4:37PM: Speaking to The Athletic’s Tim Britton and other reporters, Lindor said he has a Grade 2 oblique strain, and indicated that he’ll miss time well beyond the 10-day minimum. “I would love to say I’m day-to-day but I’m not. This is more like week-to-week at the beginning and we’ll see how I bounce back,” Lindor said.
3:24PM: Shortstop Francisco Lindor has been placed on the 10-day injured list, the Mets announced. Lindor has been sidelined due to a right oblique strain, a day after he exited a game because of soreness in his side. Infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn has been called up from Triple-A to take Lindor’s spot on the active roster.
No announcement has yet been made about the severity of the strain, and given the timing, a more serious oblique issue could threaten the remainder of Lindor’s regular season, and perhaps into the postseason should the Mets reach the playoffs. This is only the second time Lindor has been placed on the IL during his seven Major League seasons, as the shortstop’s durability has added to his status as one of the game’s better all-around players during that stretch.
Lindor’s first season in New York, however, has come with some difficulties. After being acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Indians and then signing a whopping ten-year, $341MM contract extension, Lindor has begun his Mets tenure by hitting only .228/.326/.376 in 364 plate appearances. This modest slash line represents a small step down from Lindor’s average numbers in his final season with the Indians — since the start of the 2020 campaign, Lindor has roughly a full season’s worth of playing time (630 PA, 148 games) and delivered an exactly average 100 wRC+ while hitting .241/.330/.393 with 19 home runs.
With an .821 OPS over his last 130 PA, Lindor was starting to heat up at the plate, which surely makes his injury all the more frustrating. It also adds another layer of intrigue to the Mets’ trade deadline plans, since shortstop may become a need if Lindor is indeed facing a long absence. New York was already rumored to be looking at such infielders as Kris Bryant and Asdrubal Cabrera to address a need at third base, and that search could potentially expand to such trade candidates as Trevor Story, Javier Baez, or Andrelton Simmons. Jonathan Villar and Luis Guillorme are the in-house shortstop option, and Villar has been solid as the Mets’ regular third baseman this year.
Tough season
Not financially, after signing that long extension. Get well soon Lindor.
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
Princess.
We got a real alpha in the comment section, boys!
$341million to bunt with runners on.
players dont bunt and anger ensues. players do bunt and the same thing happens. lol.
…don’t forget about that smile 🙂
It’s about time an alpha joined the comment section here because all I see is a bunch of soft excuse making fanboys who are afraid to speak the truth. Hey guess what Lindor is a soft princess and so are a lot of players these days. Apparently fans as well. Now mute me so you don’t have to read my comment then hurry up and get to your safe space.
Smol pp boi
@mysteryteam good to know you like manly men. This is the wrong site, though.
He’s a real Mans, Man!!
@Mystery Team
Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, “Tell me great hero, but please make it brief,
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?”
The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, “Death to all those who would whimper and cry!”
And dropping a barbell he points to the sky
Saying, “The sun’s not yellow — it’s chicken!”
– B. Dylan, “Tombstone Blues”
you sound like the only one needing a safe space
Not any more. He’s been DFA’d.
Idiot
Comment on your own team’s issues, leave us Mets fans alone
joeyrocafella- Relax kid. I guess we have freedom of speech.
LG has a .400+ OBP. “Useless” is not a good description. Perhaps, “limited”.
Not on this site you don’t. The moderators delete everything not on their agenda
And I think we all know what that agenda is:
they want to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids.
The 1st Amendment only applies to the government you idiot. The government can’t restrict speech. MLB Trade Rumors can delete anything anyone says on their site with impunity. It’s their site.
Muh FREEZE PEACH!!1!
Smacky- My fault, you’re the smart one. Lol.
@Francys01 – I’m pretty sure Smacky’s reply was to Wowwwwww’s repeated complaints about being “censored” by a private company.
Great. Now we have to endure Guillorme for the next month. LG has a great glove but the bat is useless, and with this underwhelming offense we can’t afford another black hole. I might prefer Villar to start although you lose defense. If only Villar had LGs glove.
If Villar had Guillorme’s glove he would be a starting SS somewhere.
Maybe trade?
A trade? No way. I mean not for a SS. That would really be short sighted. I mean I guess Story makes more sense than Bryant now but still no.
Most deadline trades for buying teams are short sighted by their very nature.
Have you never listened to a ballplayer’s interview?
JOSH DONALDSON: I’m not going to give too much away of what I had to say. But just more so getting everybody’s attention and focus and understanding. I mean, everybody knew coming into today how important today was.
JOSH DONALDSON: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I have the capability to help my team win.
Roger Clemens:: I competed. I left everything — I worked as hard as I could to a great line-up. I was able to keep the top part of the line-up off the base and try and keep the score down. Their guy was tough against our hitters. I mean, he pitched great.
Roger Clemens: Umpires, I think there’s two or three pitchers that do that, too. I mean, I try and look — I don’t think it’s any secret, the guy behind the plate, as far as my catcher, Jorge is my No. 1 guy.
Roger Clemens: Well, I mean, it’s what I do, it’s what I’ve been taught to do.
Roger Clemens: I mean, that’s been my make-up my entire career anyway. I’m gonna fight and scratch even when I don’t have my good stuff.
Either of them could beat you up.
You’re name on here is something that sounds like what someone who ate lead paint 3 times a day would choose in the hope of being edgy
A pre-teen girl could beat him up.
Luis just hasn’t barreled up but he did last year abd he’s a walk Maxine which is better than Dom Conforto and the rest whiffing. I’m glad we have him.
Mets are really gonna have to do endure that .400 OBP
He’s just homesick. He wants to go back to Cleveland.
So he hurt his oblique? What?
Never judge a mega contract on the first year, but at the beginning of the season no one could imagine Lindor’s year 1 would be this bad. Splashes of brilliance, particularly right before the break, but overall just a let down. I hope the injury isn’t too serious. It didn’t look too bad, but oblique strains can be tricky.
Agreed, although it’s looking clearer that the offensive threat Lindor showed during his peak Cleveland years was a product of the now-gone juiced ball. His 101 OPS+ last season and his 96 OPS+ this year is more likely closer to who he is offensively. League average hitter, good defense. That’s valuable, but as defense is a young man’s game and this is the first year of a decade-long contract, it’s not too difficult to see this one falling into the albatross bucket in a few years. Good on Lindor and his agent getting the big money and avoiding free agency. Near term, though, this is a challenge for the Mets as the replacements are substandard. Even a slight oblique strain can take a plyer out of action for a month-plus, and a severe one could threaten his season.
The new contract will start next year, right?
You are correct. Honestly I thought it started this year.
Guess that means the down year is not as much a knock on the contract, however it’s certainly a knock on the decision to “beat” the market
Yes. He’s on a $22M+ one-year deal he signed to avoid arbitration, and the 10 year deal with the $34M+ AAV starts in 2022.
VonPurpleHayes: I agree with you, however Lindor’s “mega contract” doesn’t go in effect until NEXT SEASON. Given all of the info we have now, it’s pretty clear (imho) that the Indians got the better end of the deal. I’d take Ahmed Rosario’s year over what the Mets have rcvd from Lindor. But then again C. Carrasco is starting his rehab assignment, so we’ll see what (if any) he brings to the table this season.
The trade for the Indians was to get players back that would fill the lineup while shaving payroll. Kinda worked although there was not a major league arm sent back. This has hurt badly. The Indians got less than they could have but must have eager to also dump the Carrasco contract. Any pitcher dealt by the Tribe has his arm or a leg taped on. LOL.
Mets were dumb enough to sign Lindor when they didn’t have to do anything until this off-season. A better plan would have been to sit tight and hit him with a qualifying offer after the season. Then sign Correa or Story and get a first round pick from letting Lindor walk. The contract for Lindor hasn’t even started and it’s looking more like a Cabrera/ Pujols contract every day possibly without the front end production they gave their teams early off. Rookie owner mistake.
@Prospectnvst Sure. Semantics aside, Lindor’s first year as a Met has been extremely disappointing. And while it wouldn’t be wise to judge his longterm contract now, Mets fans and the front office has to be a little nervous about this deal.
Anthony Rendon is in year 2 or 3 of his mega contract and it’s not pretty. Strasburg & Trout not looking so hot either. What about Giancarlo Stanton? That hasn’t gone well at all. The Yelich deal isn’t going great either. There so many other examples and that’s before we take a deep dive into pitchers.
Rendon had a 145 OPS+ last year with elite defense. He’s been hurt this year and his production has been subpar when on the field. Has he played hurt all year? I can’t say
But he’s been far from terrible if you actually look at his numbers
yeah i dont get the Rendon hate. he’s having a rough year. happens.
BeforeMcCourt60 mins ago
Rendon had a 145 OPS+ last year with elite defense.
==================================================
You generally get 3-4 good seasons in a 7-year contract. So far, Rendon has had one. These things don’t generally get better with age. With 32 as kind of the accepted age of decline, and Rendon having just turned 31, there is not much time left for him to make his contract worthwhile.
Who determined 32 is the accepted age of decline? Did I miss a meeting? Do all players have to adhere to this rule, or is it more of a rule of thumb?
It’s a rule of thumb. Actually, I’d put it at a year earlier. Would it shock you to know that studies have been done on this? Of course not every player follows the exact pattern but very few players carry their prime into their 30’s. Smart teams anticipate this, fans are blind sighted by it.
Asking who determined it is like asking who determined a hammer will fall on your foot if you drop it. Everybody determined that. And I am not sure what you mean by ‘do players have to adhere to that rule’? I think the answer is pretty obviously no.
But again, that’s like asking if people have to adhere to the rule of slowing down as they age. The answer is an obvious yes, though everyone ages at a different rate.
I trust this answered your obvious questions.
Cosmo21 hour ago
It’s a rule of thumb. Actually, I’d put it at a year earlier.
==========================================================
You are correct, but it depends on how you want to define ‘decline’. I believe that your peak season (note to gbs42-rule of thumb) is 27, so technically, you are in decline at age 28. However, the 3-4 year decline thereafter is flatter. It gets a lot steeper after 32.
In this case, if Rendon had been signed at age 28, the LAA could expect four good seasons and 3 in decline. When you sign someone at age 30, you aren’t going to get much upside.
So…do they overpay for Story, if the stain is severe?
Or overpay for Javy Baez?
Baez can at least shift to 2b in the event that Lindor can come back. Then move McNeil to the OF or to 3b so JD Davis can play LF.
No chance whatsoever
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
If the stain is severe, the garment must be replaced, or the carpet covered with a rug.
what of someone peed on his rug?
I wonder what it would take to get both Baez and Bryant from the Cubs? The need is real, but it’s tough to imagine the cost in prospects.
Don’t rush him back. This could be the key to winning the division. Now we may see some offensive production from SS.
Hilarious overpay by a ‘new money’ team..
i read Gatsby. old money sucks imo.
What do you mean? Players are underpaid, ask anyone out here…
.
Honestly it’s bad for defense but it gives the Mets the ability to hide the replacement bat far lower in the lineup
Too bad this occurred 1 day after DFAing
Billy McK
Where is metsfan22 @
Shhhh…. Don’t wake him. He’s in deep slumber under some bridge.
Winning the division in my sleep
@MetsFan22 Can’t even beat the Pirates. Keep on holding onto that slim lead. It’s fading fast.
JD Davis will be taking over at third with a Villar/Guillorme plattoon at short. McNeil can play third but hes not very good at it. Id rather move Mcneil to left field, bench Conforto, and have a JD Davis/Villar/Guillmore infield
So RF would be open and the infield would be Swiss cheese. Glad you’re not the manager.
Keeping Conforto will still result in losses so what if he’s benched he’s a non performer at this point, needs to be let go at the end of the season because he’s not worthy of a contract in my book.
You have to appreciate the wisdom of the FO not locking him up to any kind of extension. Reminds me a lot of the Twins refusal to offer Brian Dozier an extension a few years ago. Some of the best deals are those that are never made.
The baseball gods answer to Acuna and Schwarber going down. Not sure if the Phillies have someone of that impact level down but it looks like the playing level in the NL east is even again.
That’s kind of terrible perspective to have when the team you root for only has a standing chance to compete if another team’s star player goes down. Why would you find an AAAA division more entertaining than one which is star-studded?
Not sure how you got what you said from what I said. My point was every competing team in the NL east has a star down now, so to say the Braves only made the playoffs because the Mets had no Lindor goes out the window.
My apologies if the comment wasn’t to me.
He was having an under-the-radar productive season, not quite what his contract paid him for it, but reaffirming enough to know that he isn’t damaged goods. Tough break with this injury, sounds like 20+ games will be missed.
He was? He was below average with the bat in a year when offense is down across the game…
A lot of that was just a bad start. Since the start of June, he has a .827 OPS with a 30/19 K/W and 7 HRs in 147 ABs. Those are about his advertised production. There is still plenty of time for this contract to work out.
If you ignore the times he was bad, he was good!
Yes, he was… BR has him at 2.7 WAR, he could have easily finished the season in the 4-5 range.
This is a bunmer for sure. Was looking forward to Lindor having a strong bounceback second half.
Shouldn’t be very hard to replace a .228 batting average and a.376 slugging percentage. But gosh, what a smile!
Actually, gold glove shortstops with a 96 OPS+ aren’t that easy to replace at all. He was starting to hit better, too. This hurts.
Eh, so far I’m not impressed.
Metsfan22’s fault
“as the shortstop’s durability has added to his status as one of the game’s better all-around players during that stretch.”
Not exactly what someone wants to hear if they were Mets’ fan.
Now degrom’s nagging injuries setting him up for a major blow
stretch is the key word; these guys once they get guaranteed money there goes the stretching and training routines and here comes the muscle injuries.
I think I found a worse NY contract than Bobby Bonilla and Stanton in Lindor!
Lindork’s greatest Mets accomplishment was signing his 10 year $ 341 Million dollar extension LOL.
What a life. We’ll hardly miss you.
Mets have Villar, Peraza, Guillerme they don’t need to get anyone. F@#% Kris Bryant. He is not a difference maker. Conforto needs to wake the hell up. That’s the difference maker. Lindor has been horrid at the plate until the last month.
Agreed, last thing we need is another 230 hitter who melts with men on base. This team needs a moderate rebuild. Keep Nimmo, Alonso, Walker, JD Davis (DH) Loup and Degrom and trade everyone else for players who can perform and hold their own weight on the field. Stuck with Lindor and McCann for the long term, nothing we can do there. This team is heading south and fast, it has too many non performers, it can’t sustain winning, something has to give. Shake it up Sandy because Atlanta after losing both Acuna and Ozuna will take over the division before the end of July.
And Diaz invokes the Curse of BVW ……. Why can’t he nor Familia put the Third out away. They get two outs, then fall apart.
That was hilarious
welcome to the NL East!
I would happily take Diaz on the Phillies. In fact, I’ll trade the entire Phillies bullpen for the entire Mets bullpen.
As a Mets fan I would happily give anyone Diaz; how many gut tearing losses do the Mets fans have to endure before they unload this guy!
Unless they totally redo his mechanics instead of letting him sling the ball off balance he will never be consistent. Secondly articles about him failing after sticking substance ban are interesting in causality
Mets need to rid themselves of Diaz and Cano and move on no matter what the cost!.
The Mets have been making excuses for Diaz now for 3 years. The latest is that he is now missing Lindor’s support on the mound to get him right. Too funny.
Well unfortunately he won’t be missed as he was doing absolutely nothing in the two hole. However, I do wish him a speedy recovery and just maybe he will return and earn his salary. This is starting to look like a Jason Bay signing but of catastrophic proportions. Good luck Sandy with this signing.
Grade 2? Players recover at different rates, but this could end up being six weeks or more.
$341m for this prima is going to turn out to be one of the worst FA signings ever.
The Mets are in for 10 years of theatrics and mediocre production.
.
We have Guillorme, Peraza and Villar already on the 40 man roster. Our priority needs to be to add TWO healthy starting pitchers.
How many more bullpen games and 5 inning starts can we see before the bullpen implodes? Walker blown out in the first. Stroman seems to exit early every other start. Megill is a career 5 inning pitcher and deGrom just can’t be counted on going forward. Even if he does get back, he’s going to be covered in bubble wrap every start. Carrasco is going to be a 3-5 inning starter, assuming he can even stay healthy. How long can we hold on?
Most of the big contract guy out there have not lived up to their contracts and suddenly they all become fragile and need to sit games due to being tired.Prima Donna’s ruining baseball.
They don’t live up to the contracts cuz the expectations are too high. Nobody is likely to meet the expectation of being worth 30 million plus a year for years on end. That’s why just about every mega contract is a dumb mistake.
“suddenly they all become fragile”
This is no accident; guys like Linwhore once they cash in on their big contacts cut back or stop all of their stretching and training routines because they no longer have any incentive so you see in these guys constant oblique injuries, hamstring injuries and other muscular injuries not from trauma like ligament tears.
Get use to it as posted above these contracts are “dumb mistakes”