Cincinnati Reds: Three shortstops who could backup up Freddy Galvis

3. Wilmer Flores

I, for one, am shocked that Wilmer Flores is still a free agent. No, he’s not an elite defender, but he can swing the bat. For a Cincinnati Reds team that finished 12th in runs scored and batting average, adding a bat like Flores’ to the squad would do nothing but help. The 28-year-old hit .317 last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks and finished with a 118 OPS+.

After six years in the Big Apple, Flores joined the D-Backs in the desert last season. A career .262 hitter with the New York Mets, Flores broke through offensively slashing .317/.371/.487 with 9 home runs and 37 RBIs in 265 at-bats. Despite a breakout season in 2019, Flores had a career-OBP of .303 before heading to Arizona.

Flores would bring some versatility to Cincinnati as well. Though he hasn’t played an extensive amount at shortstop since 2015, he Flores has 148 career starts at the position. The Venezuelan native also has experience at first, second, and third base.

Until last year, Wilmer Flores had four consecutive seasons of double-digit home runs. His nine dingers in 2019 were the fewest since Flores’ 2014 season in New York, but the right-handed hitting infielder played in just 89 games with the Diamondbacks last season.

Don’t discount the possibility of Christian Colón making the Opening Day roster. The former World Series hero is a non-roster invitee within the Cincinnati Reds organization. Jose Garcia still has some seasoning, as does Alfredo Rodriguez, but both received an invite to Goodyear as well. There’s still an outside chance that the Reds make a trade, but for now, the shortstop position is quite thin.