Mets get Lindor in blockbuster trade
Cleveland was resigned to not meeting price
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 him.
Knowing they could never meet Lindor’s price, the Indians dealt the four-time All-star and pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the New
York 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 longterm 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.