Mets Rumors: Delivering Tyler Flowers to Flushing makes more sense

In a post-New York Mets rumors bit of news, the club reportedly considered signing Tyler Flowers as a backup plan to catch for the team.

There won’t be too many more intriguing New York Mets rumors about the catching position now that the club has locked in James McCann for the next four seasons. However, the club could still look to upgrade at the backup spot.

Prior to signing McCann, according to Tim Healey of Newsday, they did consider signing free agent catcher Tyler Flowers. A far more inferior catcher than McCann, this bouquet would have felt a whole lot more like a bag of thorns than roses.

I solemnly swear to limit the flower puns going forward.

Flowers was Travis d’Arnaud’s backup last year with the Atlanta Braves where he hit .217 in 80 plate appearances. Splitting his career with the Braves and Chicago White Sox, he’s a lifetime .237/.319/.391 hitter.

What makes the idea of actually considering Flowers as a viable starter outrageous is the fact that he has only started more than 100 games twice in his career. This was back in 2014 and 2015. Since then, he has been mostly a platoon guy.

This doesn’t take Flowers off the table completely moving forward. In the coming weeks, we could see his name appear in future Mets rumors.

McCann’s biggest knock is certainly his lack of playing time throughout his career. In a way, he has had a career similar to Flowers working in many platoon situations. McCann has, however, developed a better bat in the past two seasons. It’s not even close as to who the better pickup to start the bulk of games is.

On a one-year deal, Flowers can provide the Mets with a multitude of games and fill in admirably if McCann lands on the IL. He’s an upgrade over the question mark sitting above Tomas Nido’s head. For the Mets and their younger out-of-options catcher Nido, it’s a question of how far they think his ceiling reaches.

Interestingly, there didn’t seem to be any mention of Flowers in Mets rumors until after the McCann signing took place. That’s a good thing. Fans may have thrown their bobbleheads back at Steve Cohen if this was the first major league bat his regime signed.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

Flowers isn’t the answer for the Mets, but he could be a solution to the question regarding what they do if McCann goes down for an extended period of time. Considering McCann’s career average of games played, the Mets definitely need to look at stable veterans like Flowers to plant behind the plate.