Mr. Praline: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! This is an ex-parrot!!!

In a way, it was hard not to think of Monty Pythons’ dead parrot sketch when it comes to my favorite player, David Wright, and the reaction of Mets’ personnel to the latest news. Pay no attention to Lenny Dykstra or Don Mattingly because another week of rest and he’ll be ready to resume baseball activities.

To be fair, spinal stenosis is not a one diagnosis fits all disease. Just because it ended Dyskstra’s career does not mean it’ll do the same thing to Wright. It’s entirely possible that extended rest will be the cure and Wright will be back after the All-Star break. It just feels like the medical staff is reverting back to pre-Sandy Alderson days, where nothing is ever serious until the player has been gone for months.

We should be getting Carlos Delgado back annnny day now.

Meanwhile, it’s okay for fans to be hysterical and depressed now over the latest Wright news. But Alderson and his staff have to come up with a plan of what to do in both the short-term and long-term if Wright is not coming back.

MetsBlog announced that with Eric Campbell – Wright’s current replacement – in an 0-19 slump, that the Mets would bench him and play Ruben Tejada at third base. Earlier this season, Tejada made his first-ever start at third and played pretty well, making a couple of nice plays in the field. And Tejada homered Saturday, so why not get him in there again?

In the short-term, playing Tejada is likely the most-reasonable option the team has. Campbell has yet to display the ability to perform well for more than a week at a time, Daniel Muno looked overmatched in his brief callup earlier this season, Matt Reynolds has a .755 OPS in Las Vegas, where the team as a whole has an .835 mark. And that includes pitchers.

But why on earth would you play Tejada at third base? That is, unless you subscribe to the theory that anytime you can play three guys out of position on the infield, you’ve got to do it. Wouldn’t a more pitcher-friendly alignment be Wilmer Flores at 2B, Tejada at SS and Daniel Murphy at 3B? Is Flores’ confidence so low that he’ll view any move off SS as a threat?

Flores doesn’t have much of a major league track record to examine. But it may be worth noting that at his limited time at 2B, he has an .868 OPS with 10 extra-base hits in 72 PA. Compare that to his .641 OPS while playing SS. It may not mean anything. But it’s certainly not a ringing endorsement to play him at SS when the team could easily make a spot available for him at 2B.

Murphy came up as a third baseman and while he’s no threat to win the Gold Glove Award at the position, he’s better suited to play the hot corner than he is to play in the middle infield. If nothing else, at least he’s supposed to charge bunts while playing third. And while perhaps falling in the category of damning with faint praise, Tejada is the best shortstop on the roster.

It seems clear to me that this is the best short-term option. And it gives the Mets a chance to see that if in a worst-case scenario where Wright’s career is over that Murphy can be his replacement.

It’s no fun to consider such a thing. The dream has always been for Wright to finish his career with the Mets like John Elway in Denver, with a couple of championships at the end of the road as a reward for all he did for the franchise earlier in his career. Shoot, I’m still clinging to that vision.

But at the very least, Alderson has to consider life for the Mets without Wright.

Murphy got off to a horrible start this year and for the season, he has a .690 OPS, a mark which can only be described as un-Murphy like. But in his last 26 games, he has a .333/.373/.469 slash mark. That might be a little above where we would expect him to be but certainly that is closer to his expected output than what he did the first three weeks of the season.

Right now, 22 third basemen in the game qualify for the FanGraphs leaderboards. In the middle of the pack is Pablo Sandoval and his .753 OPS, which ranks 11. You may have heard that Sandoval signed a big free agent contract in the offseason. Yes, Sandoval is underperforming. Still the point is that it’s not going to be easy to bring in a guy to give league offense at the position and the Mets have one sitting under their nose. Or two, considering that Dilson Herrera should be back at some point to play second and Flores could slide over and play third.

The Mets should use this period while Wright is going to be out to play someone at the position who could be his eventual replacement, should that need exist for next season. Flores would definitely be cheaper in 2016. Murphy likely would be better.

There’s just no way to justify playing Tejada at third base. And for his sake, this shouldn’t be a one-game spot start and then back to the bench. Campbell has a lifetime .655 OPS (and sinking) in the majors and it’s painful to watch him throw across the diamond. Tejada has a lifetime .645 OPS and is the team’s best shortstop. Let him play that position until/unless the club pulls the trigger on a deal for a better option.

And give Flores or Murphy a tryout at third for the remainder of time that Wright is shelved.

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