The Red Sox have put themselves in a spot where the next few weeks could matter a lot, and the timing makes one possible target hard to ignore: Francisco Lindor.
Boston enters the All-Star break with a nine-game winning streak and a 46-48 record, sitting just a half-game out of a playoff spot. The first half is done, the trade deadline is now three weeks away, and the Red Sox have already shown enough to be viewed as buyers. Even with Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony missing as the team’s No. 1 overall pitcher and No. 1 overall offensive weapon, Boston has forced its way into the conversation.
That’s why the Mets deserve a close look. The Red Sox just swept New York over the weekend, and the chatter around Lindor has only grown louder.
WFAN’s Mike Francesa said New York is "trying to trade him." The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal pushed back on that idea.
"With all due respect to Mike, he is not a beat reporter, and I haven't seen this from any of the beat reporters," Rosenthal said.
Lindor also drew attention after Sunday’s game, when he spoke to the media following a costly error that helped keep Boston alive in the ninth inning. Before the game, The Athletic’s Will Sammon noted that Lindor declined to comment when asked about whether he would use his trade veto power this summer if the Mets tried to move him. Joel Sherman of The New York Post also reported that Lindor declined to comment on the topic before the contest.
If there is any real opening, Boston should be all over it. Lindor is a five-time All-Star, he’s 32, and he still looks like the kind of middle-of-the-order force that changes a lineup.
After the 2026 season, he has five years left on his 10-year, $341 million contract, which works out to a little more than $32 million per year. Earlier in the summer, reports indicated the Red Sox were willing to take on money in a deal.
The numbers behind Lindor’s recent track record are exactly why he stands out. He was a 5.8-WAR player in 2025, a 6.8-WAR player in 2024, a 6.1-WAR player in 2023, and a 5.4-WAR player in 2022.
This season has been interrupted by an injured calf, but over the last four years in New York, he was as steady as they come. He never played fewer than 152 games in any of those seasons.
Over the last three years, he has posted at least 31 homers, 86 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases each year.
For a Red Sox team that is getting strong pitching and now has a real chance to buy, that kind of bat would fit cleanly into the picture. If Lindor is actually available, Boston should be right there at the front of the line. And if Crochet and Anthony make it back, the Red Sox wouldn’t just be chasing a playoff berth - they’d have the kind of roster that could start looking much bigger than that.
In Other News...
Knicks Fans Already Have A Reason To Revisit That Draft Trade
The Knicks draft-night trade with Dallas already had the usual long-tail curiosity attached to it, and now there is a fresh reason for New York fans to keep one eye on what came of it. The pick they moved wound up in the hands of the Mavericks, who used it in the 2026 NBA Draft and have spent the summer trying to sort out whether they landed a real backcourt piece or just another name in a crowded evaluation process.
Sergio De Larrea has given Dallas enough to dream on after his run in Las Vegas, where he flashed both scoring touch and playmaking feel in Summer League. The Mavericks are viewing him as a promising early find with point-guard upside, which is exactly the kind of development that can make a traded pick sting a little more for the team that sent it away, especially if he keeps building momentum from here. [Read more 🡒]
Former Spurs Coach Offers Knicks Fans A Wild Finals Excuse
The Knicks 2026 title run left San Antonio with plenty to sort through, and Sean Sweeney had no shortage of reasons when he looked back on the Spurs 4-1 Finals loss. The Orlando Magic coach, who spent time as the Spurs associate head coach, pointed to the kind of issues that tend to haunt a young team on the biggest stage: mistakes, inexperience and the added weight of the media glare that comes with the Finals.
Sweeney also had to reckon with the series defining swings, especially the Spurs stunning Game 4 collapse after building a massive lead and then going cold in the second half. New York, meanwhile, kept finding answers when it mattered most, with Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby repeatedly delivering the clutch plays that pushed the series to its finish and left the Spurs searching for what might have been. [Read more 🡒]
Andre Drummond Gives Knicks One Thing Fans Never Had With Mitch
The Knicks summer pivot at center brought in Andre Drummond on a one-year deal, and the appeal is not hard to see. New York lost Mitchell Robinsons rim-running and shot-blocking presence, but Drummond gives the group a different kind of big man, one who can still clean the glass while bringing a steadier touch to the line and a little more skill away from the paint.
For a team that has spent plenty of time living with the tradeoffs that come with a traditional center, that matters. Drummonds offensive package is more varied than people tend to remember, and his recent shooting numbers suggest there may be more to his fit than just backup minutes and rebounds. The bigger question is how much of that translates into a rotation that already has plenty of mouths to feed, and how the Knicks plan to use him when the games start to tighten. [Read more 🡒]