Jon Morosi of MLB Network is reporting that Indians star shortstop Francisco Lindor is expected to be traded this offseason, and Cleveland wants the Mets heavily involved.
Morosi notes that a trade of the 26-year-old is “unlikely to happen quickly,” as the Mets are only a few days into the beginning of the Steve Cohen era, and the only prominent front-office members currently with the club are Team President Sandy Alderson and Executive Vice President John Ricco.
Alderson is expected to lead the baseball ops departments through the early stages of free agency while he begins interviewing candidates for the roles of President of Baseball Ops and General Manager. Once those people are in place, it will take time before they establish priorities for the club heading into 2021.
MLB Trade Rumors estimates that Lindor will likely earn $21.5 million in his final year of arbitration, and Cleveland is unlikely to carry that salary into next season after revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. They recently declined the $10 million club option on reliever Brad Hand, who lead the league with 16 saves in 2020 and has posted a 2.70 ERA in 306 appearances since the start of 2016.
Mets have the pieces Cleveland would potentially desire in a trade between outfielders like Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and J.D. Davis, shortstops that could take over the position right away in Amed Rosario and Andrés Giménez, and top prospects oozing with potential in Ronny Mauricio, Matthew Allan, and Brett Baty.
Front offices and agents are fully aware of the spending power the Mets have going into this winter after Cohen closed on his record $2.475 billion purchase of the club on Friday afternoon, and a lot of them will likely want to hear from the Mets before making some decisions. That includes Hall of Fame potential players like Lindor.
