This strikes me as very shortsighted. Oda has kept Carrot a constant presence for 5 years for a reason. He killed Pedro, the first to die since Ace and WB, for a reason. He hasn't brought Carrot to the breaking point, beaten, unable to move onward, time not having come, just to leave her there.
Whether it adds up to becoming a Straw Hat is still in the air. But she has been pushed by Pedro to become more dynamic. She nor Oda have forgotten what he said, it's been repeated twice this battle. Sheβs very much relevant, and to act like Carrot won't mean anything of importance is just begging for egg on the face by the end of all this.