The New York Mets agreed to a six-player deal with Cleveland on Thursday, which will earn them All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor and right-hander Carlos Carrasco in exchange for a package led by shortstops Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario .
That Lindor and Carrasco were traded this winter shouldn’t be a surprise. Lindor will qualify for a free agency after the 2021 season, and the Cleveland property made it clear that it was not willing to pay him his fee to maintain his services. Carrasco, for his part, would have received his 10-5 rights – the power to veto any deal that comes with 10 years of service and five with the same team – at the beginning of the following season.
The Mets’ involvement shouldn’t be a shock either. New owner Steve Cohen, considered the richest in the sport, is committed to building a World Series winning club. Adding Lindor, a franchise guy, without sacrificing too much in terms of the big league squad or the farm system is a no-brainer. Even if the Mets fail to extend Lindor – and the ball is in their court to do so in the same way that the Los Angeles Dodgers did with Mookie Betts – it is unlikely to be an exchange they will regret.
We here at CBS Sports are nothing but critics. As such, we decided to split the trade by providing notes to each team. Let’s move on to that part of the effort now, starting with a recap of the moving parts:
- Mets receive: SS Francisco Lindor, RHP Carlos Carrasco
- Cleveland receives: SS Andres Gimenez, SS Amed Rosario, RHP Josh Wolf, OF Isaiah Greene
Grade of Mets: A
This is the type of blockbuster acquisition that the Mets was supposed to do at the beginning and often under Cohen’s ownership, both in terms of headline and method – attacking petty owners who didn’t want to pay to keep their best players in town. The fact that Mets was able to tie Lindor and Carrasco without sacrificing anything they would lose is an impressive job by the new general manager Jared Porter.
Lindor is, of course, a star. Before the pandemic, he spent four consecutive seasons in which he accumulated more than five wins over substitution. The only players with more WAR than Lindor in the past five years are Mike Trout, Betts, Nolan Arenado and Jose Ramirez. (It does not reflect well in baseball’s current operating philosophy that four out of five may end up being traded within a three-year period.)
Lindor can do anything. On the plate, he is a hitter who makes strong contact and walks without hitting a ton. On the base paths, he is an efficient thief, capable of hitting bats in volume. On the field, he is an excellent defensive shortstop. If you are thorough, you can point out that he has fought against lefties in the past two seasons (although it is unclear how much of this can be attributed to a small sample size), or that he … makes decisions with hair dye that others would refuse. in? You have to really achieve it, which is the most surefire indicator that he is a franchise player.
It is not clear what type of contract Lindor has in his vision. Under normal circumstances, he would be justified in betting on more than the Anthony Rendon deal (seven years, $ 245 million) and hoping that the gentle breeze of inflation would push his demand into the wind, much closer to the extent of Mookie Betts (12 years, US $ 365 million). Now? Who knows. This uncertainty should, theoretically, help the Mets’ chances of retaining Lindor.
Carrasco’s addition should also not be overlooked. He is coming out of a season in which he posted an ERA of 2.91 (157 ERA +) and a streak to walk ratio of 3.04. Outside of 2019, when he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, he has been an above-average reliable starter, who is also a highly regarded figure in the club.
Carrasco uses three shots with good results: a 94 mph fastball with high turning rates, a slider and a change he used with a high frequency in his career last season. It is probably fair to classify it as at least number 3 in the beginning, with the potential to produce even better than that. Carrasco is, then, a luxury for a Mets rotation already scheduled to feature Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and, eventually, Noah Syndergaard.
Executioner is also not a rental. Your contract guarantees you $ 27 million over the next two years. Depending on how he shoots between now and then, the Mets could exercise a club option for the 2023 season, which would pay him an additional $ 11 million.
Regardless of what the Mets do next – and, to be clear, they must remain aggressive on high-level targets – this trade is a big advantage for their 2021 chances. Depending on how you evaluate the players Lindor and Carrasco are replacing , it is possible that this adds up to five victories to the Mets projection. These are the types of gains that the Mets need to make if they want to take the Atlanta Braves out of the category.
Cleveland grade: D
To paraphrase Wilco, there is no love more random than that of an owner. Summarizing this trade as a story of two groups of owners is a bit simplistic, but it’s a neat framing device, so here goes nothing. On the one hand, you have Cohen fully invested, who is doing his best to make people forget that he inspired headlines explaining why he is not in prison; on the other, is tired Larry Dolan, who oscillates between not understanding his franchise’s nickname and destroying his board’s negotiating skills with his public displays of indifference.
As great as Cleveland’s front office is – and this is a team that has had the second highest number of wins since 2013 – it’s hard to beat an owner who handcuffs the baseball operations department at every step. Here is a case where Cleveland does not appear to have succeeded in overcoming Dolan – although that negotiation contains the components that we expected a Lindor negotiation to contain.
Gimenez, 22, has five years left in control of the team, after spending the last season in the major leagues. He posted better-than-expected numbers on the board, too, hitting .263 / .333 / .398 (102 OPS +) with eight steals in nine attempts. It is arguably the closest thing this trade has to a centerpiece and a sure thing, but that doesn’t mean it has a star-gauge roof. Instead, Gimenez is likely to establish himself in the second division. He is a skilled and skilled defender who should replace Lindor defensively. Where he cannot compete is at the base, where he does not walk or hit the ball hard. Gimenez’s pull and pull ways also make it easier to defend yourself, limiting your average hits.
Rosario, the veteran of the group, is expected to enter his 25-year season. He has three years left in control of the team, but it is an open question whether Cleveland will want to keep him around for so long. Rosario would look like a non-competing candidate if he had the same performance as last season, reaching 0.252 / 0.272 / 0.371 (76 OPS +) without many positive underlying indicators.
The first decision Cleveland will have to make with Rosario is to decide where to face him. They could open the season with him soon, if they want Gimenez to enjoy more seasons in the smaller leagues. Alternatively, they could play him in second base to replace Cesar Hernandez, or even in the center of the field to take the place of Delino DeShields Jr. Rosario does not have much experience in the external field, to be clear, but the center has been a long rumored potential destination for him because of his speed and his struggles on earth. Wherever he plays, he will need to beat more to stay in the city for a long time.
Both perspectives are recent second-round choices, with minimal professional experience. Wolf is a 1.80 m right-handed with average head rotation. There are outstanding questions about its ability to withstand a substantial workload, but Cleveland has a good enough track record in assessing and developing pitchers that it is fair to give them the benefit of the doubt about their inclusion. Greene has an above-average power potential, although the scouts who spoke to CBS Sports believe he will end up on the left field in part because of his below-average arm.