Both Rangers shortstops are reportedly not part of the Mets' plan.
After watching the team stay put on the first day of the 2014 winter meetings, Mets fans hoping for an action-packed second day in San Diego might be in for another letdown. The Mets are reportedly not considering either Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar a shortstop possibility, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Coming into the offseason, the Mets identified an upgrade at shortstop as one of their top positional priorities. Though he had his flashes, Wilmer Flores's .251/.286/.378 line and suspect defense in 2014 made him a less-than-ideal option for the Mets come Opening Day. With 1,778 big-league plate appearances under his belt, Ruben Tejada clearly had more than enough—some would argue too many—chances to show what he's got. But with a meager .645 career OPS, he's pretty much proved his ceiling as a backup middle infielder.
With uninspiring in-house options, the Mets are most likely looking outside the organization for a shortstop upgrade. Before the winter meetings, there had been rumors of the Rangers being open to trading their shortstops. Naturally, this makes the two teams a match. However, Andrus's hefty contract (8 years, $120 million) and Profar's injury issues may have forced Sandy Alderson to look elsewhere. Outside of MLB entirely, the Mets have recently been linked to Japanese shortstop Takashi Toritani and Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang.
With three more days to go in San Diego, there's still plenty of time for the Mets to come out of the winter meetings with a brand new Opening Day shortstop.