What He Just Said Will Have Mets Fans Believing Again...

What he just said will have Mets fans believe again. Francisco Lindor, the center point of many rumors surrounding his future, has just confirmed something that will have his fans believing in both himself and the Mets future. And David Stearns and Steve Cohen are going to make a big decision that I believe will benefit the Mets moving forward. What's going on guys? I'm Josh Byrne. You're tuned into Mets Digest, guys. Thanks so much for all the support and all the engagement. Most of you are still not subscribed, so if you're enjoying the daily updates, please do consider doing so as it goes a long way. Now, David Stearns is tasked with not rebuilding, but retooling the Mets currently, who find themselves 15 games below 500. Actually, I believe it's 16 games now. And way out of the playoff mix, we know that. This season's been awash for months. And unfortunately, one of the biggest negative stories and circulations surrounding it has been questions about Francisco Lindor's future. Francisco Lindor is the most valuable Met since 2021. In fact, he's been a top 10 player in terms of war since 2021, the same year that he debuted as a New York Metropolitan. But due to his underperformance this season, due to his injury, and also most notably due to his documented riff with teammate Juan Soto, there's been a lot of speculation and reports that the Mets will shop him specifically in this upcoming offseason. Now, keep in mind, since many of those reports surfaced, Lindor has been playing his best ball of the year. He's gotten settled in, he's healthy now, and he's looked at least offensively like the player we've come to know over the past several years. So for a guy who is a dynamic force and presence within this franchise, Lindor came to the media and he made his voice heard. This is exactly what he said. SleeperMets pointed it out on Twitter. Francisco Lindor says he fully expects to play the remaining five years of his contract in a Mets uniform. This is what Lindor said, quote, the plan is to be here for my contract. When I signed up here, it was to be in the good times and bad times and to win via John Heyman. Now, Lindor also went out and said that he does believe the Mets have taken a step backwards, that he believes in David Stearns, he thinks Steve Cohen is the best owner in baseball, and that the Mets are basically in a position to be good for years to come. Which, look, it falls in line with the majority of the sentiment of Mets players. They enjoy playing here. And say what you want about Steve Cohen. But the Mets have consistently gotten great marks. They treat their players well, and I think it is worth pointing out that Steve Cohen has a strong relationship with the Lindors. And Alex Cohen also does. And that's something to keep in mind. David Stearns can't just, you know, snap his fingers and trade him even if he wants to. And also, Lindor has a no trade clause. But why would the Mets want to trade him? Because this year he's put up 1.4 B war. These numbers don't take into account last night, but they're still pretty, pretty solid. 113 OPS plus, not too far off from his career average. And this is what he's done over the several years. A consistent 4 plus war guy. And if you do the math, even in a down year that he's had, in the 64 games putting up 1.4, he finished just below 4 wins above replacement. But he's turning it on and I'd surmise that he'd probably finish above it if he was healthy. And this is contractual situation. Lindor has five more years on his contract after this, making 34.1 million each season. And as much as I love Lindor and I think he's a good player, I don't believe he will be valued very highly on the open market. So even if the Mets did want to move on, which I don't believe they do, they wouldn't get much back. And I'm aware that Lindor has his critics. He has the people who don't like him. And some of that's because of the dilemmas that have been reported amongst him and Soto, and then going back to Jeff McNeil. And I think that's a fair, I think that's a fair argument. But I personally don't buy that he's sort of clubhouse liability. I think he's a positive. I think those are outstanding situations and no one, including myself, obviously knows exactly what's going on in the clubhouse. And frankly, when you get to brass tacks, Lindor is one of the best players on this team. So if you want to win, which the Mets have won a couple of times with Lindor on the team in 2022 and 2024, then it would be in the best interest to keep him around, especially considering that the alternative is trading him for what? Tell me what you're getting back for him. How many teams are willing to take on that kind of money? Are you getting back a prospect? Is it going to be a kind of for a Simeon trade where you get a shorter term deal that's still expensive, but not as long? Because that worked out horribly for the Mets. I mean, Nimmo is having a Nimmo season and Simeon is washed up and no one has any emotional attachment to Marcus Simeon anyways. So are you going to do that with another guy who's established himself as an all-time Met? I think it would be foolish. And I don't think Lindor is going to allow that to happen. I don't think he's going to accept any trade, nor do I think Steve Cohen is. Now, if you look at the offensive savant rankings for Lindor this season, these are some of the better marks he's put up since being a Met. Offensively. Defensively, different story. His range is slightly below average. He never has had a strong arm, but his range is usually in the 90th plus percentile, and he's made quite a few errors. So I will resign to the fact that his defense has taken a step backwards this year. Does that have something to do with the injury? Maybe. I definitely think the sprint speed does. However, the mental errors is something that I can't explain, and he does need clean that up next year. And for a guy who never gets hurt, I wouldn't expect him to continue getting hurt moving forward, but obviously I don't have a magic eight ball. I'm not a psychic. But he's hitting the ball very hard. He's a productive player. If his defense continues to trail off, you could always move into second base. The Mets have guys, Jefferson Rojas, who can play short. So I'm not too concerned about his defense, but it's worth pointing out that that is something that you can't really defend this year. And I'm a Lindor defender, and I do think Steve Cohen is as well. And for that reason, I don't see him being moved anytime soon, nor does Lindor himself, because he believes in the future. And if you're a fan of Francisco Lindor and good shortstops and Hall of Fame shortstops, then you should believe too, because the Mets are going to hold on to this guy. And that's the right decision for the organization. Let me know what you guys think on Lindor's comments and his future with the New York Mets. Comment below. Let me know. And as always, let's go Mets.