Non Tenders

Avisail Garcia and Wilmer Flores were two of the more surprising players let go by their teams Friday, the deadline for tendering 2019 contracts. With both players arbitration elligible, their respective clubs apparently decided that they no longer provided value from their expected salaries. An all star in 2017, Garcia battled injury problems this past season. Even though limited to 93 games, he smacked 19 home runs. But his strikeout numbers soared, as his batting average plummeted from .330 to .236.
A Citi Field fan favorite, Flores never grabbed a fulltime job. A far more effective hitter against lefties with clear defensive limitations, he clearly didn't impress the Mets new front office leaders Brodie Van Wagonen, Ruben Amaro and Allard Baird. But he had a knack for coming through in big moments -- his four walk-off homers are the most in franchise history. And Mets fans will never forget the moment he cried when he thought he was about to be traded to the Brewers, in a 2015 deal that fell through -- with the Mets and Flores advancing to the World Series. But with winds of changing howling through Flushing, a onetime minor league shortstop who might be best suited to being a DH, didn't fit the new blueprint.

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