The door has all but closed on the possibility the Mets will acquire a new shortstop this winter.
Stephen Drew this week was among the last of the free-agent shortstops to come off the board — he is headed back to the Yankees — after options such as Jed Lowrie and Asdrubal Cabrera signed elsewhere this offseason. And the chances of the Mets trading for a shortstop remain slim, according to general manager Sandy Alderson.
“We’ve continued to have conversations, but nothing is likely to occur,” Alderson told The Post. “There is currently nothing imminent. I still believe at this point that we will go into spring training with what we have at shortstop.”
Though the Mets and Rockies discussed Troy Tulowitzki at the Winter Meetings, the two sides never came close to striking a deal, according to sources. Tulowitzki, who is coming off hip surgery, still is owed $118 million, and the Mets almost certainly would have to include top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard in any deal to acquire him.
The in-house options at shortstop consist of Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada, with rookie Matt Reynolds perhaps a possibility as the season progresses.
The first crack will belong to the 23-year-old Flores, who has produced big numbers at Triple-A but has yet to show consistency at the major league level.
“I think he can be a hitter,” said a major league talent evaluator who has seen glimpses of Flores.
But the questions will linger whether the Mets can survive with a middle infield that includes Flores — who is best suited for first base or third base — and Daniel Murphy.
“When I look at championship teams, if you’re not solid in the middle of the diamond, you are in trouble,” said another evaluator. “With the Mets, you’re limited range at shortstop and you’re definitely limited range at second base with a starting pitching staff that should really compete, and they are not all strikeout guys, so you are going to find out pretty fast.”
Flores received an audition at shortstop over the final two months of the 2014 season and didn’t hurt the club defensively. But there were concerns about his offense in a season he produced a .251/.286/.378 slash line with six homers and 29 RBIs in 259 at-bats.
“I’ve seen that projected batting order and batting eighth [Flores] is not going to produce much, I don’t think,” the second evaluator said. “He’s a run producer that you would want to see him have an opportunity to hit higher than eighth, so he would have a chance to drive in some runs.
“He’s such a free swinger that hitting him eighth is dangerous, because he’s not going to get good pitches to hit with the pitcher hitting behind him, but that’s kind of what you’re left with.”
But the Mets see enough upside in Flores, who next week will begin his second session of conditioning camp this offseason, to take that chance.
Flores played shortstop early in his minor league career, but was shifted to other positions because of concerns about his range and footwork.
“One of the stories here is if he becomes a good major league shortstop he’s going to show the scouts you can’t judge a kid when he’s 19 years old,” manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to let him play, got to let him develop, mature and grow up. Everybody thought his bat is going to play, but the question is, does he have the agility to play shortstop? Last year he showed he can do it.”