Mets Roster: How much longer will the team stick with Albert Almora?

Albert Almora hasn’t done much for the New York Mets this year. Other than provide them with some late-inning defense, he has been atrocious. In his first 19 trips to the plate, the 27-year-old outfielder has only a single and a walk with a whole lot of outs including seven on strikes.

Signed this winter as the team’s fifth outfielder, it’s beginning to look like he may end up like yet another failed addition to the center field mix.

The Mets haven’t had much luck adding center fielders in recent seasons

Jake Marisnick was the 2020 center field addition. Although he hit well, Marisnick missed a huge portion of the already abbreviated season. I’m not quite sure it’s even fair to judge anything he did during his time with the Mets.

A year earlier, Keon Broxton was the big bust on the bench. We can claim the same for a few other players the Mets brought in to provide depth at the position. Included on this list are Carlos Gomez and Rajai Davis.

One in a growing line of failed Mets outfielders on the bench, I’m wondering how much longer we will see the team bother carrying Almora.

Is the defense Albert Almora provides good enough?

In the absence of Brandon Nimmo, Kevin Pillar has been the player to see action in center field. He has had his moments and has outplayed Almora by miles.

But these are two very different players. Pillar’s bat came to the Mets with much more hype than Almora’s. After all, Almora is coming off a year where he hit just .167 for the Chicago Cubs in limited action. A season prior, he batted .236 in 363 chances.

The Mets bench is being put to its greatest test right now. They aren’t playing sporadically. Pillar is in the everyday lineup. Jonathan Villar has also seen himself in the starting lineup at third base on a regular basis because of injuries to J.D. Davis and Luis Guillorme. Almora has been left behind. He has only his performance to blame.

Almora’s role with the Mets is an important one. His place on the roster comes down to whether the Mets believe they have a better option. Khalil Lee is the obvious choice to potentially steal the roster spot right now. The Triple-A outfielder could give the Mets more at the plate, however, at the cost of delaying any development, the team may choose to simply limit Almora’s playing time. Why promote Lee if he’s not going to play at the major league level?

The other remaining option for the Mets is to simply forego carrying five outfielders. We know Jeff McNeil can play the corners. When Jose Martinez returns from the IL, he’s another challenger for the roster spot currently held by Almora.

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Almora has been gravely disappointing for the Mets this year. I know some didn’t exactly expect much from him. As a former sixth overall pick in the MLB draft still under 30 and with some quality seasons in his past, I had at least expected something from him at the plate. Instead, the Mets have gotten next to nothing.