Mets front office missed an opportunity by not promoting Mark Vientos

Mark Vientos could still make his New York Mets debut this season. However, with the calendar flipped to September 1, he’s not going to be eligible for the postseason.

The Mets had the perfect opportunity to promote Vientos as recently as yesterday with Brett Baty headed to the IL and likely out for the rest of the year. Instead, Terrence Gore got the promotion to help give the team some speed and not much else.

What’s a guy gotta do to get promoted?

The Mets missed their opportunity to get the most out of Mark Vientos this year

It wasn’t a clean transition to promote Vientos and keep the roster as currently constructed. The presence of Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf made it a lot tougher for Vientos to fit in. However, an August 31 promotion for Vientos would have set them up well to correct things the following day.

Ruf, Vogelbach, and Vientos shouldn’t all play together. It’s too limiting. All of them are first basemen/DHs. Vientos is no longer the third base prospect he once was. If he’s going to get regular playing time in the future, it’s going to be away from the hot corner.

Despite this, the Mets would have ways to adjust other parts of the roster. They could have used the added roster spot that comes into play on September 1 and hand it to someone with a little more defensive versatility. Exactly who that would be is anyone’s guess. They already designated Yolmer Sanchez for assignment. Frankly, there really is no ideal option for them which just adds to how much Vientos should be here.

The real problem for the Mets is that Vientos wasn’t promoted much sooner. Even a few sips of coffee in July would have made him postseason eligible. It was back then when they were looking for answers at the DH spot when he should have gotten his chance. Instead, they held him back. They got Ruf. When the team needed an infielder, it was Baty who got the call.

The front office has done a lot of things right this year and in the offseason that led into the 2022 campaign. Not promoting a slugger like Vientos is one error in judgment everyone is questioning. They can help make up for it by giving him a taste later on this season.

But with no postseason eligibility on his plate, it’s not something we should expect.

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