1 Mets prospect whose immediate fate changed most because of the Jose Siri trade

Only one rookie position player debuted for the 2024 New York Mets. Luisangel Acuna, who wasn’t called up until mid-September when Francisco Lindor’s back was trying to break him, was it.

This was hardly the expectation heading into 2024. Several notable Mets prospects looked to be on the cusp of making it to the majors. A much better than anticipated team plus several injuries derailed those thoughts.

A year later, many of those same prospects who failed to crack the majors for one reason or another are in consideration yet again for some playing time. Prior to this week, one who looked like a serious candidate to crack the roster was Drew Gilbert. Not so fast. The Mets just traded for Jose Siri. An all-or-nothing type of hitter with tremendous speed and the kind of glove you take to meet your mama after a third date, the outfield is getting incredibly crowded with little room to add in youngsters.

The Mets trade for Jose Siri pushed back Drew Gilbert’s MLB debut

Center field was wide open for Gilbert to play. By the looks of it, the Mets will begin the year with some combination of Siri and Tyrone Taylor. Offseason surgery shouldn’t delay the debut of Taylor. This leaves Gilbert with a spring mission to show enough where he’ll be on immediate standby.

Why didn’t the Mets leave open a little more space for Gilbert to sneak in there? Results from his 247 plate appearances in Triple-A this past season weren’t promising. He did homer 10 times and drive in 32. Batting just .215/.315/.393, it was a major fall-off from the trajectory he was on the year prior. Of course, his injury might have played a factor here. It’s not a large enough excuse to negate what he did and yet enough to overlook if the Mets believe he’s close enough to figuring it all out. 

Neither Siri nor Taylor have minor league options. More role players with potential to grow into more as Taylor did last year, I’m curious to see how much wiggle room the Mets give themselves on the roster for promoting Gilbert or any of the other prospects.

If all we did was look at minor league statistics to determine when a player was ready, the team never would have called up Acuna. For sure a candidate to crack the Opening Day roster, almost inexcusably so if he isn’t traded, the Mets have a couple of players who are or at one point were considered top 100 prospects to find a place for.

This isn’t a team that can afford to nor needs to have Gilbert, Acuna, Ronny Mauricio, and Brett Baty on its MLB roster. Roles on this team should be filled by veterans. Based on the Siri trade, it’s precisely what David Stearns intends to do whenever possible.