Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

Why keeping Davis and Duda is disaster in waiting for Mets

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — You know having Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan in your summer share house might work out just great. But the odds are pretty strong it will be a bad idea, courting discomfort, if not outright disaster.

Kind of like having Ike Davis and Lucas Duda on the same 25-man roster. There will be days, like Wednesday night in the Astros’ AL park, where it might make some sense — one playing first base, one DHing.

But because just 10 of the Mets’ 162 games are in AL stadiums this year, and some of those might be against lefties, well, Davis and Duda as Mets teammates will be as appealing as tequila-flavored cotton candy.

One Mets official admitted, “It is not ideal.” Which is currently the 2014 baseball season leader for understatement of the year. If it were just that the two bat from the same side of the plate and play the same position, and that neither has remained healthy enough or good enough to win the job outright, then it could all be chalked up as a simple problem of roster inflexibility, and deal with that Terry Collins.

But, come on, we see the real day-after-tomorrow problem coming as clearly as Knicks coach Mike Woodson’s dismissal. Unless one of the duo seizes the job and doesn’t let go — and what in either’s past suggests that likelihood — then Collins is going to face the daily dilemma, disquiet and discussion about who is going to play first base.

Davis goes 0-for-4 with three whiffs on Opening Day, Duda starts Game 2 and doesn’t play well, and so on and so on and so on. The front office never solved this problem, thus: Two men for one job, when it is not clear either is a true major league starter.

“Is it going to be one guy?” Collins said. “I don’t know. It is a work in progress still. I know both guys have worked their tails off down here, so I give them credit for that.”

Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said Collins has been an active participant in roster construction and approved having both men on the roster, and — to his diplomatic credit — the Mets manager insisted having a lefty power bat available off the bench daily should be beneficial. Plus, he noted, the Mets play in Anaheim April 11-13, so having both for first base/DH duties will be more seamless — though that could be largely negated should the Angels have both lefty starters (Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs) lined up for the series.

Besides, that is like looking for the silver lining in a sewage overflow. This is not exactly a quarterback controversy that splits a team in two — we will have to wait for Michael Vick vs. Geno Smith for that. But it has the potential to be unsettling to a whole clubhouse, problematic for a manager already dealing with the Houdini-esque mandate to turn 75-win talent into a 90-win team.

There was a tacit promise this would be resolved in the offseason. But the Mets never heard a return offer they found acceptable for Davis. Then both Davis and Duda incurred leg injuries that wiped out most of their springs, and with it Collins’ plan to give both roughly 100 plate appearances to a) have one win the job outright, and/or b) build trade value for one or both.

That the Mets have dispensed with the notion of having Duda fumble around in the outfield any longer means both are first basemen, and since Josh Satin will play against southpaws, well, that leaves Collins as much maneuverability as an elephant in a maze.

Wednesday at 2 p.m. was the deadline to unconditionally release Davis or Duda and owe just one-quarter of their 2014 salary. But the Mets didn’t do that for the same reason they did not simply trade one for the most appetizing of what they viewed as unappetizing trade proposals — they have seen enough power from Davis and Duda that they do not want to surrender them, see them flourish elsewhere and have nothing to show for it.

“We have our eyes wide open,” Ricco said. “We liked both guys and think if either went to the right AL team in the right park in particular they would do very well. But it is not fear holding us back, really. Sandy [Alderson, GM] has been around the block. This is not about us being haunted, it is about doing the right thing.”

So, for now, the Mets believe doing the right thing is occupying two of 25 roster spots with similar players who both can’t play at the same time.

“If it gets to the point it is counterproductive, maybe we will make a decision on it,” Ricco explained. “It will evolve.”

Hey, it could work out. Does anyone have Lindsay Lohan’s phone number?