What is most interesting about the Mets calling up Gavin Cecchini is the fact that the Mets did not need him.

The Mets didn’t need him to play shortstop.  Even with a lingering knee injury, Asdrubal Cabrera is able to play everyday.  If and when Cabrera needs time off, the Mets have sufficient depth on their current roster to address the shortstop position.  Both Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores can slide over in a pinch.  Matt Reynolds has shown himself to be a good defender at the position.  In an emergency, Eric Campbell and Kelly Johnson have played there and have not embarrassed themselves.

Recently, Cecchini has been playing at second base.  He has worked there over the season, and he has played three of his last four AAA games at the position.  Even with Neil Walker‘s season ending surgery, he isn’t needed there either.  Flores and Johnson are more than capable of replicating Walker’s numbers with their platoon splits and hot hitting.  Reynolds has shown he can handle the position adeptly.  In an emergency situation, both Campbell and Ty Kelly are more than capable of playing second base.

While Cecchini hasn’t played third, the Mets have an incredible amount of depth over there, and that was even before the expanded rosters.  So, again, it begs the question: why was Cecchini called up?

It’s an important question because with the Mets calling up Cecchini, the team is starting the clock on him.  It doesn’t make sense for the Mets to start the clock on Cecchini when he could reasonably be considered the Mets second baseman of the future.  Given Walker’s back and the Mets trading Dilson Herrera, maintaining control over Cecchini has become more important than it once was.  It’s why it is very interesting the Mets are now adding Cecchini to the 40 man roster, a few months before they needed, and called him up now.

The move would only make sense if the Mets were actually intending upon playing Cecchini everyday at second base.  If the Mets were to do that, it would allow the team to let Flores and Johnson platoon at first base instead of second thereby removing James Loney‘s poor offensive production from the lineup.  Now, there is some danger in this.  As we have seen with Terry Collins handling of Michael Conforto and other young talent, Collins doesn’t trust young players, and he gives them very little rope.  As we have seen with Conforto, this could have a detrimental effect on a young player’s development.  It’s a strange position to put Cecchini in, but it is the only one that makes sense.

Because at the end of the day, if the Mets are bringing up Cecchini just to sit on the bench, they’re not helping him.  Worse yet, they are losing important control time over a player that could be their second baseman for years to come.