CRYING SHAME: AMAZIN’S CUT WILMER
Fan fave Flores gets non-tender from Mets
Shed a tear for Wilmer Flores. The popular Mets infielder — and king of the walk-off hit — likely concluded his tenure with the team Friday, when the club declined to offer him arbitration, leaving Flores as a free agent. The decision to nontender Flores came as team officials were working to finalize a trade that would bring Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the Mets from the Mariners.
In a somewhat less surprising move — despite his injury history — the Mets tendered a contract to Travis d’Arnaud to provide insurance at catcher as new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen searches for an upgrade at the position.
The 27-year-old Flores became a beloved Met in 2015, when TV cameras caught him on the field crying, believing he had been traded to the Brewers in a deal that would have brought Carlos Gomez to Queens. The Mets scrapped the deal — citing Gomez’s medicals — and Flores thrived in his role, mostly coming off the bench for the team over the next 3 ½ seasons.
Flores had a slash line of .267/.319/.417 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs in 126 games last season, mostly as the starting first baseman. But the Mets are prepared to give rookie Peter Alonso at least an opportunity to win the first-base job in spring training, and Jeff McNeil can potentially serve in a utility role. The Mets could also give another shot to T.J. Rivera, who missed last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Flores, who earned $3.4 million last season, had hoped to continue with the Mets, according to an industry source, but he also welcomed the opportunity to play a role on some perceived contenders if he were nontendered.
It’s unclear if concerns about Flores’ health might have played into the Mets’ decision. Flores finished last season with what he described as “early onset arthritis” in his knees, but a source indicated the infielder may have misunderstood the diagnosis and was dealing with a non-chronic condition.
Flores two years ago became the first Mets player to take the club to arbitration since Oliver Perez in 2008. Flores won his case and received $2.2 million.
D’Arnaud played in only four games for the Mets in 2018 before undergoing seasonending Tommy John surgery. It marked the third time in four seasons the oft-injured catcher played in fewer than 100 games, but team officials want insurance as they consider other options behind the plate.
Martin Maldonado and Wilson Ramos are among the free-agent options the team is considering, and Mets officials have spoken to the Marlins about a potential deal for J.T. Realmuto. The Mets had also been showing interest in a potential trade for Yan Gomes, but reports Friday night indicated the Nationals were closing in on a trade for the veteran catcher.
D’Arnaud, who received $3.7 million last season, joins Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido among the catchers under club control. The Mets could look to trade d’Arnaud or Plawecki if another catcher is acquired. Another option would be bringing d’Arnaud to spring training and cutting him, if needed, in which case the Mets would be required to pay just a fraction of his salary.
Van Wagenen recently indicated he expects d’Arnaud to be ready for the start of the season, but that would mean the catcher had fully rehabbed from his Tommy John surgery in less than 12 months.
As expected, the Mets tendered contracts to arbitration-eligible Plawecki, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto.