The Mets need an upgrade at short, and the Diamondbacks have two shortstops.
As the Mets' search for an upgrade at shortstop continues, the Arizona Diamondbacks sent a contingent of scouts to Port St. Lucie today, according to Adam Rubin. The Diamondbacks have a pair of young, highly-rated shortstops in Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings and seem like they could be a good match for the Mets as a result.
Gregorius is now 24 years old and made his big league debut in 2012 in a brief cup of coffee with the Cincinnati Reds, but he was sent to Arizona in a three-team trade that also included the Cleveland Indians after that season. Last year, he hit .252/.332/.373 in 404 plate appearances with Arizona. Both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference pegged him at 1.4 WAR.
Owings is just 22 years old and is one of several top shortstop prospects in the game. He was ranked 28th among all prospects by Baseball Prospectus in their 2014 list. He spent much of last year with Triple-A Reno and hit .330/.359/.482 there. And in a brief stint with the Diamondbacks, he hit .291/.361/.382.
Of course, the fact that Arizona's scouts visited the Mets' complex doesn't mean a trade will happen, as scouts routinely watch other teams' players. But with Ruben Tejada struggling in spring training games and Wilmer Flores getting reps at shortstop, such a visit understandably generates a bit more attention.
