J.D. Davis and Andres Gimenez Could Headline Lindor Deal

With the offseason fully underway, it’s becoming abundantly clear the New York Mets are preparing for an extremely busy winter, which could result in a blockbuster trade that brings a superstar shortstop to Queens and instantly transforms this team into a serious championship contender in 2021.

After the Mets finished shy of the playoffs for the fourth straight campaign, there’s no question everyone inside the organization is looking to end that streak and finally participate in October baseball next season. Considering billionaire Steve Cohen is scheduled to take over ownership very shortly, it seems there’s a strong chance the club will undergo a few significant changes over the next few months in hopes of turning the corner on the last few disappointing seasons.

While the front office must address the holes within the starting rotation and the bullpen, and filling those needs won’t be easy, the position player group will also require a little attention, as some of them underperformed this past season. Since the Cleveland Indians just recently made shortstop Francisco Lindor available through trade, adding the four-time All-Star would undoubtedly solve the majority of the Mets’ issues moving forward.

Ever since arriving in the major leagues in 2015, the 26-year old has been considered one of the top infielders in baseball and he’s backed that up with his stellar performance at the plate and in the field. Even though he sustained a slight decline in production in 2020, the 5-foot-11 shortstop still proved to be very effective in the batter’s box over this shortened campaign.

Over his 60 games, Lindor earned 266 plate appearances, producing 13 doubles, eight home runs, 27 RBIs, .157 ISO, .280 BABIP, .324 wOBA, 9.0% walk rate, 15.4% strikeout rate, 25.6% LD rate (career-high), 38.5% GB rate, 35.9% FB rate, 5.6% barrel rate, 41.1% hard-hit rate (career-high), 100 wRC+ score, 1.7 fWAR rating (sixth-highest among all qualified shortstops in the majors), along with a slashing line of .258/.335/.415/.750, according to FanGraphs.com.

Compared to his standards, which is someone who’s hit at least 30 home runs and featured an ISO above .200 for three consecutive seasons (2017-2019), the two-time Silver Slugger probably isn’t too pleased with his offensive performance from the 2020 campaign. Despite his issues at the plate, the 2016 AL Platinum Glove award winner was still able to maintain his outstanding results as a defender, as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in several different categories.

Through his 508.0 innings at shortstop, the native of Puerto Rico committed just one error (tied for fewest among all qualified shortstops), recording a 5 OAA (tied for second-highest), 2 DRS (tied for eighth-most), 5.8 UZR (highest), 11.7 UZR/150 (highest), and an 8.2 defensive fWAR rating (highest).

Though Lindor is expected to have plenty of potential suitors interested in his services, and rightly so, there’s only a small group of teams who could actually meet the Indians’ needs while also signing him to a long-term extension. Since the Mets match both of those descriptions and could benefit from making an upgrade at shortstop, it appears they’d be a perfect fit for the young superstar, but that means they could be forced to subtract a few pieces from their major-league roster.

So what does Cleveland need to improve its roster? How could New York acquire a game-changing player without exhausting its minor-league system even further? And could the club utilize this opportunity to eliminate the logjam that exists on the right side of the infield?

Well, since the Indians’ offense finished with the third-lowest ISO (.144) and home run total (59) in the majors this past season, they definitely need to add a power bat to their lineup over the offseason. Considering they also declined first baseman Carlos Santana‘s $17.5 million club option, the front office must also locate a reliable corner infielder over the next few months and it seems the Mets could solve both of those problems for them.

If New York were to send teammates J.D. Davis and Andres Gimenez to Cleveland in exchange for Lindor, both of those players would slot into the starting lineup next season – Davis at first base and Gimenez at shortstop – and could prove to be valuable additions over the next few seasons. Since neither of them will become eligible for free agency until after the 2024 campaign, this trade could help the Indians remain competitive while also solving their financial concerns at the same time.

From the Mets’ perspective, while they’d likely prefer to keep the talented young infielder and position him at second base, they wouldn’t be able to achieve that because of Robinson Cano‘s desire to remain there along with his immovable ten-year, $240 million contract. As for Davis, based on his -2 OAA in left field and his -3 OAA (worst among all qualified third basemen) at third base in 2020, it’s clear he’d be better suited to play at first base, but teammates Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith are slated to occupy that spot next season.

Taking these factors into account, making this trade would not only bring a superstar to Queens, but it would also provide a little more clarity to the team’s position player group as well. Adding to this, there’s no question landing a premier defensive player would also help improve the organization’s run prevention, which is currently one of their biggest needs.

Along with addressing several concerns at the major-league level, swapping Davis and Gimenez for Lindor would also allow the Mets to keep the majority of their prospect system intact, as its talent level has gradually diminished ever since general manager Brodie Van Wagenen took over in 2018. As a result, prospects like Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty, who each would’ve been targeted by the Indians, would be able to continue developing and hopefully make an impact at Citi Field in the near future.

While this would leave a hole at the third base position, which would’ve needed to be addressed even without trading Davis, the front office could either move infielder Amed Rosario – who spent 51.0 innings at third base at Triple-A in 2017 – to that spot or target someone like Justin Turner in free agency. If neither of those options is possible, then they could explore the trade market for a veteran third baseman who could potentially fill the gap until Baty is ready to take over on a full-time basis.

Since the 2021 campaign is still months away and could be pushed back even further due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these Lindor trade discussions will only intensify as the offseason moves along and it could prove to be one of the most significant winters in franchise history.

So at this point, it’s probably safe to assume the fanbase should expect the unexpected over the next few months.