Second base is the red-headed stepchild of baseball. It’s an enormously important position, but generally is an afterthought. A player needs a set of highly specific skills to be able to man the position, but it often is simply where anybody who is mobile enough to not be limited to first base is thrown. Nobody sets out to become a second baseman, but in order to field a team, you need one.
The lack of minor league depth plaguing the Mets’ minor league system in recent years has been especially apparent at second base. In 2019, the majority of players who manned second base for the Syracuse Mets were free agents.