The Mets and newly acquired shortstop Francisco Lindor have avoided arbitration with a $22.3MM agreement, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Lindor is a SportsMeter client.
Lindor’s settlement checks in even higher than the $17.5MM to $21.5MM arbitration projection MLBTR made for him earlier in the offseason. The four-time All-Star was still in Cleveland then, but with the team knowing it wouldn’t extend him before free agency next winter, it decided last week to send him to the Mets in a mega-trade.
Unlike Cleveland, the Mets look well-equipped to meet the 27-year-old Lindor’s demands on an extension. Lindor figures to eclipse the $300MM mark on his next contract, but that shouldn’t serve as a roadblock to deep-pocketed new owner Steve Cohen. The Mets may have to act quickly, though, as Lindor stated this week that he does not want to negotiate a contract during the season.
Now sign him long term
Like Stroman? :^}
Puttin in that work baby. Spending has never been so fun.
This is a formality but I think if the Mets do extend Lindor they’ll try and have him accept a lower AAV for ‘21 to spare the team some extra capitol to go after Springer.
He already accept 22.3M for 2021. I read that there are talks about a 320M contract extension for Lindor. In order to lower AAV to 20M per year they would have to make it a 16 year contract which would save the Mets 2.3M to sign Springer. Probably not gonna happen.
thats not how it works if he were to be extended now it would only apply to 2022 and beyond
16 year deal? I don’t think they want to replace Bobby Bonilla day with Francisco Lindor day right off the bat lol
Hahahaa!!
Extension should be the goal, but the Mets do have Mauricio waiting in the wings along with a QO with a draft pick attached to it. Mets have themselves a good situation even in a worst-case scenario.
Not sure Lindor is worth a contract over $300 million: however, since its not my money, do it!
I think he is. Forgive the rona year and he’s a 30hr/20sb guy. Not the greatest stats ever but hardly worth quibbling given how much the fanbase will love him
He’s worth it, every penny. I wish we had an owner in Cleveland that had the deep pockets the new Mets owner has.
I actually can’t believe that for the first time ever, the Mets have deep pockets not filled with moths.
@dkcsmc1991
Every penny, eh? He deserved a $5.3m increase–over 30%–for hitting ..258 and .180 w/RISP and not having more than a couple of memorable moments all year? The second straight year where he posted abysmal numbers when it counted?
It’s funny; we run around saying “We wish we had an owner who had deep pockets…” When are we going to say, “I wish WE had a shortstop who could rise to the occasion” like the superstar he is reputed to be.
Often, the problem isn’t the owner. This team has been put in a position to succeed numerous times in recent years, and our biggest problem is how small our best players perform on the big stage. That has nothing to do with “deep pockets” but rather player failure, pure and simple.
I look forward to seeing if Mets fans find $30m+ per year a “fair” price for Lindor. in the coming years. Unless he reverses his offensive decline, he’ll end up one of the most overpaid athletes in recent memory. Amazing what a simple smile pays, eh?
What an absolute steal for the Mets. I’m sure they’ll give him what he wants long-term and be the face of the franchise for the next several years
You need to examine who is doing the “stealing” here. A 30% raise after the abysmal season Lindor had, c’mon.
Overrated!
Jealous Yankee
Nope. Knowledgeable Tribe fan I’m sure. We’re the only ones who watched him day after day. The rest of you guys just saw him on ESPN. or miked up during the All-Star Game. I’ve never seen a guy improve his reputation so much despite not having a big hit of consequence since 2017.
Chip, Jim Norton is overrated.
That is a good baby step !!!! , Enough getting Springer !!!! , We need a third baseman…. trade for Arenado . Then get another sensible starter, I would go forJulio Teheran why not he should have gas in his tank . Then sign Austin Romine as your backup battery!!! Good defensively, also give Hand the two years PLEASE!
I forgot that Romine was out there.. He’d be a good BUC.
I’m not sure they need springer with that lineup. I think getting someone defensive like Kiermeier on a trade makes sense and saves money.
Yeah another LH OF is needed they only have 3 now.
Please no to Arenado and that horror show of a contract!
Signing Lindor to AVG 40 million for 6+ years would be crazy during his decline years. He will be 34+ years of age by the time the contract ends. If Mets need to shed salary at any point, Lindor will be a tough piece to trade. I think Lindor should be extended, but the AVG is the factor in these negotiations
Which is the reason why you see guys like Betts, Harper, Trout, and Machado signing decade-long deals. No one expects the back end to work out. It’ll all eventually be sunk costs. You then assess the value of a roster spot and decide whether to keep them. Guys like Pujols and Chris Davis should be released since they offer nothing on the field. Joey Votto just got there. Cano is yet to be determined.
If nobody expects to work on the back end they shouldn’t be signing them for those years. Lol. Fans buying into overpaying for free agents don’t know nothing about winning.
Exactly. “Accepance” of this type of folly is an endorsement of an inept front office. No wonder big markets don’t win as much as they should.
Frankly, it’s this kind of recurring idiocy that keeps smart small market operations in the game. My biggest fear is the big markets wising up.
Why sign players to those lengths if knowingly they will decline. Pujols comes to mind as a guy who had a stellar career but now is showing up to the park just to get a check. In my opinion, contracts shouldn’t go past 5 years. If it means front loading contracts (unless salary cap is brought in), then it needs to be. Organizations across the league suffer dramatically with 6-12 year contracts. About age 33 season, players start declining offensively and defensively. I can only think of a small handful who played onto their near 40s without a huge decline. Only a very few played past 40. It’s just a tough situation for league and MLBPA to address properly. It doesn’t help to have Boras in their ear as well
He’s certainly worth the $22.3M (interesting, non-rounded number), and he’ll get more once he signs a long-term deal, but it looks like the Mets might have purposely paid a million or two more to avoid going to arbitration. His agent knows that so he probably pushed for a higher number as both sides want to have a nice relationship at the start as they are trying to work on a long-term mega deal. The last thing they want to do is go to a hearing and tell Lindor all the things he does bad. It would be fascinating to hear that since he doesn’t do anything bad!
Oh what basis, exactly, is he worth it? His 2020 performance? His 2019 performance? His clutch hitting?
If they offered me, an almost 60 year old retired catcher 320 mil I’d sign it, and sue them when they void the contract…
Lol. Every decent player now wants $300 MM. Economy in the crapper and more taxes coming. No fans in the stadium to start plus lots more who are never coming back. Young people aren’t interested in baseball. Probably not a good idea to ink expensive 10 year deals…