The Francisco Lindor Trade Was Highway Robbery

Photo Via: Newyorkmets.medium.com

By now, you know that the Mets traded for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco from Cleveland. If you are unsure of what to think about the trade, allow me to give you some insight: This was a highway robbery.

Before the end of this upcoming season, Lindor will in all likelihood sign an extension to become the starting shortstop of the New York Mets for somewhere between 5-12 years. This is possible because Lindor is a “sure thing”. There is no development period to wait on or injury concerns to worry about. Lindor will be a top flight baseball player for the foreseeable future. It did not take long to see that with the big-smiled shortstop.

He burst onto the scene in the majors in 2015, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting and hitting .313 with 12 homers and 12 stolen bases in 99 games. Since then, he reeled off four consecutive All-Star seasons before playing in all 60 of Cleveland’s games in 2020. He already has three seasons of 30+ home runs as a switch-hitting shortstop. Oh, and he is also an elite defensive player, with two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that Lindor will continue to play at an elite level.

Lindor will also continue to be a team leader and exemplary face of the franchise. He was one of the main reasons Cleveland was able to get within a game of a World Series win in 2016. One of the other major players and leaders of that team was Carlos Carrasco.

Carrasco has not necessarily earned an “ace” label, but he is certainly good enough to headline a deal and not be a side piece. Carrasco threw 68 innings and put up a 2.91 ERA and 157 ERA+ last season. He has already struck out 200+ batters three times in his career, and is a well respected starting pitcher that completely bounced back after missing time to battle cancer in 2019. He is a consistent mainstay in the rotation and should not be any different in Queens.

So what did Cleveland receive in exchange for two consistently good baseball players? Cleveland acquired raw, uncertain talent. Sure, one of the four players in the deal can go on to become a star, like say, a Francisco Lindor. But even that seems unlikely.

Shortstop Amed Rosario was a highly-touted prospect, but he did not accelerate through the majors like Lindor did. There is certainly more time for the 25 year old to improve, but there is also no guarantee that it will happen. In two full seasons and two shortened ones (one due to a late call-up and one due to COVID-19), Rosario has finished with an on-base percentage under .300 three times. He surely flashes athletic abilities, but even led MLB in caught-stealing with 10 in 2019, even though he only had 19 steals. In the two full seasons, Rosario hit 9 home runs and 15 home runs. He hit 4 home runs in each of his shortened seasons (both were 46 games played).

The other young shortstop, Andrés Giménez, exhibited a little more promise to scouts when he debuted in 2020. He is a fairly patient hitter and could become an elite defender. His natural instincts at shortstop project him to stay there for years as long as the bat can keep up. He is also a great baserunner, exemplified when he stole 8 bases in 9 attempts in 2020. The conversation surrounding Giménez is hopeful that he will become a star, but again, not certain.

Cleveland hopes that starting pitcher Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene can develop into major league players. Wolf is a 20 year old whose fastball gets into the high-90’s and is supported by an above-average curveball. MLB.com’s rankings have Wolf as Cleveland’s 12th best prospect after this trade.

Greene became Cleveland’s 16th best prospect on the same rankings. The 19 year old left-handed outfielder has yet to even play a professional inning. He was the second round pick of the 2020 draft for the Mets.

In total, Cleveland received four players that may or may not have untapped potential. Putting aside the money aspects of the deal, the New York Mets got much better on the baseball field today than Cleveland will likely ever get as a result of this trade. So how did this all come to be? Why did this happen?

Well, Cleveland’s Owner and CEO Paul Dolan made it clear that the organization would cut any costs that it can and enter a “rebuild” phase. On the flip side of the coin, Mets owner Steve Cohen made it clear that he wants to win a championship within “3 to 5 years” and, as the richest owner in baseball, is willing to spend the money to do so. These circumstances set the stage for what would become one of the more lopsided trades in recent history. The Mets acquire a possible Hall of Fame-level talent shortstop and a reliable starting pitcher in exchange for four player development projects and, more importantly for Cleveland, the lessening of expenses for ownership. The best part about it for Mets fans is that this is only a drop in the bucket for their owner, and committing money to Lindor and Carrasco will not set them back in the slightest.