Minors: Why BA ranked Flores over FMart
Last week, in a chat for ESPN.com, Baseball America’s Jim Callis ranked Mets 17–year-old SS Wilmer Flores as the organization’s top prospect – ahead of Fernando Martinez.
Yesterday, in a mailbag for Baseball America, Callis was asked how he could rank Flores over Martinez, to which he responded:
“Both Flores and Martinez have interesting bats, and the big difference between the two is that there’s more to Flores’ game than just his offense. He has a chance to play a premium position and at worse will be a third baseman, while Martinez will be a left fielder…While Martinez has been pushed aggressively by the Mets and consistently has been very young for his leagues, he hasn’t been overwhelmingly impressive since a 45-game stint in low Class A…Flores will be 17 when he heads to low Class A next year, and I think he’ll outperform Martinez. It’s still very early in Flores’ career, but I’ve had scouts compare his ceiling to Miguel Cabrera‘s.”
In 275 at bats between Single-A Brooklyn and Kingsport, the 17–tear-old Flores hit .306 with eight HR 47 RBI during 67 games.
Callis also answers questions about other top outfielder prospects, as well as Yankees C Jesus Montero, and the state of signing players from the top of the draft, among other questions.
Also, for more on the minors, check out Mets Minor League Blog, where Toby Hyde answers a mailbag question about the pros and cons of moving Triple-A to Syracuse or Buffalo.
