Lindor exceeding expectations

JUPITER, FLA. — Francisco Lindor arrived at Mets camp with a cornucopia of hype tailing his superstar-caliber on-field performance. The team knew in January — when it traded away Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez and other prospects to Cleveland for Lindor and Carlos Carrasco — that it received the best shortstop in Major League Baseball. The club knew Lindor’s platinum glove, four All-Star nods, two Gold Glove awards and two Silver Sluggers would significantly increase its chances of doing damage in the NL East.

What the Mets didn’t fully understand, and what they continue to be impressed by, is Lindor’s desire to lead.

“The ability is like you expect, the greatness like we’ve seen,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said on Monday. “But now his leadership skills, it’s been more than I expected, because he’s done it so early. He just came into the clubhouse and he was just yelling, like, really loud. And everyone was energized by it.”

Lindor, who went 0 for 2 and played four innings at shortstop in the Mets’ 2-0 loss to the Marlins in their Grapefruit League opener, said he fired up his teammates at 7:30 in the morning. Though it was early, and players were still groggy-eyed, some of them said, “Yeah, let’s go!” Lindor said his own energy comes from his daily coffee intake.

“This is why we practice,” Lindor said of his clubhouse address. “We spend the whole offseason training, and we finally get to a game. Whether it counts or not, it’s still a game. It’s what we live for. We live for games. We don’t live for practice. It’s exciting.”

Over the course of Mets camp, Lindor has frequently been praised by his teammates for his leadership, advice, and energy — all of which has transformed the shortstop into a coach of sorts. He was often seen pausing workouts and drills on the backfields of Clover Park to explain a play to his fellow infielders, particularly J.D. Davis.

Lindor noticed Davis wasn’t using his “good hands” in a way that would benefit his fielding at third base. The shortstop said Davis was “putting himself in bad positions where his hands weren’t allowing him to become a good infielder.” Davis accepted Lindor’s advice, and the team quickly began to see a difference in Davis’ defense. Lindor credited Davis for working hard and sticking with his practice because defensive drills can become monotonous and boring at times.

His willingness to be outgoing, provide feedback and keep his teammates on their toes has especially impressed Rojas, given how little time Lindor has known the club.

“Coming into a new organization, his first time in a different organization, and he’s acting like he’s home,” Rojas said.

The Mets don’t want all the work Lindor put in with his new teammates and coaches to go to waste. The club certainly does not want to see him walk away after just one year in the hole, as he’s set to become a free agent after the 2021 season. Really, the Mets would not have given up four players (Rosario, Gimenez, Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene) to Cleveland if they weren’t committed to keeping Lindor in Queens long-term.

Contract extension talks are imminent, Mets team president Sandy Alderson said on Monday. Lindor has expressed he does not want contract negotiations to trickle beyond Opening Day, after which he wants to focus solely on getting the Mets to the playoffs. The player also wants the organization to get to know him better, and vice versa. That gives Alderson, general manager Zack Scott and the Mets a one-month deadline to open conversations with Lindor’s agency, SportsMeter.

Alderson said the team is mindful that it will attempt to sign Lindor long-term before he has even played a single regular-season game for the Mets.

“Francisco has said that he doesn’t want to negotiate after the season starts. So we’ve taken that at face value,” Alderson said. “We’ll make every effort to see what can be done on that end. On the other end, if things don’t work out between now and the end of spring training, we’ll figure out a way, I think hopefully, to continue to communicate.