Mets finally getting what they hoped for in Francisco Lindor trade

The New York Mets are finally getting what they hoped for when they traded for Francisco Lindor.

After a six-year stretch with the Cleveland Indians that will cement his name amongst the all-time greatest Cleveland players ever, Francisco Lindor found himself shipped to the New York Mets in January of 2021 in what was at the time a league-shattering deal.

Lindor, a switch-hitting shortstop who was not only elite with the bat but was also one of the best defenders in the game (at a premium defensive position, at that) seemed like a surefire star acquisition at the time.

In six years with Cleveland, Lindor made four All-Star Game appearances, won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers, and finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting three times. He routinely played in nearly every game and was a lock for 30+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases while keeping the batting average up and being one of the slickest defenders in baseball.

When Lindor was traded to the Mets along with veteran starter Carlos Carrasco in exchange for infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario and prospects Isaiah Greene and Josh Wolf, New York felt that he would be enough to push them over the top and establish the club as an annual contender. The Mets felt so strongly about this that they immediately locked him up to a whopping ten-year, $341MM extension that would keep him in Queens through 2031.

Lindor came up short of expectations in his first full season with the Mets, but he is beginning to turn things around

In 125 games last season, Lindor hit just 20 home runs and drove in 63 RBI while being at or near career-lows in batting average, OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+. By all accounts, season number one for the Mets’ newest superstar was an epic failure, even leading the fans to largely turn against him down the stretch.

Putting last year’s disastrous season behind him, “Frankie” has been off to a much better start this season. Through 88 games, he already has more RBI (64) than he did in all of last season.

Thanks to a few red-hot stretches of play — including a National League Player of the Week-winning performance from May 23-29 when he hit .348/.407/.870 with two home runs, two triples, 10 runs scored and 14 RBI — Lindor clearly has his mojo back.

One can see in his everyday performance that he has been reinvigorated and is showing the promise that Steve Cohen and Co. expected from him when they made that faithful trade with Cleveland last year.

As things currently stand, Mr. Lindor finds himself fourth in the NL in RBI and has an OPS+ of 111. His strong performance both at the plate and on the field has him at a cool 2.5 bWAR at just about the halfway point of the 2022 season.