Lindor to Queens

 Written By: Matt Ferreira

The New York Mets traded away prospects Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario, Isaiah Greene, and Josh Wolf for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco first reported by Jeff Passan from ESPN. This news is huge for the Mets, as new owner Steve Cohen is showing he is all in on trying to build a championship roster in Queens. 

The Mets are still not the best team in the National League East even after the Lindor trade. They do have an insane rotation with DeGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Lugo, and now Carrasco but their bullpen and offense has many questions. The Mets in the past have traded for or signed big name free agents such as Edwin Diaz and Dellin Betances, but they immediately seemed to forget how to pitch. On offense the Mets seem to have a lot of role players with only Lindor and Conforto being their all around players. Pete Alonso who was the 2019 rookie of the year has shown some raw power, but last year could barely get on base with an on base percentage
of .326. Jeff McNeil has been the opposite of Alonso being able to hit for average yet not a lot of power averaging 20 homers over a 162 game season. If the Mets are able to add another big free agent to their roster such as George Springer or Lindor and Carrascos former teammate,Trevor Bauer, to complement the moves they have already made they could be a powerhouse in the National League East.

For the Indians you have to be sad to see Lindor go as he was the face of your franchise, yet you have to be happy to get something back. Giminez and Wolf are good prospects that will be able to help your team in the long run and Rosario is a good short term replacement for Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Lindor’s contract would have expired at the end of the 2021 season and the Indians do not have the money to pay him the contract he was going to want. Even though this season may be more depressing than those in the past for Indians fans, the rebuild was coming sooner rather than later as the Indians have made many pushes to win the World Series trading away prospects to acquire players like Josh Donaldson. After trading away star pitchers Kluber, Clevinger, and Bauer it was only a matter of time before Lindor was shown the door. 

For a fan of any other baseball team, this trade is good news for you. Not only do you get to see Mr. Smile in another successful situation, it also shows your team could trade for a star player at any moment. Within the span of the last 11 months two face of the franchise players in Lindor and Betts have been traded for prospects and salary dumps. If you're a fan of a team like the Padres or Braves who needs that one more player to push them over the top, you are excited as your team could possibly get star talent without giving up their top prospects.