4 Mets players who likely have a September roster spot, but don’t deserve it

The New York Mets opted to trade away many of the team's veterans and players on expiring contracts at the trade deadline with an eye toward the future. The future is a lot brighter than it was, but selling off in the way the Mets did made the rest of the 2023 season very hard to watch.

The team wasn't ever going to be very good after trading away some of its best players, but there was an expectation that we'd see some young talent come up. Not the guys the Mets acquired, but players like Ronny Mauricio, maybe Mike Vasil, and others who haven't been up were set to have a shot at proving themselves at this level. That has not happened.

The Mets need to change that as September is right around the corner, but nothing suggests this will happen. These four players shouldn't be on the roster down the stretch as they've proven they don't have MLB futures, but they likely will be barring a massive shift.

1) Jonathan Arauz should not be on the NY Mets roster in September but likely will be

Jonathan Arauz was called up right after the deadline passed and took one of the many vacant roster spots available. Arauz has since appeared in 21 of the Mets 28 games in the month of August, starting 16 of them. It's safe to say he hasn't done much.

In 55 at-bats, Arauz has just seven hits. He's slashing .127/.200/.236 with two home runs and six RBI. He's come up big in the clutch as three of his seven hits have come with runners in scoring position, but he's mostly been a complete non-factor at the dish.

Arauz is a 25-year-old journeyman playing for his fifth organization in eight professional seasons. He had a mediocre .773 OPS in what's an excellent hitting environment in Syracuse. He provides some nice versatility and has looked solid at third base in particular defensively, but he provides almost no upside by being here.

Arauz has had opportunities with Baltimore and Boston in the past and hasn't done much, posting a .584 OPS in 175 at-bats entering this season. He hasn't done much in the past, hasn't done much this season, and likely won't do anything in the future with this team. Give his roster spot to someone else who has some sort of a future with this organization.

2) Carlos Carrasco should not be on the NY Mets roster in September but likely will be

Carlos Carrasco has had just a disastrous year for the Mets. He entered the season with so much promise on what felt like a team-friendly deal coming off a really strong 2022, but he's been a shell of the pitcher he once was.

The right-hander has made 20 starts this season and has a 6.80 ERA in 90 innings of work. There's no typo there. His ERA is approaching 7.00 and he has fewer than 100 innings pitched in 20 starts. He's averaged fewer than five innings per start in his miserable year.

Carrasco had that one start earlier this season in Arizona in which he delivered eight scoreless innings and seemed to be on his way to turning his season around, but since that outing he has a 10.24 ERA in eight starts and 29 innings pitched. He's coming off a start in which he allowed five runs while recording just five outs against the lowly Angels who just waved the white flag even more than the Mets did at the deadline.

Carrasco obviously doesn't help them win now, and won't be back next season. He's not helping anything by going out there every fifth day and just tiring out an already overworked bullpen.

While there's always the off-chance a team claims Carrasco now that he's on waivers, the likely scenario here is he goes unclaimed and is still on the Mets roster heading into September. If they haven't cut him by now, it's hard to envision them doing it at all.

3) Rafael Ortega should not be on the NY Mets roster in September but likely will be

Rafael Ortega is another player the Mets brought up instantly after the deadline passed, and he's been basically the same player he's always been.

The 32-year-old has been given the chance to play virtually every day as he's appeared in 26 of the team's 28 games since they promoted him. He's started 23 of those games. He's had some good moments like the walk-off hit against the Angels and a home run in Atlanta, but other than that, he's been nothing special.

Ortega is slashing .234/.330/.299 with one home run and six RBI in 88 plate appearances. He's gotten on base a decent amount mostly out of the nine-hole, but a .628 OPS is nothing to write home about.

Ortega has a ton of MLB experience, appearing in 364 games in six separate seasons heading into this season with five different organizations. He had just a .683 OPS in those games, and that's aided tremendously by an .823 OPS year back in 2021 with the Cubs.

Ortega hasn't proven that he's a MLB player, and the chances are he'll have no role with this organization in 2024. There's no justification for rostering a 32-year-old in a lost season that has a .628 OPS.