioning camp in Michigan and impressed many with his improved work in the field.

“I think I did a pretty good job, a pretty decent job at short,” Flores told ESPN New York. “I feel great. I’ll go to Vegas and play some more short. I don’t know how much, but I know I’m going to play short.”

The Mets are reportedly still monitoring Nick Franklin and Didi Gregorius, but by all accounts Sandy Alderson will not meet the asking price of one of the top pitching prospects. Alderson is right not to do so; neither Franklin nor Gregorius are worth such a high price.

And then there’s Stephen Drew, but that’s not happening unless he takes a huge discount, which is highly unlikely.

So it looks like the Mets are stuck with Tejada. Let’s hope Wilmer Flores makes great strides over the next few weeks.