Indians trade Lindor and Carrasco to Mets
CLEVELAND» The Indians drafted and developed Francisco Lindor, who blossomed into an All-Star shortstop and one of baseball’s best all-around players.
Cleveland chased a World Series title with him. They’ll now do it without Lindor.
Knowing they could never meet his price, the Indians dealt the four-time All-Star and pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Mets, who have a new owner willing to spend at baseball’s highest levels in order to get his franchise back on top.
The cash-strapped Indians sent Lindor and Carrasco to the Mets on Thursday for infielders Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario, right-hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene — a move Cleveland hopes can keep it competitive and capable of ending baseball’s longest title drought.
The Indians knew this day was coming. That didn’t make it any easier.
“They’re special people in addition to special players,” said Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations, adding he cried when informing the players they were New York bound. “Trades like this are really, really hard to make. But at the same time, we feel it’s the right thing to do for us.
“Hopefully this will be — as painful as it is right now — a trade that positions us to be successful moving forward.”
Dealing Lindor, who is eligible for free agency after the 2021 season, will cut roughly ‘$30 million off the Indians’ payroll and allow them to rebuild.
For the Mets, the acquisition is another sign owner Steven Cohen means business.
“They did not come cheaply,” Mets president Sandy Alderson said of Lindor and Carrasco. “What we’re trying to do is create a new reality rather than deal with perception.”
A billionaire hedge fund manager, Cohen bought the team on Nov. 6 from the Wilpon and Katz families and pledged to increase spending. One of his next big-ticket items figures to be signing Lindor to a long-term contract, something the Indians couldn’t do.
Lindor, who will be playing in a far different spotlight than he experienced in Cleveland, impacts the game with his bat, glove and legs. A two-time Gold Glove winner, he’s a career
.285 hitter and averaged 29 homers, 86 RBIs and 21 steals in his six major league seasons — all with the Indians, who drafted him in 2011.
He’s been the face of the Indians’ franchise, with an infectious smile and joy for playing that has made him one of Cleveland’s most popular athletes. But he’s gone now, leaving the Indians without their best player and the team’s fans grumbling about owner Paul Dolan.
Cleveland had run out of options. Lindor has turned down numerous long-term contract offers from the Indians, betting on himself and knowing he could get more money from a major-market team when he becomes a free agent.
Carrasco is one of the game’s best comeback stories, overcoming leukemia to become one of the AL’s steadiest starters. The
33-year-old has a 88-73 career record with a 3.73 ERA.
Lindor is signed for only another season, so the Mets will have to get to work quickly on locking him up for the long term.
“We’ve have one conversation with him and no conversations with his agent,” Alderson said. “We acquired Francisco because of
his present ability and the possibility that he could be a Met long-term. There’s no guarantee of that. It’s something that we will approach, you know, in the next few weeks.”
Sugano fails to sign by deadline
NEWYORK» Japanese star pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano failed to agree to a contract with a major league team by Thursday’s 5 p.m. deadline. A right-hander who turned 31 on Oct.
11, Sugano had been posted by the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Central League on Dec. 8.
Sugano was 14-2 with a 1.97 ERA and three shutouts in 20 games last season, striking out 131 and walking 25 in 137 1/3 innings while allowing 97 hits. He is 101-49 with a
2.32 ERA over eight seasons in Japan. Under the posting agreement, the fee would have been 20% of the first $25 million of a major league contract, including earned bonuses and options.
Stanek, Astros agree
HOUSTON » Right-hander Ryne Stanek and the Houston Astros agreed to a $1.1 million,
one-year contract.
Stanek has made 152 appearances in the last four seasons with the Rays and Marlins. He has a career 4.00 ERA with 210 strikeouts in 173.1 innings.
Red Sox’s Smith excited to be MLB’s 1st Black female coach
BOSTON » Bianca Smith has always wanted to work in baseball. And for years she followed a path she hoped might set her up to be a major league general manager.
Instead, she’ll soon be breaking barriers on the field.
In March, Smith will begin her new role as a Red Sox minor league coach, becoming the first Black woman to serve as an on-field coach in major league history.
“I didn’t consider myself a role model before this,” Smith said Thursday. “It’s still kind of weird to think that, to be honest. That wasn’t really my intention when I took the job. But I’m happy if my story can inspire other women, other women of color ...”