Playing Short

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We, I, whomever, looked at the situation for the New York Mets at first base and second base last week. Today, it’s time for a looksie at the shortstop position. Which means a conversation about the longest tenured Met, Francisco Lindor.

Lindor had a rough 2026, pretty much however you look at it. He had a cleanup procedure on his right elbow last winter, which led to his not being able to play in the World Baseball Classic for his native Puerto Rico due to insurance reasons. Steve Cohen ended the years long speculation that Lindor will be named the official captain of the Mets when the owner announced he doesn’t believe in doing such things. Francisco missed a majority of spring training because he had to have his left hamate bone removed. Lindor healed up in time to make the Opening Day roster, but of course he had his typical slow start, hitting for just a .669 OPS from March 26- April 22. Then, on April 22nd against the Minnesota Twins, Lindor suffered a left calf strain. He didn’t come back until the second game of a day-night doubleheader on June 24th, over two months later. The Mets would lose that night, committing six errors in a 10-5 loss to fall to 34-46. Manager Carlos Mendoza was fired two days later. 

One week after that, Cohen revealed to the world that Lindor and Juan Soto had a beef with each other during their first year as teammates. This revelation, combined with the Mets for all intents and purposes already out of playoff contention, only made the contingent of fans who wanted Lindor traded away louder. The reports from insiders implied that the Mets would listen if other teams asked for the shortstop in a swap, but it would be highly unlikely that he’d be moved, considering he has a no-trade clause and such. 

Things more or less turned around though. Lindor was a Met after the trade deadline passed, and gradually the calls to ship him off lessened when the Mets and the de facto captain ended up playing decently in the final two months of the season. Francisco had a great July in particular, hitting for an .861 OPS, before hitting for pretty much league average in that category in August and September. Lindor hit his 299th career home run in Yankee Stadium. He waited two weeks and a day to slug his 300th in Washington D.C., on the final day of the season. After he crossed home plate, he hugged none other than Juan Soto. It’s the circleeeeeeeee of lifeeeeee.

Lindor, who turns 33 next month, showed his age in 2026. He played in just 105 games, the fewest Francisco played in a non-pandemic season since his rookie year, when Cleveland didn’t call him up to the bigs until June. His 1.8 bWAR was a non-2020 career low. His .225 batting average and three stolen bases were also career lows, and that’s including the COVID-shortened season. (While you might not care about batting average and stolen bases, keep in mind Lindor is usually the leadoff hitter. And he ain’t no Kyle Schwarber.) His sprint speed was a career low as well. 

His fielding was a problem. Early in the year, he made enough uncharacteristic misplays on the diamond to the point where Jerry Blevins on SNY’s postgame show told Lindor he can talk to him if he needed to talk to somebody. His Outs Above Average at shortstop was zero, AKA he was perfectly mid there as a fielder. Lindor finished in the 45th percentile in OAA. The lowest percentile in Francisco’s career before that was 89th, in 2025. 

Long story short, Lindor majorly regressed. The fact of the matter is Francisco Lindor was league average at shortstop, and his OPS+ of 105 indicated he was only a slightly above average hitter. He didn’t become bad so much as he became…some guy. It’s sobering because he used to be a perennial All-Star, and possibly maddening because he gets paid $32 million a year for another five seasons. 

There’s nothing much the Mets can do really. Francisco isn’t going anywhere. As mentioned, the guy has a no-trade clause. It’s seemingly a non-starter to approach him about waiving it like Brandon Nimmo did - Lindor himself said nobody from the front office or ownership talked to him about a potential trade. It’s unlikely any team would go out of their way to acquire Lindor anyway, considering his 2026, the trajectory his numbers are going, and his salary 

I don’t see him leaving the shortstop position for second or third base next season either. That would be a very awkward and tense conversation to have with Lindor. (Although I suppose, in a 4-D chess move, the Mets can insist they’ll move Lindor to another position so he’ll get so upset he’ll ask for a trade.) Besides, the other options the Mets have internally to man short are limited. When Lindor got hurt in April, Ronny Mauricio took over until Mauricio himself got injured. And Ronny only played 89 innings at short last year and managed a -4 OAA. (Lindor played 894.1 innings.) Bo Bichette slid over to short from third after that, where he put together a -2 OAA at shortstop in 391.1 frames. Vidal Bruján saw 31 innings in the six hole and put up a 1 OAA - but he doesn’t do the hitting thing all that well. Brett Baty played short once, in the next to last game of the season. He gets an incomplete mark, though I wouldn’t expect him to end up with a positive OAA. 

As far as the youths in the minors are concerned, Jefferson Rojas would be a possible replacement at shortstop, but he might be needed more at second base or third base if Bichette opts out. 2025 1st round pick Mitch Voit played a fair amount of shortstop last season. The rub is, he didn’t do that beyond Double-A. 

The free agent class at short is weak. The best available will be Mauricio Dubón and J.P. Crawford, and they’re both just a year younger than Lindor. 

So, it looks like the Mets and Lindor are stuck with each other. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Lindor’s fielding miscues and brain farts last season were mental, and he’ll be in a better place next season. The major decrease in range and sprint speed might have had to do more about that calf injury lingering than age. Perhaps I’m spewing copium. Perhaps not. 

On Friday, Chelsea Janes wrote a blog about the Mets chances in signing Tarik Skubal. She revealed that Juan Soto still believes Steve Cohen will do what it takes for the Mets to be a contender, which matters because Soto is a Scott Boras client, like Skubal. Janes pointed out that Soto can easily talk to Skubal to try to convince him to come to Queens. The SNY baseball insider also wrote that, according to front office sources, if Cohen decides he wants Skubal, he’ll "pay whatever it takes to get him."

MJ Melendez and the aforementioned Vidal Bruján elected free agency. 

The Mets uploaded a video on YouTube showing how their Alumni Relations department run number retirements, Hall of Fame inductions, and other ceremonies. 

New Mets Senior Advisor to Baseball Operations Derek Falvey talked on a podcast.

The New York Post wrote about how current Mets POBO David Stearns oversaw the acquisitions of 11 of the current National League champion Milwaukee Brewers.

The Mets apparently have the 8th biggest analytics department in MLB.

RHP Hiroto Saiki’s request to be posted was denied by the Hanshin Tigers. The Mets had scouted him over the summer. 

Jefferson Rojas hit two home runs Saturday night in LIDOM action.

20 years ago today, Endy Chávez made one of the greatest catches in postseason history when he robbed Scott Rolen of a home run and doubled off Jim Edmonds at first base.

Old chum Freddy Peralta will start for the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians. Peralta has a chance to send Tampa to the World Series. If you don’t want to see that, there’s always Monday Night Football.