Francisco Lindor sounds off on the Indians cheap ownership
Francisco Lindor provided a telling quote about Indians ownership.
The Cleveland Indians suffered yet another brutal postseason exit Wednesday night. That has been the theme since 2016 and the urgency was real given the situation surrounding Francisco Lindor.
The star shortstop has one year of team control left in 2021 and then hits free agency. He is expected to earn well over $300 million and the team has provided no signs of actually paying him that sum of money. That means a trade is likely this offseason.
Lindor and his teammates spoke with the media Thursday and the shortstop was asked about a potential deal in Cleveland. His answer was directed right at ownership.
Francisco Lindor asked if the Indians can afford to keep him: "Of course. It's a billion dollar team."
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) October 1, 2020
Francisco Lindor goes right at the owners
The Dolan family has a polarizing reputation among Cleveland fans. The owners have overseen some great teams, but star players have also been let go in favor of developing younger, cheaper talent.
The counter to that, specifically with Lindor, is the fact he struggled in two games against the New York Yankees. He went 1-8 in the two losses and is now asking for a massive contract. The young man will get paid, but that happening in Cleveland would be an absolute shock.
Lindor is not wrong either when it comes to if the team could pay him. But right now the Indians are on track to have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball next season. Lindor would end up taking up nearly half the money if he got a deal worth over $30 million annually.
Handing players such big deals involves paying a lot for past performance. While he may deserve the back pay, the Indians aren’t going to change as an organization. Such a conflict between millionaires and billionaires is nothing new to professional sports and ultimately the owners want to make money.
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The Indians may look very different in 2021 after another frustrating end to what seemed like a promising season. Lindor not being around would be the biggest change and these comments show he knows what is coming.