The New York Mets have had a dreadful season to date. After a busy offseason, they stumbled out of the gates and are now firmly cemented in last place in the National League East. Now, it’s all but confirmed that they will sell at the trade deadline, which is now less than a week away.
While the Mets themselves have indicated that they do not plan on trading Francisco Lindor, that is never out of the realm of possibility. Clearly, there are issues with the Mets, and they are in a spot where they need to sell to acquire some top-end prospects. Trading Lindor might be the Mets’ best way of doing that.
Alden Gonzalez of ESPN proposed the idea of the Mets sending Lindor to their hated crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees.
“The Yankees need to address shortstop and could use another difference-making player with Aaron Judge nursing a rib injury,” Gonzalez wrote. “Lindor, who has full no-trade protection at this point, can stay in New York and play for a contender. And the Mets would be able to shed a big contract while breaking up the Lindor dynamic with Juan Soto, which clearly is not working.”
“How much of Lindor’s remaining contract — five years and $160 million after this season — the Mets are willing to absorb will impact what kind of talent they want back. The Yankees wouldn’t offer George Lombard Jr. — who can come up and play third base, another position of need. But maybe they can offer another shortstop in Dax Kilby, last year’s 39th overall pick.”
New York Mets Trade Idea Sends Francisco Lindor to New York Yankees
This would be an unprecedented trade, mainly because the Yankees and Mets are hated rivals and rarely make deals with each other. But it’s not impossible for it to happen. It also has been reported that the Yankees don’t have interest.
Clearly, Soto and Lindor are not coexisting too well, so ridding themselves of that problem might be a weight off their shoulders. The Mets could also get back a lot of top talent for him and set themselves up well to try and contend again in the near future.
It’s clear at this point that New York is out of the playoff hunt, so it might make sense to trade Lindor to a contender. But they could also clear the way for some younger talent to shine in the future, and that is where the focus needs to be.
What Could Hold Back a Francisco Lindor to New York Yankees Trade
With any deal, there are always caveats. The Yankees may not be overly interested in Lindor, so that could be an obvious hurdle. Then, there is also the fact that rivals don’t often do business with one another at trade deadlines.
If the Yankees end up making a run at him, they’ll have to sell off a lot of top prospects. This would certainly be an unexpected trade if it happens, so it will be interesting to see what both the Yankees and Mets are thinking with less than a week to go before the deadline.
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