No one would suggest that Justin Turner is a surefire star prospect. After all, the Mets only picked him up when the Baltimore Orioles decided to let him go.

But how is Justin Turner not being given the chance to play every day for the New York Mets?

Here’s what we do know: Luis Castillo is not the future at second base. He was benched back on August 7 because the Mets belatedly realized that the time to cut their losses on Castillo was last winter. If they were unable to trade him anywhere, as appears to be the case, how was it not a wake up call to them that if Castillo wasn’t marketable after hitting .302, he was a poor bet to hold down the position regularly in 2010?

We also have a pretty good idea at this point that Ruben Tejada is not ready to hit big league pitching. In 142 plate appearances, he’s hitting .180/.268/.213. Now, do I think Tejada every day is a better idea than Castillo at all? Sure- Tejada could possibly become an asset down the road, and Castillo can’t.

But Justin Turner, while never hitting much in the big leagues, had just 40 plate appearances spread over several seasons. Down at Triple-A, Turner is hitting .306/.371/.452 this year, including .324/.388/.475 since coming to Buffalo. For those curious, that is a major league equivalent of a .694 OPS with good defense.

In other words: a roughly league-average second baseman.

No, Turner probably isn’t the answer long-term at second base. But finding reasonable players to fill holes is important, too. The Mets, who have many such holes to fill- and simply haven’t, time and again- need to stop wasting at-bats. If the team is to be run correctly, every at-bat is precious.

Howard Megdal is the Editor-in-Chief of The Perpetual Post. He covers baseball, basketball and soccer for Capital New York, MLBTradeRumors.com, New York Baseball Digest and has written for ESPN.com as well as numerous other publications. He is the Poet Laureate for SBNation New York. His book about Jewish baseball players, “The Baseball Talmud,” is available for purchase on Amazon.com and wherever books are sold. His next book, "Taking The Field", is available for pre-order on Amazon.com and will publish in May 2011.

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Tags: Justin Turner, Luis Castillo, New York Mets, Ruben Tejada