When Todd Frazier landed on the disabled list, one of the justifications proffered for the Mets not calling-up Jeff McNeil was the organization views McNeil as a second baseman, and at the moment, the team still had Asdrubal Cabrera.

In true Mets fashion, their narrative and their actions made this statement and position increasingly absurd. And that’s before you consider Cabrera having an MLB worst -16 DRS at second base.

First and foremost, the Mets actually had Mickey Callaway say Jose Reyes was playing well enough recently to man third until Frazier returns. It shouldn’t shock anyone that since Callaway uttered those words, Reyes is 1-for-17 at the plate.

1-for-17

While Reyes was hitting, sorry not hitting, Cabrera would hyper-extend his elbow requiring him to come out early from one game and not start the next.

Now, this wasn’t an opportunity to call-up McNeil. Not for a game. However, this was a chance to play Dominic Smith. After all, the former first round pick and once first baseman of the future has only started in 16 of the Mets past 28 games.

Instead, the Mets opted to start Wilmer Flores at first, Jose Bautista at third, and Matt den Dekker at third.

Think about that for a second, the Mets actually went out of their way to start the soon to be 31 year old den Dekker in center over giving the 23 year old Smith playing time. Naturally, the Mets are now looking to send down Smith while presumably keeping den Dekker up in the majors.

It gets better.

Because Amed Rosario was playing well, the team opted to have him sit against Max Scherzer. It should come as no surprise Reyes got the start at short in his stead.

With those lineup decisions, the Mets had a starting lineup with an average age of 29.6 years old. Take out Brandon Nimmo (25) and Michael Conforto (25) and that average age jumps to 31.2 years old.

The average age of the Mets bench last night was 26.0 years old, and that includes the 22 year old Rosario and the 23 year old Smith.

Remember, this is a Mets team who his now 17 games under .500.  Sure, you can understand the concept of playing Bautista to try to pump up his trade value.  However, it is unfathomable to sit both Smith and Rosario to get Reyes and den Dekker into the lineup.

If you think this is all a sick joke and a gross mismanagement of the team, we have yet to reach the best part.

Last night, McNeil, the guy the Mets solely viewed as a second baseman, played third base for Triple-A Las Vegas.  On Monday, McNeil was just a second baseman.  By Thursday, he was capable of playing third base.  It didn’t take the Mets a week before completely upending their own narrative.

This just highlights how completely lost this entire Mets organization is.

The player the Mets view only as a second baseman is playing third base.  The man who is supposed to be the first baseman of the future has played way out of position in left field over one-third of the time.  Their starting shortstop, a player upon much of the future hangs, is sat because he’s playing too well.

The Mets would have to significantly improve things in order for them to start looking completely inept and confused.  Really, this is as bad as it gets.  But hey, at least the Wilpons are doing well financially.