3 members of the NY Mets roster who shouldn’t overvalued as the trade deadline nears

Front of mind for most fans and decision-makers, the MLB trade deadline is what July is all about. Forget your vacations, barbecues, and outdoor projects. Everything about this month involves who’ll still be on the New York Mets roster after July 31 and which newcomers will have arrived.

David Stearns has been as ruthless as ever this year with the bullpen arms. One-and-done journeymen aplenty already, with Zach Pop being the most recent casualty, we should expect a quick hook on others as needed. Stearns hasn’t been quite as trigger-happy with position players, in part because there haven’t been as many to reasonably cut early on.

Although not all of these members of the roster are in danger of losing their spot, it’s important to not get too reliant on them. A reduced role might be an alternative. Less harsh, the Mets might simply want to shove them down the depth chart by adding a better player.

1) Travis Jankowski

There is no reason to let the existence of Travis Jankowski prevent the Mets from making a multitude of roster changes. Since his promotion, Jankowski has barely been used. The team at least attempted to get Luisangel Acuna into games. Jankowski hasn’t been so fortunate. Pinch running opportunities haven’t really been there in abundance. It feels like his roster spot is extremely situational with no chance of a spot start. There is little reason to ever have him in center field with Carlos Mendoza regularly balancing starts for Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil at the position.

Everyone knows the deal with Jankowski. Overvaluing him is a part of a great evaluation that might be a bit extreme. If they have an opportunity to carry a better player, even of a different style, they need to.

If not for Starling Marte landing on the IL, Jankowski would have been a player the Mets could reasonably DFA. Mark Vientos has no minor league options. Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio have each offered the team some productive days.

We can’t fault the Mets for carrying Jankowski around with them instead of Acuna who wasn’t performing in his limited opportunities. Nevertheless, they should remain open to ditching the idea of using a roster spot on someone who just can’t seem to get into games.