Port ST. LUCIE – Francisco Lindor, wearing his green shortstop gloves, finally went to the Mets Spring Training Complex on Monday for workouts in which area.
“It’s clear that I don’t have this off, so I’ve got to figure it out,” Lindor said after the team’s first full-square workout.
Also not closed: his future.
Lindor’s arrival at camp has started the clock on a possible long-term extension that will keep him with the Mets for the duration of his career. The 27-year-old Lindor could become a free agent later this season.
The expansion talks have not yet started, according to Lindor – who reiterated the desire to complete any such discussions before Opening Day. Lindor’s interactions with Cleveland stalled last season, prompting the team to trade with the Mets along with Carlos Carrasco.
“We haven’t got time [to negotiate] And I obviously have to know the organization, get to know people and they have to know me. “If something comes we will see in the future, it is between my agent and Sandy [Alderson, team president] And the rest of the staff. It is not a matter, it is a conversation. It’s too early, I think. “
Acting general manager Zac Scott said “the sooner the better”, when asked for a possible timetable to start negotiations.
Lindor is well aware of the $ 340 million 14-year deal that shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. received last week from the Padres which could become a benchmark of sorts for him. Tatis is five years old, but did not reach eligibility for arbitration before agreeing to the agreement.
“Tatis got an excellent deal for her,” Lindor said. “I am really happy for him. He deserves it, his family deserves it and it shows that the game is moving in the right direction. There are two $ 300 million players in the same team [Manny Machado is the other], So the game is moving in the right direction.
“I am happy for him and am excited to see him play for the next 14 years. God said he stays healthy and that is what he does, and especially in the National League this year, I would enjoy playing against him, which I never got a chance to play against him. “
Lindor declined a Cleveland proposal that cost him more than $ 200 million. And he is ready to be a free agent if he doesn’t hear the right number from the Mets.
“I’m never scared about free agency, so it’s not like I’m hurrying to sign a deal,” he said.
In the Lindor and Carrasco deal, the Mets surrendered Andres Jimenez, Emad Rosario, Isaiah Green and Josh Wolf, so the organization would prefer a long-term marriage to shortstop, even a name in the free agent market Can be included. Such as Corey Seeger, Carlos Correa, JV Badge and Trevor Story.
“Whenever you’re talking to a player about extensions, you want to find the middle ground that matters to both the player and the club,” Scott said. “You can’t force those things all the time. It takes two sides to do that work and if it doesn’t work for one then you’re not going to get a deal and that’s fine. You never go into a conversation with all kinds of attitude. You need to think about what is right for your club’s present and future. “
Lindor aggressively blamed his subpar 2020 season for changing his routine in the weight room; He says that by the end of the season he was fatigued. Lindor slipped .258 / .335 / .415 last season with eight homers and 27 RBIs in 60 games.
“I didn’t put my best weight in the room and I was exhausted in the last week of the season,” he said. “its [working harder] During the season of this year to ensure that it does not happen again. “
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