Controversial Mets' deadline decision is getting harder to defend

The New York Mets made a couple of controversial trade deadline decisions, one of which is much harder to defend than the other. First, the Mets chose not to add a starting pitcher at the deadline. This looks like a huge mistake in hindsight, considering how the rotation has performed lately, but considering the lack of impactful starters that were actually dealt, it's hard to get on David Stearns too much.

Second, and more glaringly, the Mets decided to keep Mark Vientos, a player who broke out last season but has had a brutal 2025 campaign and is without a role. The decision to hold onto him was curious, and looks even worse in hindsight considering his usage or lack thereof.

Vientos is out of the Mets' lineup for a fourth straight game on Thursday. He has not appeared in any of the previous three off the bench, either. Starling Marte has been the DH on most nights, and Ronny Mauricio is filling in that role on Thursday.

I'm not here to fault Carlos Mendoza for benching Vientos. In the six games he's appeared in since the trade deadline, Vientos has gone 4-for-22, and his bat has been mostly non-existent all year. On the flip side, Marte has been one of the team's few hot hitters, and guys like Mauricio and Brett Baty have swung the bat much better lately.

With that being said, the lack of a role Vientos has is glaring, and raises the question of why the Mets didn't trade him when they could have.

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Mark Vientos doesn't have a role with the 2025 Mets

Last season, Vientos ended up stealing the everyday third base job from Baty and he excelled both in the regular season and in October. This season, though, Vientos' defense has gone from subpar to putrid, and his bat has gone from excellent to well below-average.

When factoring in Vientos' lack of speed, there's no real reason for the Mets to play him, especially when Marte is hitting out of the DH spot and guys like Mauricio and Baty have provided much more value both offensively and especially defensively.

This has resulted in Vientos sitting on the bench and doing, well, nothing. Again, he hasn't even appeared in four of the last five games the Mets have played, and there's a good chance that will be the case again on Thursday because he offers the Mets next to nothing right now.

With Vientos being out of options, the Mets are pretty stuck with what they can do with him. They can't send him down to the minors without him clearing waivers, which wouldn't happen, and they clearly don't want to play him. Sitting him on the bench isn't ideal, but what else is there to do? Again, this raises the question of why didn't they trade him, and whether they'll look to do so in the winter.

Mets might've missed out on their last big chance to trade Mark Vientos

As poorly as this season has gone for Vientos, he still had a decent amount of value at the trade deadline. Yes, there are concerns regarding his lack of an established defensive position and with whether he can reach the heights he did offensively last season again, but the fact that he was as good as he was last season suggests that teams would want to buy low if the opportunity was out there.

Reports close to the deadline suggested that the Chicago White Sox would've wanted Vientos in a deal for Luis Robert Jr. I was opposed to this at the time, given Robert's subpar offensive performance, his injury history, his contract, and Vientos having far more club control, but it's easy to second-guess New York's decision to not go through with this (if the offer was, indeed, out there). Robert has been red-hot for the White Sox, and Cedric Mullins hasn't done much in Queens. Robert wouldn't have fixed all of the Mets' issues, and who knows how he'll do down the stretch, but the Mets passed on his upside just to bench Vientos. Why?

If the Mets continue to sit him down the stretch, odds are, they won't get much out of the asset anymore. They can't logically give him a starting spot next season if they won't play him now, they can't really give him a bench spot given his defensive deficiencies, and why would any team value him much if the Mets don't at all?

I don't blame the Mets for running out their best lineup every day, and those lineups simply do not include Vientos right now. However, if they were willing to keep him strapped to the bench, it makes not trading him for an upgrade, even a marginal one, look very bad in hindsight.