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Francisco Lindor was set to serve as captain of Team Puerto Rico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Instead, he’ll be in Port St. Lucie. The company responsible for insuring MLB players for the WBC have become more picky since the last tournament in 2023, when, as you are all too well aware, Edwin Díaz (and Jose Altuve) got seriously injured. Lindor could not get insured for this edition of the WBC because of the right elbow debridement procedure - a “clean up” as it were - that he got right after last season ended. No matter that it was a minor surgery, and he had a similar one after 2023 and was just fine in 2024, and the press release on this news said Lindor will be a full participant in spring training. Lindor is one of eight players that were set to play for Puerto Rico who could not get insured. They’re threatening to withdraw from the tournament altogether.

Lindor didn’t speak personally on the matter, but the press release offered that he was “obviously disappointed.” I don’t think he was “disappointed”. I think he was/is pissed off. Representing his native Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic clearly means a helluva lot for Lindor. He takes pride in being the captain. Lindor isn’t hurt, and the Díaz injury was a massive fluke. It isn’t fair. 

There’s another aspect to this. According to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich’s write-up of the WBC insurance situation, a player denied insurance coverage can still play in the tournament if the MLB team he plays for is willing to assume the financial risk in case of injury. So in other words, billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen could swoop in and agree to let Lindor play uninsured. 

I know what you’re saying: why the hell would he? Why are we even talking about this? This is a Mets newsletter, not a Puerto Rico newsletter. Here’s why: this impacts the mood of arguably the captain of the New York Mets. He’s 32 years old. This is the last World Baseball Classic he could participate in where he’s still in his prime. There’s a good chance Francisco understands Steve Cohen and the Mets front office’s dilemma: they could potentially be paying a guy who can’t play baseball $27 million a year. 

Or maybe he doesn’t understand. You just never know with athletes, or people for that matter. You wouldn’t think Edwin Díaz would have cared when the Mets signed Devin Williams to set-up for him, but apparently he was deeply insulted by that.

I’m torn. There’s a part of me that is like most fans and selfishly would like all of the Mets to skip the World Baseball Classic and gel with each other in Port St. Lucie, especially this year when there are so many new names and faces to learn. And what if Nolan McLean blows his arm out going all out for Team USA? What if Mark Vientos screws up his swing trying to hit home runs for Nicaragua? What if Juan Soto, captain of Team Dominican Republic, loses confidence if his team doesn’t play well? 

I get it. I worry too. It’s just kind of ridiculous when you type it out like I just did. You can’t live your life in fear. 

The other part of me is logical. Players can suffer season-ending injuries during spring training. It happened to Nick Madrigal last spring (remember Nick Madrigal?!). Gavin Lux tore his ACL running the bases in an exhibition game weeks before the Díaz disaster. Hell, Pete Alonso almost died in a car accident at Port St. Lucie a few springs ago. 

There’s a chance Puerto Rico will find another insurer in time. Whether that’s good news or bad news is up to you.

Will Sammon wrote a piece in The Athletic documenting the behind the scenes of the Mets’ offseason (so far). It had similar information to Joel Sherman’s long article last week. Apparently, before they acquired Marcus Semien to play the position, the Mets talked to Bo Bichette about playing second base. And had they not landed Semien nor Bichette, the Mets were considering handing the keys to second to Luisangel Acuña and/or free agent Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Thank goodness we don’t live in that timeline.

Oh, and they were never close on Cody Bellinger. That’s kinda funny. 

The Syracuse Mets are hiring!

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies released their promotional schedule. They will host Jonah Tong "Canadian Cannon" Bobblehead Day on July 1st (Canada Day). 

SNY posted a photo of Gary, Keith, and Ron (and Steve) preparing for the upcoming season. I’m assuming this means Keith signed his contract extension?Old chum Jose Siri signed a minor league deal with the Angels.

Nolan McLean (+340) is the betting favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Jonah Tong and Carson Benge are both at +2000. 

On this day in 2008, the Mets officially acquired ace Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins. The team and the pitcher agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million extension. In four years with the team, Santana pitched to a 3.18 ERA.