The New York Mets held onto star shortstop Francisco Lindor at this year’s MLB trade deadline, but one insider believes he won’t make it to the start of the next season.
The Mets were one of the league’s most dedicated sellers at the deadline, shipping off several players and putting together a group of prospects to build toward the future. There were reports that the team would consider trading Lindor, though they ended up focusing mostly on players with expiring contracts.
CBS Sports reporter Mike Axisa believes the Mets will try again in the winter, naming the Philadelphia Phillies as a potential destination.
Francisco Lindor ‘Not Off-Limits’
Axisa noted that the Mets have already broached the idea of trading Lindor, with general manager David Stearns saying the team had to remain “open-minded” about any trade offer. There are many inherent challenges to trading him, however.
“He has a full no-trade clause and is owed $160 million from 2027-31, which are two enormous obstacles,” Axisa wrote. “That is especially true with a new collective bargaining agreement coming and the sport’s economic structure expected to change. It’ll be hard to move that contract before knowing if a salary cap is being introduced, a different version of revenue sharing, etc. There have been enough rumblings the last few weeks that we have to mention Lindor as a trade candidate, though. I don’t expect this to fade into the background.”
Axisa compared Lindor to Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, noting that both have no-trade protection and are owed nine-figure salaries through 2031. But both teams could also be motivated to dump these big contracts, Axisa added.
“The Rangers have seen their local television revenue decline over the last few years and it’s an open secret that they want to shed some of their big contracts (Seager, Jacob deGrom, etc.). The money and no-trade clauses will make a trade difficult. I would not assume Lindor and Seager are off-limits, however.”
Phillies Could Come Calling for Francisco Lindor
Axisa listed some “super early” trade contenders for Lindor, naming the Phillies as one option. The Phillies already made some big moves at this year’s trade deadline, adding Luis Arraez and Brooks Raley.
The Phillies showed a commitment to winning with this year’s moves, and could look at Lindor as a major investment to remain in the hunt for the future. ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle ranked the Phillies No. 9 in the league for “complete” rosters, noting that they did the work needed to remain a contender this year.
“A future iteration of the roster completion rating will need to include category ratings, not just roster slots,” Doolittle wrote. “For the Phillies, their rating for team defense would bear particular scrutiny as they’ve juggled their alignment to accommodate newcomer Luis Arraez. But I loved that pickup for them, even if Dave Dombrowski’s vision for that addition was entirely different than what I assumed. I thought Alec Bohm would be headed for a platoon role, not to first base. I did not see Bryce Harper returning to the outfield.”
Mets Predicted to Ship Francisco Lindor to Bitter Division Rival