The trade was met with little fanfare at the time, but on July 24, when the Mets acquired Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves, Manager Terry Collins was given two versatile players for a team that had been mostly devoid of offense. But perhaps more important to the way Collins tends to run his team, it allowed him to start tinkering with the lineup in hope of finding the combination that worked best.
As the Mets have shot to the top of the standings, Collins has deployed his new toys throughout the lineup, and so far that approach has been highly successful.