Yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Troy Tulowitzki could soon decide to formally request a trade from the Colorado Rockies.
Despite Tulowitzki possibly becoming available in the near-term, Sandy Alderson is not looking to alter his course at shortstop and will continue with Wilmer Flores, according to Kristie Ackert of the Daily News.
Mets shortstops rank 11th in the Major Leagues with a .698 OPS, 9th in slugging percentage at .391, 12th in WAR at 0.4, according to FanGraphs.
In fairness, it’s not yet clear if Tulowitzki will become available in trade in the near-term. Also, Alderson isn’t going to come out and say publicly they’re looking to find alternatives to Flores and Ruben Tejada anyway.
That’s not to say the Mets don’t need to eventually consider making a change at the position. The defense is what it is, and it’s unlikely to improve enough to the point either Tejada or Flores can outhit the problem. It’s fairly certain the Mets will eventually have to acquire a top-tier shortstop, especially if Matt Reynolds is exhausted as an option at some point this season.
Having said that, it remains unlikely the Mets will acquire Tulowitzki, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.
From an offensive perspective, it isn’t worst problem they have right now. They haven’t gotten much production out of their outfield through the first 33 games. Regardless of what happens at shortstop, they simply need more from Michael Cuddyer and Curtis Granderson in particular, as well as their bench pieces in Kirk Nieuwenhuis and John Mayberry Jr.
Just Mets 