Since the end of World War II, there have only been 39 second basemen to come up and get 100 PA in the majors by their age 21 season. Of those, there are only nine players to amass an OPS+ of 100 or more in this time span. Eight of them have played at least nine years in the majors, five of them made the All-Star team and three are in the Hall of Fame. The only one not to play nine years is Dilson Herrera, who is just starting his MLB career.

Whenever you’re keeping company with Joe Morgan, Rod Carew and Roberto Alomar, you know you’re doing something right.

Herrera came up to the majors earlier this year and got off to a rotten start, going 1-13 in his first four games. But he immediately turned that around, posting a .915 OPS in his next six before landing on the disabled list. Herrera missed 26 games before returning for the last game of the Giants series and has now played three games since returning from the DL.

He’s reached base safely in his last nine games and has a .323/.417/.484 line in this short span. A brief hot streak? Without a doubt. But at a time when the alternatives are Eric Campbell, Daniel Muno and Ruben Tejada – it’s great to see a hyped prospect come up and give the Mets something offensively, even if he wasn’t nearly as hyped as he should have been.

Baseball America was the only one of the big boys to rank Herrera in the top 50 and even there he came in at 46. Baseball Prospectus had him at 82, FanGraphs had him at 109 and he did not make Keith Law’s list.

Why the lack of love for Herrera? He didn’t have a huge signing bonus ($220K), his original org traded him away, he’s listed at only 5’10 and he plays a position (2B) that is generally looked down at by evaluators. If you can’t hack it at short, you can always move to second. But if you can’t hack it at second, the logic goes, what’s left?

You would think this wouldn’t be a huge issue for a guy voted as the best defensive second baseman in the SAL. You’d also think that a guy who made his MLB debut at age 20 would turn some heads. Those guys don’t grow on trees. At an age where most guys are either in college or A-ball, Herrera ended the season in the majors.

At the end of the day, it makes no difference how the prospect evaluators rank Herrera. The only thing that matters is what the Mets think of him. He was called up at age 20 by Sandy Alderson, not exactly a guy known for operating recklessly. When a position became available in the majors for him to play every day in 2015, they again turned to him. It certainly seems like the Mets think highly of Herrera.

But do other clubs? Alderson seemingly has placed both Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard on his untouchable list. But what if he goes shopping for a bat and the other team asks for Herrera? Would Alderson agree to include him in a deal to get an impact bat for the 2015 season?

My hope is he says no. While no one wants to part with a Matz or a Syndergaard, ultimately the Mets have more pitching depth in the system than they do 2B depth. We’ve already seen Campbell and Muno and Wilfredo Tovar and were left wanting more. L.J. Mazzilli and T.J. Rivera are already in their mid-20s and neither has tasted success at the Triple-A level yet.

If the Mets trade Herrera and let Daniel Murphy leave via free agency, they are left with either Wilmer Flores or Gavin Cecchini manning second base. That’s okay if they get Troy Tulowitzki but do you really want to see a Flores-Cecchini DP combo next year?

There are almost too many variable to consider accurately right now, especially once you factor in the long-term health of David Wright. But one thing seems clear and that’s the Mets should make Herrera their full-time second baseman from now on. He brings a power/speed/acceptable defense package that the club has never had from a second baseman previously. Neither Edgardo Alfonzo nor Jeff Kent had speed and Murphy has never been close to a good fielder.

The Mets have a poor man’s version of two-time MVP Morgan on their hands and the hope is they let him play second base for the next 12-15 years. Herrera is the position player heir to Jose Reyes and Wright, two guys promoted from the farm system who delivered excellence at a fraction of the cost of players from the open market.

Here’s hoping we see #2 play second base for the Mets for years and years to come.

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