Earlier today the Mets and Indians engaged in a blockbuster trade that is sending Francisco Lindor AND Carlos Carrasco to New York in exchange for shortstops Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario along with two prospects- right hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene. Lindor is one of the most premier players in baseball, not just shortstop, being one of two players to have recorded three seasons of 30+ home runs and double digit stolen bases since 2017 (the other being Mike Trout). Mr. Smile has a lot to smile about, being a four time all star, winning 2 silver sluggers, 2 gold gloves and is set to sign a massive extension with New York or hold out till when he becomes a free agent in the following winter. Lindor has put up a spectacular OPS of .833 through his career with a very respectable batting average of .285. The young superstar provides a great amount of power, contact, defense and speed from the switch hitter. I highly expect the Mets will try to sign the switch hitting superstar right away to a monster deal because you just do not trade for a guy with that type of stature to let him walk and not make him a cornerstone of your franchise for the years to come. The Mets acquiring the 27 year old superstar was rather unexpected news since it appeared that the Mets were leaning more towards Springer (which it appears they still are), but this was a great surprise to Mets fans as now they have an X-Factor at a premier position in shortstop that will be a highlight to this already young and exciting core.
On the other side of things the overshadowed part of this deal is the Mets also receiving Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco. I love love love love this inclusion. Adding Carrasco to the rotation with this deal makes the trade ten times better, since they already did not give up much to acquire Lindor nevermind the both of them. Carrasco is a feel good story as he has battled with leukemia, being diagnosed in May of 2019 and missed the entire season as he engaged in this battle and came back the next year to win comeback player of the year posting a 2.90 ERA with 82 strikeouts through 68 innings in the shortened season. Carrasco provides much needed rotational help to the Mets as the 33 year old has posted a career 3.77 ERA with a respectable WHIP of 1.196. He is on a very team friendly deal as he is locked up till 2022 with a 2023 team option with a contract at 4 years $47 mil. He will join a rotation of generational pitcher Jacob DeGrom, Marcus Stroman, and eventually Noah Syndergaard who is expected to return in June/July after going through Tommy John surgery last season. Carrasco will likely fit in as the 3 or 4 starter in the rotation (pending any other moves by New York) and will be a vital part of the Mets success this year.
This deal is a big splash by the Steve Cohen regime and great move by Jared Porter and Sandy Alderson along with the rest of the Mets new front office. They went out and made a boom quickly in their first few months in tenure. Mets fans like myself are ECSTATIC. The front office promised to make moves to impact the team right away and they delivered. This trade makes the Mets out to be a serious team that is ready to contend this upcoming season. With a bolstering of the rotation and bullpen along with a massive upgrade to an already promising line up, also considering it may not seem that the Mets are done making moves. They are linked to other free agents and trade pieces that can make an already relatively scary team even more scaries. Watch out MLB, the Mets are on the rise and ready to win now and welcome to Queens Franky and Cookie.
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