Mets fans are a bit like dogs that have been hit one too many times – they whimper at the sight of the back of a hand, and they’re desperate for love. So no one can be shocked that despite repeated denials by GM Omar Minaya that 21-year-old phenom Lastings Milledge is available, many fans have been convinced of the existence of a secret plot to trade the budding star for a pitcher on the order of Jeff Suppan.

Nor should it stun anyone that these fans are willing to overlook Milledge’s obvious flaws and pronounce him the new David Wright. All of that’s fine and good. One just hopes that Milledge doesn’t get caught up in a cycle whereby his failure to live up to unreasonable expectations is construed as a different sort of failure altogether.

That Milledge was called up yesterday to fill the roster spot opened by right fielder Xavier Nady’s emergency appendectomy is an excellent thing. Milledge has been producing on the farm (.291 AVG/.425 OBA/.467 SLG), and this is the perfect kind of low-pressure situation in which to bring him up. If he doesn’t hit, he can simply be replaced by Victor Diaz or by Nady, once he’s recovered; if he Wally Pipps the competent but underwhelming incumbent, all the better. Milledge is rewarded for fine play, the Mets show real commitment to their young players, and hopefully the team profits on the field as well.

But, as I’ve written before, there’s a real problem, which is that Milledge doesn’t hit for power – he’s on pace to hit just 12 home runs in Triple-A, and he’s never been a home run hitter at any point in his minor league career.

Whether or not anyone likes it, corner outfielders who don’t hit for power don’t become stars unless they hit for exceptionally high averages and play superb defense. Milledge may be able to do those things, and his power stroke may develop. He’s still young. For now, though, aside from the inherent problem of having a right fielder who doesn’t hit home runs, there’s the fact that a hitter who doesn’t hit for power in the majors is generally going to have real problems drawing walks, because pitchers won’t be afraid to challenge him – and a great deal of Milledge’s value right now is in his high walk totals.

In all likelihood, Milledge will hit like Jose Reyes with a slightly higher on-base average and many fewer steals. That’s a very different thing coming from a right fielder than it is a shortstop. He’ll make up for some of that by playing better defense than Nady, who’s pretty bad out there. But at this point in his career, like Nady, Milledge is much likelier to be a placeholder than a contributor.

That’s not necessarily going to damage the team. Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and Wright are all elite offensive performers, and Reyes and the team’s catchers have been very good by positional standards. The Mets don’t need a star at every position. There does come a point, though, where a ship carries too much dead weight, and the Mets may be nearing that point.

The various second basemen have been atrocious, yet again the worst in the league, and it’s not hard to imagine Reyes and the catchers falling into big slumps. Looked at that way, carrying Milledge puts a good deal of pressure on the rest of the lineup, especially Cliff Floyd, who has yet to right himself. The Mets have played in fair luck this year and haven’t gone through a stretch in which the lineup’s big three bats have had to carry the offense. We could see that during the next week or two.

The answer here is to fix second base. The miserable Kansas City Royals have Mark Grudzielanek, whom the Mets should probably have pursued more aggressively this winter; the equally wretched Chicago Cubs have six second basemen on their team right now, of whom two – Todd Walker and Jerry Hairston Jr. – would be perfectly adequate solutions. If the Mets need to make a deal right now, it isn’t for yet another passable starter, it’s for someone who can play a major league second base while hitting better than a pitcher.

As a team wins, it needs a subtler approach. For the last few years, it’s been enough to chant a mantra of “bring up the kids,” because that’s what the team needed to do. Now the Mets need to drive in two gears at once. They have to be willing to give Milledge a major league trial despite his having less than a year in the high minors. They also need to be willing to pay up for the equivalent of a Nady-type to man the keystone. Whatever Milledge does, he’s not going to single-handedly solve the problems that loom as potential crises in Flushing. The Mets may have stopped beating the dog, but they need to feed him, too.

tmarchman@nysun.com