Is it possible that things aren't as bad as Mets fans think they are at shortstop?
In an article published this morning on FanGraphs, Mike Petriello tackles the New York Mets' frequently-discussed shortstop situation. Going into the offseason, the majority of Mets fans expected the front office to give manager Terry Collins a new everyday player at the position, but it hasn't worked out that way so far. Earlier in the offseason, Alderson even suggested the Mets would be content with Wilmer Flores as the starting shortstop heading into 2015, much to the dismay of many Mets fans.
Petriello doesn't seem to be pessimistic, either. In his article, he compares the Mets' projected 2015 shortstop unit to the rest of the majors based on Steamer projections, in which the Flores-Tejada combination ranks 18th. It's not impressive, but he writes that it's "not a sinkhole unlike any other in the big leagues," either.
The article even went so far as to suggest shortstop is not necessarily the weakest position on the Mets' lineup, while stressing the importance of adding overall wins to the team instead of worrying too much on improving one particular position.
That means that it’s less that the Mets need to add wins at shortstop, specifically, than it is that they need to add wins overall. One is not more valuable than the other, but obviously shortstop is the focus because they just added Cuddyer and aren’t suddenly going to toss out Granderson after one year. Shortstop is less the obvious problem than it is the easiest area to replace the incumbent.
The article also breaks down all the supposedly available options that the Mets could have looked at for an upgrade this offseason. For various reasons, Petriello wasn't all that impressed with what's out there. He didn't include the dream of many Mets fans, Troy Tulowitzki, or Ian Desmond, citing that the duo were not available at a reasonable cost.