It sounds as if David Stearns, who runs baseball operations for the Mets, isn’t inclined to deal Francisco Lindor at this year’s Trade Deadline, even if he didn’t completely shut the door on the notion on Friday. Of course, this has been a much tougher season for Stearns than it has been for his shortstop.
“I'm not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything. I don't think that's wise for me to do," Stearns said. "What I will say is, we've got a group of young players and we've got some potential Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, that we view as our core. We expect them to be our core."
That is what Stearns is saying now about a season that finds his team buried in last place in the National League East and is in danger of losing 100 games. This is after finishing last season 38-55 and missing the playoffs on the final weekend against the Marlins. So even though Lindor, at 32, has five years left on a 10-year, $341 million contract, there has been a lot of trade chatter around Lindor over the past month. At the same time in New York, there has been a lot of piling on where Lindor is concerned.
It means a lot has changed since Lindor was triumphantly circling the bases after his grand slam put the Phillies away in a National League Division Series less than two years ago. That was then. But now, plenty has changed for the Mets.
Except this hasn’t:
Lindor is still one of the most talented, all-around players the Mets have ever had. And just because he has been hurt this season, and able to play just 47 games (if you start the clock on Opening Day, teams are only in mid-May after 47 games), it doesn’t mean he is suddenly on baseball’s back nine, even as a shortstop.
Now that he is healthy again, and despite all the trade rumors, I believe Lindor is going to play the kind of two-way game the Mets have come to expect from him the rest of the way. That means hit, and hit for power and run. Is he smiling a lot less than Mets fans have come to expect? That’s probably fair to say. But it’s also to be expected given how disappointing this season has been.
Not much has gone right for Stearns, going all the way back to last year’s Trade Deadline, as the Mets were beginning their second-half freefall in earnest. But if he was saying that he’s not trading Lindor without coming right out and saying he’s not trading him, then Stearns has at least gotten that right. You don’t get rid of Lindor this soon after letting Pete Alonso, another vastly popular Met, just walk out the door last winter.
Buddy Harrelson will always have his proud place in memory -- and Mets history -- because of the way he played shortstop in the '60s and '70s, helping them become the Miracle Mets of 1969, then playing a second World Series with them four years later.
When José Reyes was young, and he and David Wright were the Mets' stars, Reyes was a streak of light on a baseball field. But Lindor is the best shortstop the Mets have ever had. It was just last year when he was hitting 30-plus home runs from that position for the third year in a row. He has had more than 100 RBIs once with the Mets and knocked in 90 two other times.
Only now the Mets' record from the time they were 45-24 in June '25 is 81-116. If they do end up losing 100 games for the first time since 1993, it will go down as one of the greatest disappointments in Mets history. Nothing much to smile about, for anybody.
It starts with the shortstop known as Mr. Smile, if not lately.
Here is what Lindor said recently to Chelsea Janes of SNY, the Mets' television network, about the trade rumors:
“I am human. I have a family and they all hear it. But since it’s not happening [in the clubhouse], it’s OK.”
Without question, he has made both mental and physical mistakes since spending two months on the injured list with a severe left calf strain. His preparation for Opening Day was clearly impaired because of a broken left hamate (a bone in the wrist) that required surgery in February. The bottom line is that he came out of Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers with a .228 batting average, six home runs and 16 RBIs. If it really were May, no one would be particularly concerned; Lindor has had slow starts before in New York. But it is nearly August. In the words of Yogi, it has already gotten late around here.
When Stearns referenced “potential Hall of Famers” as being part of a core that includes kids like Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nolan McLean, he was clearly referring to Juan Soto and Lindor. Who knows what will happen the week after next, who will go from the Mets and who will stay. Francisco Lindor ought to stay. The guy got hurt this season. He didn’t forget how to play baseball.