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Ask any Mets fans what one of their main problems is and they will mostly all answer the same: Shortstop. Wilmer Flores has been quite the adventure for New York and their faithful, where routine plays don't exist. Flores' bat has been his only saving grace, at least in some regards. He' hitting just .250, but does leads the team with 6 home runs. All winter long it was discussed how the team was going to address shortstop, and Flores' play hasn't helped to quell those rumors.
Troy Tulowitzki was the big name, and firmly planted atop their list of potential solutions. But during the winter nothing materialized and it appears that nothing will happen in the near future.
The Chicago Cubs have been mentioned as a potential trade partner for the Mets, as they have Addison Russell, Starlin Castro and Javier Baez at middle infield. Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer went as far to say that a deal between the two teams will happen at some point.
Despite all of that, the Mets appear to have another solution. As Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend, the Mets could shake up their infield configuration once Wright returns from injury. They've considered shifting Flores from shortstop to second base (his natural position), and calling up Matt Reynolds to play short. Those of you familiar with the Mets and their infield will notice a name is missing. That's because this plan includes the Mets trading Daniel Murphy.
Murphy, who is due to become a free agent this offseason, has been scouted by the Giants to solve their Casey McGehee problem. Reynolds has shot up the Mets minor league system, proving his ability to hit over the past two seasons. In 2014, with both Double-A and Triple-A, Reynolds hit a combined .343 with a .405 OBP. This year, with Triple-A, Reynolds is still swinging a hot stick, and owns a .301 average and a .368 OBP.
Those figures would represent a tremendous upgrades for the Mets, and combined with Reynolds' ability to play good defense at short it seems like a great plan. However At 22-16 and in first place in the NL East, the Mets can't afford to conduct an experiment right now. Once Wright is back, Alderson has more opportunities to tinker and fix this problem, and may dramatically impact the future of their season.