Mets are ‘ All’ out of position

S AN FRANCISCO— The pitching AllStars should be plentiful over the next few years for the Mets.

But who is going to be the Mets’ next position player AllStar starter?

Is there going to be a future Mets AllStar position starter anywhere on this team or in the organization?

Sure, theMets have had Futures Game AllStars, but what position player will make it to the real AllStar Game? “That’s a great question, and I don’t have an answer for you,’’ manager Terry Collins said Monday night before theMets’ 30 victory over the Giants, who have lost seven straight and whose top seven hitters were 0for24 against winner Jon Niese and Jeurys Familia, who earned his 23rd save on Monday.

Catcher Travis d’Arnaud, perhaps, if he can stay healthy, could be that position player AllStar. Michael Conforto has a shot. He is 22 and is a hitter, batting .325 at Double A Binghamton. Scouts love his swing. Brandon Nimmo, 22, is climbing the ladder but still has a long way to go.

Daniel Murphy was an AllStar last year in Minnesota, but likely won’t be with the Mets next season.

Is there anyone on this team or in the system capable of hitting the AllStar mark as a position player for next year’s game in San Diego?

“The next step is to have more than one AllStar,’’ general manager Sandy Alderson said. “I think that could have happened easily this year. Just to give you one example, I think who has that potential, and that’s somebody like Travis d’Arnaud. Unfortunately, he got hurt.’’

D’Arnaud, who is out with an elbow injury, must stay healthy.

The Mets have been gifted with great pitching and Jacob deGrom was named to the AllStar team for this season’s game in Cincinnati. Familia could also be named.

But the Mets have missed the boat with position players.

Sometimes they get in their own way by thinking about the situation too much.

Wilmer Flores is a perfect example of that. They gave the excuse they didn’t want to hurt Flores’ confidence by moving him off shortstop.

Once David Wright went down, Flores should have been at third. Perhaps if Flores were playing another position from the start, he might have blossomed and had a strong first half.

Going into the season the Mets had two top AllStar candidates, the No. 3 hitter Wright and the No. 4 hitter Lucas Duda.

Wright’s back woes changed that. Wright has to first prove he can take the wear and tear of being an every day player again.

Duda has not been able to make the adjustments needed so far this season.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly intentionally walked Murphy Sunday at Dodger Stadium to get to Duda, not showing a lot of respect for the Mets’ No. 3 hitter.

At that point, a fan yelled out: “Hey Duda, take it personally.’’ That fan may be on to something.

Mets hitters need to take their failures personally and do something about it.

Going through the list of National League hitting leaders you have to get all theway to No. 53 to run across a Met and that’s Flores with a .258 average. As for the OPS list, the first Met you cross is Duda at 33 with a .779.

Hitters cost money. Mets ownership has not been willing to go on the open market to buy a star hitter and prefer dumpster diving for hitters.

The Mets were gifted awin Monday night because the Giants, who made three errors, rested key regulars and are struggling offensively, just like the Mets. Reliever Sergio Romo got the loss to drop to 04 with a 4.97 ERA.

The Mets were able tohang in there and score in the ninth, getting a tworun double by ex Giant Johnny Monell.

The Mets are surviving with epic pitching, but this sure would be a lot more fun if the Mets had a few hitting All Stars, too.