Braves’ Santana signing opens Mets to criticism

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The Braves needed a pitcher and signed Ervin Santana on Wednesday. Don’t expect that to impact the way general manager Sandy Alderson handles what widely is viewed as a hole at shortstop.

“I don’t think it has any significant bearing on us,” the general manager said when asked about the Mets’ pursuit of Stephen Drew as Ruben Tejada continues to struggle this spring. “Number one: It was a one-year deal. Number two: Atlanta’s had more than just one loss from their starting rotation.”

Still, the contrast is striking. Just days after Kris Medlen went down with an elbow ligament injury, the best remaining free-agent hurler becomes a Brave, while the Mets play Tejada and even Wilmer Flores at short.

Drew and his agent, Scott Boras, are looking for a multi-year deal, so the one-year contract Santana signed for slightly less than the $14.1 million qualifying offer is different than the one the Mets would have to offer to land Drew.

Alderson also wouldn’t agree that the Mets are in need of a shortstop.

“I don’t know that we have a situation here,” Alderson said.

The Santana signing did have an impact on others within the organization.

“When we saw Medlen go down and then we saw [Brandon] Beachy was hurt, in our next coach’s meeting, we said, ‘They’re going to be signing Ervin Santana,’ ” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “So I’m not shocked. What are you going to do?”

And David Wright has seen this script play out before.

“Since I’ve been in the big leagues, they’ve been a very successful, winning franchise, and it seems like they make smart decisions,” Wright said. “Today was no different.”

But he is not going to complain about the Mets inability to make the same move.

“It’s not my job to sign a player or decide who to sign or don’t sign,” Wright said. “We have a very good front office, a very intelligent front office, and I trust them to make those decisions. I’m here to play third base, not be the deciding factor on who to sign. … There’s got to be a separation of powers.”

And that’s not going to change.

“Sandy’s never come to me and tried talk to me about hitting mechanics, just like I’m not going to knock on his door and tell him we need to do this or we need to do that,” Wright said. “He’s a very intelligent man. He’s been around a long time and he can make those decisions.”

Alderson did acknowledge the late signing of Santana, as well as the fact other significant free agents who declined qualifying offers like Drew and Kendrys Morales remain available, likely will impact the market.

“It is a change, therefore we all have to adjust to the change and frankly the players haven’t adjusted to the change,” Alderson said. “To blame the system versus the marketplace and blame the system versus a misunderstanding of the marketplace, I think, is a little one-sided.”

And he expects that adjustment to be made now.

“From a management standpoint, I’d say, ‘Hey, I’m surprised a few guys haven’t taken the qualifying offer,’ ” Alderson said. “Maybe they should have. Maybe they should have last year. Maybe they should have this year.”

Especially since they might not be so easy to come by next offseason.

“It’s going to be interesting, because clubs are going to have to respond to this set of circumstances, too, to the extent clubs anticipating players are going to accept, fewer clubs may offer,” Alderson said. “It’s a dynamic environment.”

All of this, though, doesn’t help the Mets at shortstop right now.

Tejada got the start against the Cardinals on Wednesday, one day after Flores started there. Tejada is expected to start again Thursday.

“We’ll continue to look at how he’s doing, but it won’t be a judgment based on one, two or three games,” Alderson said.

He also didn’t rule out Flores getting more of a shot to play there, and the GM acknowledged the process could take some time.

Asked if he could see players who haven’t signed yet waiting until after Opening Day, Alderson responded: “At this point, that might be a viable strategy.”