The Mets may be heading into seller mode, but Francisco Lindor is not part of the cleanup.
With the trade deadline closing in and New York already moving pieces like A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins, the rumor mill has been spinning hard around the roster.
Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and others have all been floated as possible names on the move. Lindor, though, is a different story.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Mets have already let other teams know where they stand on their star shortstop. “They also have informed teams that shortstop Francisco Lindor is off limits for now,” Nightengale reports.
That lines up with the idea that, even with interest out there, New York has no intention of dealing one of its biggest names. Lindor’s name may have surfaced in trade chatter, but the Mets are shutting that door for this deadline.
That doesn’t mean the conversation is gone forever. Nightengale’s wording leaves room for the future, with the Mets’ superstars being off limits “for now.” For the moment, though, Lindor stays put.
And if a team did try to pry him away, it would take a massive return. Lindor is still under contract through the 2031 season on a 10-year, $341 million deal, which gives any acquiring club plenty of control but also plenty of financial commitment. The Mets, meanwhile, would be staring at the loss of a franchise cornerstone and would demand a huge haul in return.
His season has been solidly below his usual standard. In 53 games and 203 at-bats, Lindor has a 1.0 bWAR, a .227 batting average and a .723 OPS. Those numbers sit well under his career marks of .272 and .814.
He does have a 100 OPS+, which means he’s been an average hitter this season. But for a player carrying this kind of contract, average isn’t the bar the Mets are paying for.
For now, though, that’s the Mets’ problem, not another team’s opportunity. Lindor is staying in New York this year, and Mets fans should expect to see him there through the 2026 season.
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