BREAKING: Mets trade for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco
Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario, among others, going to Cleveland
I remember where I was when I learned that Mike Piazza would be traded to the Mets. I was in middle school, I wore my love for the Mets on my sleeve (even though all of my friends were Yankees or Red Sox fans), and on that Friday afternoon, for the first time in my young fandom, it felt like the New York Mets were something special.
Today is another day like that.
Steve Cohen has officially announced his arrival as a big market owner. The Amazins have swung a deal to acquire 4-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glover, and 2-time Silver Slugger Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians. Oh, but that’s not all. They are also adding former 18-game winner and 2020 American League Comeback Player of the Year Carlos Carrasco to their rotation.
Find a Mets fan and give them a socially-distanced hug…
Of course, nothing is free in this world. The Mets will surrender two young infielders in Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario, along with RHP Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene. You don’t acquire a superstar for nothing, even one about to hit the open market and looking for a huge payday. In terms of Wolf and Greene, the Mets have included much better prospects in deals for less.
Lindor, 27, is a free agent after the 2021 season. You don’t make this deal unless you have supreme confidence in re-signing him to a long-term deal. As Ken Rosenthal recently noted, “the Mets might be the only team in the position the Dodgers were with Betts, possessing both the wherewithal and major-market status to persuade Lindor to sign long-term.”
Carrasco, 33, gives the Mets cost certainty on a veteran starter through 2023, with a mutual option in the final year. His average annual value is $11,750,000. After being treated for leukemia in 2019 during an off year, Carrasco looked his top-form self in 2020, pitching to a 2.91 ERA with a strikeout rate that ranked in the top 25th percent of the league.
Based on an arbitration projection of $19.5 million for Lindor, plus the AAV on Carrasco, New York add roughly $28 million to their 2021 payroll, net Giménez/Rosario. That leaves them about $25 million (depending on arbitration projections) to sign additional free agents before reaching the initial luxury tax threshold.
We will analyze this trade in much more detail in tomorrow morning’s newsletter, but I wanted to celebrate this moment together. The Mets will have a 3:00PM news conference to announce the trade. Let’s Go Mets!
LGM