Flores injury tendinitis, not arthritis

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Wilmer Flores ended last season with knee discomfort, but the Mets are confident it won’t be a significant issue for 2019.

An industry source indicated Tuesday that Flores has been working out and is symptom free after finishing the season with what the infielder termed “early onset arthritis” in his knees. The source termed that description as inaccurate and said Flores was dealing with tendinitis in his right knee. He has been working to strengthen his hamstring and quadriceps to prevent a reoccurrence.

The confusion may have stemmed from Flores receiving an injection that is commonly used to treat people with arthritis and Flores misunderstanding the diagnosis, according to the source.

Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen declined to provide specifics about Flores’ physical situation other than to say the organization is counting on the versatile infielder for 2019. Flores is entering his final year of arbitration.

“I think he should be healthy and ready to go and we would be counting on him,” Van Wagenen said. Where does Flores fit? “He’s a really good righthanded bat and he’s had a long track record of performing against left-handed pitching,” Van Wagenen said. “He’s proven himself to be able to play first base. I think from a defensive standpoint we wouldn’t ask too much of him to go and play around the diamond. I think our view for him is that he would be predominantly a first-base option or a power bat off the bench.”

Van Wagenen was asked if it’s possible the Mets could pursue a high-payroll option, such as Manny Machado, in free agency.

“I think we have some high-payroll guys already on the books and one of them happens to be on the disabled list right now, actually two of them,” Van Wagenen said, referring to Yo e - ni sC esp ede sand David Wright. “But I think for us, I am going to be looking for players that impact us at a dollar figure that makes sense based on what their talent level is.”