Is Stephen Drew a solid fallback option for the Mets?

With less than two months until Spring Training begins, the Mets are still searching for a shortstop to take the place of Wilmer Flores. While finding a shortstop who’s a clear upgrade on both sides of the ball should be the priority, there’s one player who could be a decent fallback option if the Mets fail in their efforts.

That player is Stephen Drew.

Drew had a terrible season in 2014, signing late after failing to get the contract he wanted and hitting an almost hard to believe .167/.232/.299 split between Boston and the Yankees.

However, it’s very likely that Drew’s 2014 season was an anomaly.

Drew turns 32 in March and hit .253/.333/.443 for the Red Sox in 2013 while playing terrific defense at shortstop. For his career, Drew has hit .256/.322/.425.

While Drew has hit just .228 against left-handed pitching for his career, he’s been very solid against right-handers, hitting .267 with 74 home runs.

The likelihood is that Drew will be looking for a one-year deal in order to rebuild his value, and the Mets are one of the places where he would be able to rebuild that value while playing shortstop.

Stephen Drew isn’t an exciting name, and there’s a chance his abysmal 2014 was a sign of things to come. Still, if the choice is the defensively challenged Wilmer Flores or Stephen Drew, it would behoove the Mets to go with Drew – at least as the long end of a platoon.

If the Mets signed Drew but were uncomfortable with his career numbers against lefties, they could start Flores against lefties while using Drew as a late-inning defensive replacement.

Again, Stephen Drew is not the name most Mets fans want. But he’s someone who could potentially be had on a reasonable one-year deal in the event Sandy Alderson fails to find the legitimate shortstop upgrade he seeks.