Francisco Lindor wants to finish his contract with the Mets | Straight Outta Flushing

Francisco Lindor has been at the center of just about everything the Mets have done since arriving in Queens. Expectations, the playoff runs, the disappointments, and now questions about what comes next. But despite a difficult season and plenty of speculation about his future, Lindor made his position clear in a recent conversation with the New York Post. His plan is to remain a Met for the length of his contract. So what does that tell us about how Lindor views the direction of this organization, his trust in Steve Cohen and David Stearns, and just how much patience he has as the Mets try to build their next contender. Joining me now is the man who had that conversation with Lindor. He is the New York Post Mets beat writer, the one and only Mike Puma. He joins me now. Mike, how are you doing, sir? I'm great, Dexter. I'll be better when this road trip's over, but I'm well. Thank you. No, glad to hear you're well. It has been a long road trip. We need to get you back home here in New York, and that'll happen soon. But you have a great conversation with Francisco Lindor. You've covered him for years now, but here's my question. When I read your piece, when he told you that, quote, the plan is to be here for my contract, what struck you the most there with those words? Was it the words themselves or the way he said it? Did it feel different from a standard answer that a player gives about his future? What struck you most about him saying that? No, I think what struck me was just that he still loves being a New York Met. He loves playing in New York, and that he kind of views this as a commitment that, you know, hey, I think the way he put it was, when you sign up, you sign up for the good and the bad. And right now, obviously, is the latter, the bad, the way the team, where the team is right now. But no, I think it just struck me that he still loves being a New York Met. And look, fans should be excited to hear that. And I think what jumped out to me, Mike, was that after everything that's gone wrong this season, right, Lindor's confidence in Steve Cohen and David Stearns doesn't appear to have wavered. So from your conversation with him, what is he seeing in the direction of this organization that maybe frustrated Mets fans aren't seeing right now? Yeah, and he's a big believer in David Stearns. And, you know, we know Steve Cohen, at least for right now, is still in David Stearns' corner. You know, if not, Stearns would have been gone when they changed their manager. But, you know, Lindor talks about the future, about how excited he is about what they did, the team did at the trade deadline as far as restocking the minor league system with some of these prospects they picked up. And, you know, there was 11 of them that came in just within the days of the trade deadline there. So he looks at that, he looks at the core, which, you know, consists of himself, Juan Soto. Now, we don't know what Beau Bichette's going to do after the season. He could opt out if he wants. But, you know, Lindor mentioned Bichette. He mentioned, you know, the rookies, Benj and Ewing and Nolan McClain. So he sees a foundation there. You know, you have three real good rookies. You have Lindor, you have Soto, you potentially have Beau Bichette. So he sees that foundation there. And then he looks at what they did at the trade deadline as far as refurbishing the farm system. And that leads him to think that the organization is in a decent spot. Yeah, he really feels like the organization is in a decent spot here. Because one of the other things that stood out to me, Mike, was he said a losing season can look like you're taking a step back, but that there are things, quote, happening around it, or behind it, that are actually moving the Mets forward. So when he said that, did it sound to you like optimism? Or like, you know, you might just hear from players. We've seen this all the time, players in the clubhouse locker room, they just have optimism. Or is this a player that really has bought into what David Stearns is building here, even though fans may not see it that way? Yeah. And, you know, we see it in sports. Last year, look at what happened with the Braves, where they just kind of, you know, they had some injuries and they fell off. And, you know, here they are a year later in first place. They're going to, you know, they're in good shape to go back to the post season here. So you see it with teams, especially, you know, teams that have established players where, you know, they have that one year where things don't work out. Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily going to be the case with the Mets, but, you know, you do see a pathway to it, that there are pieces here in place. But at the same time, you know, a lot of things have not worked out here. So, but no, I think Lindor's point is, hey, you know, there are pieces here and there is, you know, reason to not look at this as a giant step backward. Now, you brought up that Lindor also talked about the players acquired at deadline prospects. And I thought it was fascinating that he specifically brought up Jefferson Rojas, now the number one prospect in the Mets organization of Billy Emick as well, too. What did that tell you about how closely he's following the Mets young talent and maybe how personally invested that he is in being part of whatever this next version of the Mets becomes? Yeah. And he, you know, he went down the line, named five or six guys that he really likes in the system. And he brought up the point that, hey, even though maybe there's not guys knocking on the door right at this moment at AAA the way a lot of people would like that, we see it where guys make giant leaps. You know, A.J. Ewing, case in point, 21 years old. And at this point last year, nobody was talking about A.J. Ewing potentially being a significant part of the 2026 mix. And, you know, here he is playing every day in the outfield and putting up solid numbers for the team. So, yeah, guys make leaps. You know, Jefferson Rojas is at AA right now. Who's to say that, you know, two months in the next season, he's not playing every day for the Mets. So I think Lindor's point was, you know, he thinks there's some he likes the talent level. He likes the guys they brought back in these trades and that. But to your point, I think he it is a good sign that he knows who some of these guys are and he understands kind of what they have here. Yeah, that really stood out to me. It really did, Mike, because it told me it was like, OK, he's really connected in what's coming through the farm system. And I felt like that point should at least be encouraging to fans. And to his point, things can change very quickly. Right. But there's also a clock ticking here with Lindor because after this season, Lindor is going to be halfway through his 10-year contract, still chasing that first championship with the Mets. Did you get any sense from him, Mike, that the urgency is different now, that he doesn't just want the Mets to eventually get this right, but needs to see them get it right soon, sooner rather than later, like talking about 2027? Did you get a sense of maybe urgency with him? Maybe a little bit. You know, he brought up the fact that, you know, he's 32 years old now and he's halfway through the contract at the end of this season. You know, guys sign a 10-year contract and it seems like an eternity when it happens. And then here we are, what seems like a snap of the fingers and, oh, it's only a five-year contract now. So, you know, I think Lindor can see that window closing a little bit here. And, you know, he talks about he wants to win. He considers that part of the duty of the contract is to win here. And the Mets have not done enough of it. They have not, for sure. Last thing for me here, Mike, after talking with him, do you believe Francisco Lindor will actually play the final five years of his contract as a Met? And what would have to happen for that plan to ever change where he isn't a Met through the duration of his contract? Well, he certainly has the control, you know, the no trade protection within his contract. And plus the fact that he's a 10-5 player, meaning, you know, 10 years in the major leagues, five with the same team. So, he can veto anything. But, you know, as we've seen in the past, we saw last offseason with Brandon Nimmo, who had the no trade, that sometimes you can be convinced that, hey, maybe you're not part of the plan here. So, I don't know. It's hard to say. I would, right now, if I were wagering on it, I would probably wager on him finishing his career with the Mets just because, you know, there's a lot of money left on that deal. And it's hard to orchestrate those kind of trades with that kind of money left. But at the same time, you know, we've seen it before. So, but right now, I would, if I were a gambler, man, I would wager on Francisco Lindor being a Met for his entire career. All right, there you go. I think Mets fans who are fans of Francisco Lindor, they will be happy to hear that. And if you are a fan of Francisco Lindor, you should definitely check out Mike Puma's fantastic piece on Lindor. Great conversation he had with him up right now on NYPost.com. Mike, always a pleasure having you here on Straight Outta Flushing. We will talk soon, my friend. Thank you.