Last year, a certain individual employed by this website penned a 2024 season preview for Mark Vientos, which explained that the former top prospect had a clear path to playing time at DH at that very moment, and that it would probably amount to his last real chance with the Mets—unless, of course, the Mets signed J.D. Martinez.
Well, later that very day, the Mets signed Martinez to be their DH, blocking Vientos to his clearest path to at-bats and banishing the young slugger back to Triple-A Syracuse. The move pretty sufficiently displayed the team’s opinion of Vientos at the time; he hadn’t earned a spot on the team, had shown no indication he had made strides to fix the holes in his offensive game, and would have to demonstrate he had made those changes to earn a spot back in the big leagues.