Just when it seemed like the New York Mets were done with injury issues, a new one cropped up. Infielder Wilmer Flores, who has seen his playing time dip dramatically over the past three weeks, was shut down for the rest of the season with early onset arthritis in both of his knees, MetsBlog.com reports. Flores, who is batting .267 with 11 home runs and 51 RBI’s in 126 games, had played a lot of first and second base for the team this season, with Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway indicating recently that Flores could be a factor for them at first base in 2019. Given the diagnosis of arthritis in both knees, that could change quickly.
Flores is under team control for one more season before he becomes a free agent in 2019 and made $3.4 million in 2018. Under the salary arbitration rules, Flores would be in line for a raise and probably would end up with a salary of around $5 million in 2019. That is an expensive figure for a utility infielder to begin with, and the fact that Flores now has arthritis in both of his knees may make him a prime candidate to get non-tendered. Committing almost $5 million to a player with bad knees, even a beloved fan favorite like Flores, to come off the bench is not a wise decision for a Mets’ franchise that doesn’t like to break the bank on payroll.
In all likelihood, Flores has played his final game as a Met, and that is sad. Flores won the hearts of Mets’ fans for eternity in 2015, when he teared up on the field during a game at the thought of being traded away. That Carlos Gomez deal fell through, and Flores delivered a memorable walk off homer to beat the Washington Nationals just three days later, giving Mets’ fans a memory they will never forget. If this is the end of the road for Flores, it was a truly memorable ride.
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