Mets Are Playing Meaningless Games, But Lindor Wants In

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor has been in the news a lot this season, and for a lot of the wrong reasons. Lindor’s been hurt, his play has often been erratic and unfocused, and his relationship with star outfielder Juan Soto remains under close scrutiny as the Mets continue to play out what’s been a disappointing season to date. 

Lindor has been on the quiet side lately, however. He’s actually been hitting well and playing better, although it’s fair to point out that things couldn’t have been much worse early on. 

The shortstop also spoke out about wanting to stay with the Mets, even though his name was mentioned in numerous trade rumors at the deadline with the Mets supposedly listening to offers. The trade itself was a non-starter given Lindor’s huge contract and no-trade clause, but apparently he felt there were things that needed to be said. 

“When I signed up here, it was to be in the good times and bad times and to win,” he said in a report from Jason Foster of MLB.com that referenced the New York Post. 

“We have the right guys,” Lindor said, even though the Mets are currently 53-68 and 11 games out of the wild-card race.. “Stearns is the right guy. That is No. 1. We have one of the best owners in sports history, because [Cohen] is going to go always with the energy that needs to be put into the team. 

When you are in a big market there is not such a thing as rebuilding. There is a little bit of transition, that is it. You can’t afford to rebuild in big markets, so I think we are working toward the right place. We have not taken a step backwards.”

Lindor is definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy, at least in his public-facing comments. He cited the talent Soto brings to the table even though their spat continues to grind on, along with the infusion of talent from rookies Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nolan McLean. 

“You have the players you want to build around,” Lindor said. “You have the young pitching staff, along with a couple of pitchers that are a little bit older. You have got Marcus [Semien], who has still got a couple of years. You have Bo [Bichette, who can opt out after this season] -- it’s going to be up to him if he stays. 

“You have the young players, and then you look at the Minor League system, and you feel that we got better [at the Trade Deadline], so I believe that we are working forward.” 

Lindor’s perspective doesn’t align much with reality when you look at the rest of the roster, but he’s saying what he thinks he has to say. It’s hard to buy into, but his recent numbers include a .305 average with five homers and a 1.024 OPS over his last 15 games, so at least he’s performing. 

“Every season that you lose a lot of games, it might look like you are taking a step back, but we’re not because there’s other things happening around it or behind it that are propelling us forward.”