Carrot's merit to join will solely depend on what she does with in this war. Imo, the following things need to happen:
- Aside from Inu and Neko's transformations, Carrot's sulong form must still feel like the standout. Apparently shes one of the few who can control it, so that's good
- Carrot must do something signficant during the war. Im a fan of her taking on Perospero to avenge Pedro. If we get a signficant moment or even a dedicated chapter to it, then to me she's all but a strawhat in name.
- She must show why she can be an asset in the first place aside from combat ability. I think the biggest thing is the lookout position on the strawhat ship. If we see her with Luffy and crew without any other mink, then maybe Oda is trying to convey that again.
Aside from that, she clearly has merit from WCI, but has gotten minimal focus the last 70 chapters. But the same could be said of Jinbe who has been MIA for the same time so who knows. She is essentially Pedro's will now, who wanted to travel with the Pirate King. Shes a strong adventurer. She's fearless. Shes emotional. She had her tragedy happen in real time. I think shes a great candidate.
And i think the point is, Luffy is supposed to act "uninterested" in her. She needs to ask Luffy if she can join. Roger rejected Pedro. Luffy wouldnt reject Carrot.
On top of that, I still hold onto some vague hope that she ate or will eat the Snow Logia from Monet. Oda showed off that Smiley devil fruit reincarnation and never touched on it again, why? If that logia was originally a Mikan, she could have eaten it or will eat it. But at this point the stretch of time has beem huge so idk lol