3 prospects the Mets should have protected from the Rule 5 Draft

3) Justin Jarvis

Justin Jarvis is yet another player the Mets traded for this past season, as the team acquired him in exchange for Mark Canha in a one-for-one deal. While Canha flourished for Milwaukee, Jarvis had his struggles for the Mets posting an 8.04 ERA in nine starts for AAA Syracuse.

It should be noted that the man responsible for acquiring all three of these prospects, Billy Eppler is no longer with the organization. Despite that, Jarvis felt like a player David Stearns was going to protect because of their Milwaukee connection.

Stearns selected Jarvis in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and Jarvis remained with the Brewers for several years while Stearns was in charge.

Another reason Jarvis' omission was a bit surprising is the fact that he's ranked 15th on the Mets prospect list. Prospect lists aren't everything, but there are reasons why he's ranked where he is and why the Mets felt good enough to trade Mark Canha for him alone.

With how poorly Jarvis did in AAA it's certainly possible he doesn't get selected, but the Mets feeling the need to protect Alex Ramirez who had struggles of his own at a much lower level and not Jarvis who is clearly more advanced.

There's a chance none of these players get selected, and there's an even bigger chance none of these players are super impactful. Despite that, it was surprising and disappointing to leave some talented players available to be selected by other teams when they had a ton of 40-man roster space.