Indians appear open to trading Francisco Lindor
The Cleveland Indians don’t want to trade Francisco Lindor this season, but they are open to hearing offers for him before the MLB Trade Deadline.
Rumors connecting Francisco Lindor with a move away from the Cleveland Indians continue to gain steam as the MLB Trade Deadline approaches. The franchise clearly doesn’t want to part with its superstar shortstop, but his impending free agency after the 2021 season is becoming a big issue for the club.
According to Mark Feinsand, the “possibility exists” that Lindor will be moved before the trade deadline slams shut on Monday.
The Indians’ strong preference remains to keep Lindor until the offseason, but the notable update here is that now Cleveland’s front office seems to be willing to listen to offers over the next day and change.
The Indians are listening to offers for Francisco Lindor
None of this means Lindor is going to move on the cheap. The Indians will demand a king’s ransom in any deal for his services. He arguably plays the game’s most important defensive position and he also happens to be one of the top offensive shortstops in the game. The fact that he’s still just 26 years old means he has plenty of prime seasons still ahead of him.
Any team that wants to trade for Lindor must be prepared to offer up a dynamic combination of prospects and young major league players capable of helping the Indians right away. Cleveland is not interested in taking on a long, protracted rebuild. They view dealing Lindor as an opportunity to pivot as opposed to rebuild.
Lindor’s impending free agency will also be a key factor for the teams interested in acquiring him. He’s looking for a big-money contract in the very near future. That likely means only big-market teams will seriously consider giving up the sort of assets required to acquire him. Small-market teams will understand how challenging it might be to keep Lindor for the long haul due to his free-agent demands.
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The most likely scenario remains the Indians holding on to Lindor for the remainder of this season and working on a deal to move him ahead of the start of the 2021 regular season. They’ll have to be blown away with an offer to move him before this year’s deadline. That’s still a softened stance compared to where Cleveland stood on the issue of Lindor just a few weeks ago.