The Mets may be headed for a sell-off before the MLB trade deadline, but Francisco Lindor looks like a tougher move to make in the middle of the season.
New York’s rough year has made it clear that changes are coming, and Lindor is part of that conversation. Still, the timing matters.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Sunday that rival executives expect the Mets to deal the shortstop this winter instead of before Aug. 3.
“Rival executives believe that the Mets will trade shortstop Francico Lindor this winter - not at the trade deadline,” USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote in a new article on Sunday. “He’s owed $160 million over the next five years after this season, and has a full no-trade clause, complicating a deal by Aug. 3.”
That contract is a big reason the deadline path looks messy. It’s much easier for teams to sort through salary concerns in the offseason, when more clubs are willing to jump into the market and create a real bidding war. At the deadline, the pool is smaller and the math gets harder.
There’s also the possibility of a lockout hanging over the offseason, which could affect how teams operate. Even with that uncertainty, moving Lindor right now would still be a difficult task. His current play isn’t helping either, since he’s been pretty cold.
If the Mets do trade him after the season, it would be the second time Lindor has been moved. The Cleveland Guardians sent him to New York largely to get ahead of contract issues.
Now the Mets are facing their own version of that problem. The idea of pairing Juan Soto and Lindor sounded strong on paper, but it hasn’t translated on the field last season or this year.
Lindor looks like a player on the way out. It just may take until the winter for that move to happen.
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