It is highly doubtful that 30 games played in an Instructional League in the month of October will have a far reaching impact on a player’s career. Still, Gavin Cecchini‘s time in the Arizona Fall League appears to be a bit of a missed opportunity.

It became very apparent this year that Cecchini’s future with the New York Mets will be at second base.

That first became apparent because Cecchini has struggled defensively at the position. While fielding percentage can be an overrated and flawed stat, Cecchini’s .933 fielding percentage in AAA, and his minor league career .944 fielding percentage cannot be ignored.  His stats show he’s not capable of playing short. It is strange because he has the tools to be a good defender there, but he just can’t put it together.

This begs the question why do the Mets want him to put it together?  With Amed Rosario having established himself as the much better defensive shortstop, the much better prospect, and arguably the better offensive player, Rosario, not Cecchini, is the shortstop of the future. If you still like Cecchini as a player, and you believe he is a major league caliber player, he needs to transition to second base.

And the process has begun. He worked on second base on the side during the AAA season. He even got into two games there before being called-up to the Mets. Given the fact that the transition presumably began, it has been surprising to see Cecchini play so much shortstop in the Arizona Fall League. It’s shocking when Mets first base coach, Tom Goodwin, is Cecchini’s manager.  It’s downright stupefying when the Scorpions are carrying one second baseman and three shortstops on their roster.

It leads one to search for some logic behind what seems to be an illogical decision.  Upon further review, there appears to be a couple of good reasons why the Mets have Cecchini playing a lot of shortstop in the Arizona Fall League.

The first and obvious answer is this is all much ado about nothing. While it would be preferable for Cecchini to play second base, it is more important for him to play everyday to see how he stacks up against the best prospects in the game.  The Mets may just want him to focus on his hitting to see if his bat could translate against some of the better pitching prospects in baseball.  Note, in a 30 game context, this does not just mean results, it also is his approach and whether or not he appears over-matched.  If Cecchini does prove he can hit better pitching, his future would be further solidified with the Mets.

Second, there may be a real issue going forward with Asdrubal Cabrera and his knees (even with him not needing knee surgery). While Terry Collins’ first choice would be to move Jose Reyes to short in Cabrera’s absence, he may not have that luxury as Reyes may be playing third base for David Wright, or Reyes could start next season as the starting second baseman depending on what the Mets are able to do this offseason.  Also keep in mind that Reyes has proven himself to be an injury prone player at times in his career.

If any of the aforementioned players are injured, the options at short would be Cecchini or Matt Reynolds. In the short term, the Mets may go to Reynolds who has played in the major leagues, is the better defender, and has had some success at the big league level.  Moreover, Reynolds has been transitioning to being a utility player meaning he may be more accustomed to not playing everyday.  In the event there is an injury that will require someone to take over for a month or so, Cecchini might get the call.  While the Mets may be loathed to use him for a two week stretch, they may be inclined to run him out there everyday for a month or so to see how the better regarded prospect can handle being an everyday player.

Finally, the Mets may not be moving Cecchini from shortstop because you can never have too much depth.  Rosario could regress, suffer an injury, or the Mets could be presented with a trade offer where they would include their untouchable prospect. In any of these scenarios, the Mets are going to need another shortstop.  That shortstop should be Cecchini as he is currently the best non-Rosario middle infield prospect.

There may be other reasons why the Mets are playing Cecchini at shortstop in the Arizona Fall League rather than capitalizing on an opportunity to transition one of their best prospects to the position he is destined to play.  Whatever the case, the hope needs to be the Mets are making decisions based upon sound principles that are in both their own and Cecchini’s best interests.

Editor’s Note: Cecchini left last week’s Arizona Fall League game after fouling a ball off his foot.  Despite the injury, he is hitting .258/.359/.419 with two doubles, a homer, and six RBI in nine games.  He is part of fan voting to select the final two players for the Arizona Fall League roster.