Yesterday (1/7/21) marked a historic day for the New York Mets. They acquired Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco from the “Cleveland Baseball Team” for Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario, Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene! Might I begin this article by saying that this is BY FAR, the biggest move that I have ever seen this team make, in my near 13-year love for the team. Before Lindor it was: Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, and most recently Robinson Cano. It goes without saying that I struggled as a Mets fan for nearly a decade and a half.
Lindor has been my favorite player in the sport since he reached the big leagues in 2015. He also happens to be my favorite prospect that I’ve ever seen. The Mets got a real game changer here in Lindor, and the excitement that he brings with him, is well earned. Lindor is a 4x All-Star, 2x Gold Glove award winner, and a 2x Silver Slugger. Since his rookie season in 2015, Lindor is first amongst shortstops with 138 home runs, 344 extra base hits, is third with a .488 slugging percentage, and fourth with a .833 OPS.
This is the first major acquisition under the Steve Cohen regime, and one that I have theorized for quite some time. In early November I brought up the trade idea of Gimenez, Wolf and JD Davis for Lindor on my Big Talk with Big Nate podcast. Well, here we are almost two-months to the day later, and two of the four players are who I suspected. For months now, Mets fans have been longing for the first huge move. For a move to occur that’ll ignite the fanbase into excitement. One that will make the Wilpon memory begin to fade into existence as a memory of the past. This move does it for me frankly.
To get arguably a top five player in the sport, let alone THE best at his position, is something not many of us have never seen. Not since the Mike Piazza trade of the late 1990s. This is the star-level acquisition that us Mets fans have been craving. Lindor is an amazing player. That goes without saying. He also happens to be an amazing person off the field and a personality that past teammates love. He brings the type of presence that Mets players, and coaches, will love to work with. His teammates have raved about him in the past, so for a team that’s trying to find a new identity post-Wilpon era, this is surely it.
Lindor will take immense pressure off of both Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil. We saw what Lindor did in Cleveland as THE guy. He’ll surely take pride in being “the guy” in New York. If George Springer were to sign elsewhere now, I would be ok with it. The future of the Mets is very bright, and having Francisco Lindor front and center… Makes it all the more exciting.
The Mets also received 32-year-old right handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco beat Leukemia in 2019 after having five criminally underrated seasons for Cleveland. It was Corey Kluber who won the two Cy Young awards and it was Corey Kluber who was believed to be their only starting pitcher. From 2014-2018 Carrasco went 68-43, pitched to a 3.27 ERA, struck out 963 batters, had a 133 ERA+, 3.01 FIP and a 1.08 WHIP over 131 starts and 856 innings pitched. In 2020 across 12 starts Carrasco pitched to a 2.91 ERA and had 82 Ks in 68 innings. Carrasco will make his name much more known while pitching in New York.
Jared Porter and Sandy Alderson killed two birds with one stone, by getting an elite offensive player at a position that has been longing for Jose Reyes’ replacement after his initial departure in 2011. They also get that much needed starting pitcher that they’ve failed to find this offseason. Once Noah Syndergaard returns from Tommy John surgery in June, the rotation could be: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson. It’s very plausible that the Mets could sign another starting pitcher, and it might be Corey Kluber.
The Mets will be in attendance to Kluber’s showcase next week. Kluber, Lindor and Carrasco all have a great relationship with one another, particularly Kluber and Carrasco. In 2016 they manned that pitching staff which nearly won a World Series, while Lindor was the face of that entire team. All of them are title hungry, so what better place for Kluber to go to than the Mets?
At the end of the day, this was the Francisco Lindor trade. This is the trade that I hope to be telling my kid about someday, as the trade that helped us win a World Series. That ricocheted this team into becoming a dynasty. A dynasty that could capture the city of New York that has been struggling from the Coronavirus pandemic since March, 2020. Lindor has a chance to make history as the greatest shortstop in MLB history. Now the bat’s in his hand to write the history book.