Adam Rubin of ESPN New York emailed Paul DePodesta a few questions regarding a few of the Mets prospects and regarding Wilmer Flores they had the following exchange:

Asked if Wilmer Flores remaining in the minors is fielding-related, DePodesta wrote: “Wilmer played some first base largely because of the ankle injury. He had been back at second base the last couple of games now that he’s full strength. He hasn’t come up because the major league infield is full. David Wright and Daniel Murphy have been healthy until last night, and we have three other guys who could use ABs at first base.”

It sounds like what DePo is saying is that even with Wright now out for as long as 4-5 weeks, Justin Turner, Ike Davis and Josh Satin will still keep Flores blocked and remaining in Las Vegas. It’s a shame, because in my opinion he really has nothing left to prove at Triple-A.

I’m glad he didn’t blame his defense as a reason for not being promoted. As I mentioned this morning, an MLB scout who has watched Flores a lot this season said that his supposed shortcomings at second were very exaggerated. Sandy Alderson also said as much.

Still, I find it troublesome that a future cornerstone player would be held back by players who may not even figure into the team;s longterm plans.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball wrote the following about Flores as he updated his Mets prospect rankings:

Hitting .319/.354/.527 with 14 homers for Las Vegas, 24 walks, 60 strikeouts in 408 at-bats. Continues steady improvement, though he’s done a lot of damage in friendly home park so I wouldn’t be filling out all-star ballots just yet. Still young, turns 22 this coming week.

That’s very key right there. Flores at 21 has been among the best in the PCL and even leads the league in RBIs and total bases while being the third youngest player in the league. You can’t make light of that fact.

Flores had another good game last night for the 51s and recorded his second consecutive two-hit game. What more does he have to prove before he’s promoted and given an opportunity?

If the rest of this season is supposed to be a testing ground for 2014, then why do we block players like Flores? I wonder how other teams would handle Flores under the same circumstances, like the Yankees or Phillies perhaps? Somehow, I can’t help thinking that he be a fixture in their lineups right now.

I keep hearing speculation from fans who think that Flores will likely be traded. Can you imagine that? A team that is desperate for MLB-ready position players trading one of their best ones?

Even Sickels made mention of how woefully depleted the Mets are of quality position players and downgraded their farm to middle of the pack saying, “Overall, I don’t see the Mets as having an elite system. They need to add more hitting depth and the current returns from Nimmo and Cecchini are disappointing.”

Flores won’t be traded, and eventually he’ll get the call and the franchise will be better off for it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it may happen anytime soon, so get used to seeing a lot more of Davis and Turner and a whole lotta strikeouts.