This wasn’t a guarantee that Francisco Lindor will remain a Met past the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but David Stearns didn’t suggest the shortstop will be elsewhere, either.
The team’s president of baseball operations met the media ahead of a 10-game homestand that kicked off Friday against the Dodgers, and in his 18-minute briefing was peppered with questions about his plans to sell off assets.
One of those pieces could potentially be the 32-year-old Lindor, a five-time All-Star who has struggled during an injury-riddled season.
“I’m not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything,” Stearns said. “I don’t think that’s wise for me to do. What I will say is, we’ve got a group of young players and we’ve got some potential Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, that we view as our core. We expect them to be our core.”
It has been reported that the Mets are willing to listen on Lindor, although actually dealing him is another matter. He is in the fifth year of a 10-year, $341 million contract.
Owner Steve Cohen admitted recently during an appearance on “The Show,” noti.group’s podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, that Lindor and Juan Soto didn’t get along a year ago in their first season as teammates, but that relationship has improved.
Perhaps the biggest thing standing in the way of a Lindor trade is that the Mets, according to both Cohen and Stearns, are trying to win next year. This isn’t a complete teardown. They wouldn’t be better without him, barring an incredible return. Lindor also has no-trade rights as a 10-and-5 player.
Lindor recently broached the subject.
“It doesn’t bother me when it’s coming from outside sources. When it’s more inside, that would bother me. But that’s not happening,” he said. “I try to stay away from it. I try not to read it or really talk about it. It’s just an unnecessary distraction. But I am human. I have a family and they all talk and they all hear it. But since it’s not happening in here, it’s OK.”
It has been a difficult season for Lindor. He has been shaky defensively and is slashing an underwhelming .233/.315/.398 with a .712 OPS. He also has dealt with an assortment of injuries. He has appeared in 46 of the Mets’ 103 games.
Stearns was asked if he considers Lindor part of the core he mentioned, he declined to say, although it seems clear that the two future Hall of Famers he referred to are Soto and Lindor.
“What I said was we have a group of young players who we’re really excited about,” he said. “We have a core of guys who are likely headed to Cooperstown one day, and we would consider that group of players our core. I’m not going to get into specifics of who exactly they are, who we’re not going to trade right now.”
Stearns didn’t offer much substance in this press conference, other than to say he’s extremely disappointed the Mets find themselves in this position as sellers and while he has to do what is the best for the franchise, the hope is this deadline will put them in a better spot for next year.
“We have to be open-minded,” he said. “I’ve been very clear, Steve’s been very clear, that we expect to compete in 2027. We have to keep that in mind.
“We also have to make moves that we believe are right for the organization. And, so, we’re sitting here nine, 10 days out from the deadline, and we’re not going to close any paths down right now.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
