Former New York Mets infielder and beloved individual, Wilmer Flores, has currently caught the attention of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Oh, Wilmer.
The magical love affair that was Wilmer Flores and New York Mets fandom is officially over. We already knew that. When young Brodie Van Wagenen decided to tender catcher Travis d’Arnaud and non-tender the righty bat, we all knew this was the conclusion.
On Thursday, a clue has come down as to where Flores may play in 2019.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Tampa Bay Rays are eying the right-handed free-agent infielder.
After failing to land Nelson Cruz, #Rays still looking at big RHH pieces in trades such as Realmuto #Marlins, maybe Castellanos #Tigers. But more likely to get complementary RH bat now and former #Mets Wilmer Flores is in group being eyed. More on #MLBTonight #MLBNetwork 6-7pE
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 27, 2018
“After failing to land Nelson Cruz, #Rays still looking at big RHH pieces in trades such as Realmuto #Marlins, maybe Castellanos #Tigers. But more likely to get complementary RH bat now and former #Mets Wilmer Flores is in group being eyed. More on #MLBTonight #MLBNetwork 6-7pE.”
Flores, 27, has only known the Metropolitans organization as a professional baseball. In six seasons in Queens, he’s smashed 68 home runs and 253 runs batted in to go along with a .262 batting average.
A year ago, Flores participated in a career-high 126 games while smacking 11 home runs and 51 runs batted in while hitting a cool .267.
Flores is a left-handed pitching destroyer—although his 2018 splits brought the LHP-RHP balance more even.
Of course, Flores will forever remain in the hearts of Mets fans forever based on one night in Flushing. After hearing the rumor of his trade to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carlos Gomez back in 2015, he broke down on the field.
Just two nights later, he did this:
Sandy Alderson bypassed the Brew Crew deal, acquired Yoenis Cespedes, and the rest is history.
If he signs with the Tampa Bay Rays, he’ll suddenly become more acquainted with Yankee Stadium.
