Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The timing was seemingly perfect. While some fans were already jumping the gun and growing impatient with Steve Cohen’s lack of moves, he, GM Jared Porter and the entire front office stunned the baseball world by pulling off a blockbuster trade for star shortstop Francisco Lindor and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco. In return, the Indians received shortstops Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, as well as prospects Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene.

While Lindor is obviously one of the best players in baseball and was a coveted trade target for awhile, I think the deeper you look at this deal for the Mets, the better it gets. To be honest, I hardly see any downside at all.

With making this move, the Mets addressed and improved three areas of their team: offense, infield defense, and starting rotation. Lindor’s bat lengthens the lineup, providing a more formidable offense as a whole. This is probably the most “obvious” benefit of the deal, the one that makes the most visible impact.

But then there’s the defense that Lindor brings, which is startling when looking at the numbers. Rosario posted a combined -28 DRS in four seasons over his time as a Met, and a -4.2 UZR. Lindor’s numbers are drastically better, with 46 DRS over six seasons and a 54.0 UZR. Especially at such a vital position such as shortstop, the extent to which Lindor is going to improve the defense up the middle cannot be stated highly enough. As well as getting a stellar bat, the Mets just got one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.

Carrasco, the other piece of the puzzle, cannot be forgotten in this deal. The Mets’ rotation has been a big part of the discussion this offseason, with free agent names like Trevor Bauer, Masahiro Tanaka, Jake Odorizzi, and Mike Minor being thrown around. But with this deal being made, Carrasco effectively serves as what the Mets might have gotten out of one of those guys.

He is 33 years old now, but Carrasco posted back-to-back 5+ fWAR seasons in 2017 and 2018, and while he struggled in 2019, he returned to form in 2020 with a 2.91 ERA and 3.59 FIP. He serves as a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter, the exact type that the Mets were hoping for.

With that, this trade is sure to silence, at least momentarily, any fans who were complaining about the lack of moves regarding offense, defense, or starting pitching, and the Mets managed to do it all in one swoop.

And then where I think this trade starts to look even better is when you consider what the Mets gave up. Look, I love Rosario and Gimenez as much as the next guy and wish them nothing but the best going forward. However, they’re both shortstops. You gotta give to get, and when you consider that the Mets literally acquired Francisco Lindor, you’d worry that might give up someone like Francisco Alvarez in the deal. But all it took was Rosario, who hasn’t panned out quite like the star many hoped he would, and Gimenez, who looked solid in his first cup of coffee but is far from the established superstar that you get in Lindor.

With Lindor on the team, the playing time for Rosario and Gimenez would have been drastically diminished, so losing them doesn’t sting quite as much. Wolf and Greene are good prospects, but certainly not untouchable, and exactly the kind of guys you have to give up in a blockbuster trade like this.

Just think back to when Brodie Van Wagenen traded Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn, among others, for aging veteran Robinson Cano and relief pitcher Edwin Diaz. Van Wagenen gave up a bigger package for that than Porter did for Lindor and Carrasco. Kelenic was a huge loss for this club, and not nearly worth what they received in return, and the other pieces they gave up just rubbed dirt in the wound. When you compare this deal to that one, it looks even better, and Mets fans can salivate over what this team is going to look like once fully assembled.

With this trade, Cohen and Porter proved that they aren’t messing around. The next step, and the one that will make this trade perfect, is to sign Lindor to a long-term deal. Similar to what the Dodgers did after trading for Mookie Betts, the Mets need to secure this guy as a franchise cornerstone for years to come.

And if it all pans out, we will have practically forgotten that Rosario and Gimenez ever existed.