The Indians have been at the center of trade talks the last two seasons regarding of the biggest names on their roster, and once again here in 2019 the team is at the center of those talks, this time around franchise player Francisco Lindor.
Having already turned down a reported $100 million dollar offer from the Indians a few years back, the Indians have control of Lindor for the next two seasons, but some say the time to deal Lindor is now.
The team doesn’t necessarily agree.
The big news out of the 2019 MLB Winter Meetings Monday from San Diego is that the Indians are now more interested in keeping Lindor for 2020, instead of shipping him to another team for prospects and maybe a Major League ready player or two they will play out the string with Lindor, keeping him for at least another season.
Jon Heyman reported that the Indians would rather go one more season with Lindor, and then look to shop him at the 2020 MLB Winter Meetings as he will enter the final year the Indians can have control over him.
Hear Indians prefer not to deal Francisco Lindor, to wait a year on a trade. Which really isn’t surprising. Interest has to be huge, however.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2019
It’s a smart move by the Indians, as the price tag for Lindor isn’t likely to go down anytime soon, and if he can have another solid season in 2020, who knows what the Indians can demand for a player that could demand anywhere from $250 to $350 million on the open market.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one team that seems to be very much in the mix to be a suitor for Lindor, and while Gavin Lux, their number one prospect, is reportedly not being dangled, a year can make a difference, and it will be interesting to see if his name pops up next offseason.
Either way, the Indians seem to be well aware of the PR nightmare that comes along with dealing a 26-year-old player with the talent of a Lindor, and what the fan base may say if Lindor isn’t on the roster at the start of 2020.
It’s just another reason to be smart and sit back and wait, there’s no rush to deal Lindor right now, and there will be more prospects, more trade offers, and more good players out there that will get dangled for the Tribe shortstop.
The front office has been smart in the past about when to make a move (or not), and it’s smart to not rush into anything right now for Lindor if the team doesn’t have to.
Which they don’t.
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Paul Stolzer
December 10, 2019 at 3:03 pm
Red sox are having a hard time trading Betts and get a solid return and so did the Orioles for Machado why would that be any different for Lindor next year same situation? Time to get the value is now before spring training returns lessen as time goes on.
Dave
December 10, 2019 at 4:49 pm
Simple- Betts has one year left and has declared that he wants to be a FA and won’t sign an extension. Lindor has two left and is amenable to signing for the right price according to his agent. That is an enormous difference. Machado was more similar to Betts, with less controllable time and everyone has said forever that Machado will have a quick decline, whereas Frankie is still improving. It’s apples to aardvarks.
On a general note, the entire premise of this article is incorrect and is simply fan pandering. The Indians, if they absolutely know they aren’t going to sign him, would be idiotic if they don’t trade him now. The return value will plummet if they wait until next winter- even if he gets the MVP this year. Every single GM in baseball thinks that, with two years to work on it, they can get their guy to sign long term. They have much less confidence with a single season. The difference will be stark- like the return we got for Colon (Cliff Lee, Sizemore, Brandon Phillips) vs what the O’s got for Machado.