PORT ST. LUCIE – Francisco Lindor, carrying his green shortstop glove, ended up deducting which field he belonged to on Monday’s training session at the Mets spring training complex.
“Of course I don’t have it blocked, so I have to find out,” said Lindor after the team’s first full workout.
Also not blocked: Your future.
Lindor’s arrival at the camp ushered in a potential long-term extension that will keep him at Mets for his entire career. Lindor, 27, may become a free agent after this season.
The extension talks have not yet started, according to Lindor – who reiterated his desire to have such discussions concluded before Opening Day. Lindor’s negotiations with Cleveland stalled last season, prompting the team to exchange him with Carlos Carrasco for the Mets.
“We didn’t find time [to negotiate] and obviously I have to know the organization, know the people and they need to know me ”, said Lindor. “If something happens, we will see in the future, it is between my agent and Sandy [Alderson, team president] and the rest of the team. The conversations have been non-existent. It’s too early, I think. “
Acting general manager Zack Scott said, “the sooner the better,” when asked about a potential timeline for starting negotiations.
Lindor is well aware of the $ 340 million 14-year deal that shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. received from the Padres last week that could serve as a kind of reference for him. Tatis is five years younger, but he didn’t even qualify for arbitration before agreeing to the deal.
“Tatis did a great deal for him,” said Lindor. “I am very happy for him. He deserves it, his family deserves it and it shows that the game is going in the right direction. There are two $ 300 million players on the same team [Manny Machado is the other], so the game is going in the right direction.
“I’m happy for him and excited to see him play for the next 14 years. God willing, he stays healthy and that is what he does, and especially because he is in the National League this year, it will be fun to play against him, which I never had a chance to play against him. “
Lindor rejected an offer from Cleveland that was believed to be worth more than $ 200 million. And he is ready to become a free agent if he doesn’t hear the right Mets number.
“I was never afraid of a free agency, so it’s not like I have to rush to sign a deal,” he said.
The Mets surrendered Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario, Isaiah Greene and Josh Wolf in the Lindor and Carrasco business, so the organization prefers a long-term marriage to the shortstop, even in a free agent market in the position that may include names like Corey Seager , Carlos Correa, Javy Baez and Trevor Story.
“Whenever you are talking to a player about an extension, you are looking for a compromise that makes sense for both the player and the club,” said Scott. “You cannot force these things all the time. It takes two parts to try to make it work, and if it doesn’t work for one, you’re not going to get a deal and that’s okay. You never enter a negotiation with an attitude at all costs. You need to think about what is right for your club’s present and future. “
Lindor offensively blamed his below-average 2020 season for changing his routine in the weight room; he says that at the end of the season he was tired. Lindor cut 0.258 / 0.355 / 0.415 last season with eight home runs and 27 RBIs in 60 games.
“I didn’t do my best in the weight room and it came out in the last week of the season, I got tired,” he said. “Your [working harder] during this year’s season to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “