No matter the length or severity of Yoenis Cespedes‘ thumb injury, the New York Mets will still have to make a daily decision as to whom to play in the outfield and at first base. Even in Cespedes’ absence, there are still more capable ballplayers than available, everyday spots.

The logical choice that has been screamed by a majority of Mets fans over the last couple of weeks would be to sit Adrian Gonzalez and move Jay Bruce to first base, which could, in turn, bring together one of the more exciting and defensively-gifted outfield combinations in all of baseball.

Had Cespedes not been injured on Sunday while sliding into third base on a perfectly-executed double-steal, it’s more than conceivable that the 35-year-old Gonzalez could have been designated for assignment very soon.

The Mets made their plans public on Friday to give Jay Bruce a start at first base this week. From April 21 through April 28, Gonzo went 1-for-17 with one run batted in. The groans and growls from the Flushing faithful for his behind to be buried on the bench were growing louder by the day.

On Sunday, two days after the team announced their intentions for Bruce, Gonzalez went 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, and five RBI.

Although his season has been marred by multiple cringe-worthy stretches at the plate, his .227 average and .706 OPS aren’t too far behind the Mets’ de facto offensive leader, Cespedes, by small margins (.233/.729).

Granted, Yo has six homers and 25 RBI compared to Gonzalez’ three and 17, respectively. But there are aspects of Gonzalez’ game that have yielded positive results.

He is second on the team with those three home runs and his 17 RBI are tied for second-most with Asdrubal Cabrera and Todd Frazier.

With runners in scoring position, Gonzalez has a 1.084 OPS, second to only Michael Conforto‘s 1.236 in those situations, with two home runs and 15 RBI in 19 at-bats.

Hypothetically, keeping Gonzalez at first while Cespedes is out, however long that may be, still leaves a logjam in the Mets’ outfield though. If Gonzo is now indeed heating up with his roster spot presumably on the line, it leaves manager Mickey Callaway with some tough decisions to make.

Juan Lagares, apparently pretty miffed at not having an everyday spot in the Mets’ outfield, has taken out all of those aggressions on the opposing pitchers he’s faced this season.

In 38 at-bats Lagares, 29, is hitting .342/.395/.368 and continues to play nearly flawlessly in the field. It’s almost a crime not to have him in the lineup every day, but the situation is what it is.

Brandon Nimmo is another player who seemingly needs to be in the lineup on a consistent basis. He’s slashing .313/.488/.563 in 32 at-bats and his outfield play has improved dramatically since last season, to this writer’s eye at least.

Jay Bruce has begun to heat up after a dreadful stretch through the middle of April that saw him go 1-for-22 from April 10 to April 19 with just one measly RBI. Since then, the 30-year-old Bruce is 11-for-30 with a homer and five RBI.

What makes things even more difficult to decipher is Michael Conforto‘s struggles at the plate since his late start to the season. For the year, Conforto has a slash line of .222/.390/.317 in 63 at-bats.

It’s practically a given that he’ll come around at some point and has already begun to show signs of snapping out of his prolonged funk, but it still leaves Callaway with a hefty decision to make.

Naturally, if Bruce and Gonzalez are indeed both beginning to find their strokes, it would obviously benefit this team immensely.

Lagares and Nimmo are both virtually screaming at the tops of their lungs to start every day with their collective production so they need to be in the mix too, for sure.

And Conforto, who almost-miraculously made it back from his devastating shoulder injury well ahead of schedule but has been met with some adversity since returning, like all ballplayers coming back from injury or a deep funk, needs to play consistently to break himself out of his slump.

Whether Yoenis Cespedes misses a week or a month with his thumb injury (which we should be learning at some point Tuesday), realistically, the Mets should be OK.

The problem that this team is coming close to having, which is having a roster full of players who are all swinging the bat well but not having enough positions for all of them to play, is a very good problem to have.