00:04Francisco Lindor has been at the center of just about everything that the Mets have done since
00:08arriving in Queens. Expectations, the playoff runs, the disappointments, and now questions about
00:13what comes next. But despite a difficult season and plenty of speculation about his future,
00:19Lindor made his position clear in a recent conversation with the New York Post. His plan
00:23is to remain a Met for the length of his contract. So what does that tell us about how Lindor
00:29views
00:29the direction of this organization, his trust in Steve Cohen and David Stearns, and just how much
00:34patience he has as the Mets try to build their next contender. Joining me now is the man who had
00:40that conversation with Lindor. He is the New York Post Mets beat writer, the one and only Mike Puma.
00:44Joins me now. Mike, how you doing, sir? I'm great, Dexter. I'll be better when this road trip's over,
00:51but I'm well. Thank you. No, glad to hear you're well. It has been a long road trip. We need
00:57to
00:57get you back home here in New York, and that'll happen soon. But you have a great conversation
01:02with Francesco Lindor. You've covered him for years now. But here's my question. When I read
01:07your piece, when he told you that, quote, the plan is to be here for my contract, what struck you
01:13the
01:13most there with those words? Was it the words themselves or the way he said it? Did it feel
01:18different from a standard answer that a player gives about his future? What struck you the most
01:22about him saying that? No, I think it's what struck me was just that he still loves being
01:29in New York, Matt. He loves playing in New York and that, you know, he kind of views this as
01:35a
01:37commitment that, you know, hey, I think the way he put it was when you sign up, you sign up
01:43for the
01:43good and the bad. And right now, obviously, is the latter, the bad, the way the team, where the team
01:50is right now. But no, I, you know, I think it just struck me that he still, he still, he
01:58still
01:58loves being in New York, Matt. And look, fans should be excited to hear that. And I think what
02:03jumped out to me, Mike, was that after everything that's gone wrong this season, right? Lindor's
02:08confidence in Steve Cohen and David Stearns doesn't appear to have wavered. So from your conversation
02:13with him, what is he seeing in the direction of this organization that maybe frustrated Mets fans
02:18aren't seeing right now? Yeah. And he's a big believer in David Stearns. And, you know, we
02:24know Steve Cohen, at least for right now, is still in David Stearns corner. You know, if
02:32not, Stearns would have been gone when they changed the manager. But, you know, Lindor talks
02:39about the future, about how excited he is about what they did, the team did at the trade deadline,
02:46as far as restocking the minor league system with some of these prospects they picked
02:53up. And, you know, there was 11 of them just in the, that came in just within the days of
03:00the trade deadline there. So he looks at that. He looks at the core, which, you know, consists
03:06of himself, Juan Soto. Now, we don't know what Bo Bichette's going to do after the season.
03:11He could opt out if he wants. But, you know, Lindor mentioned Bichette. He mentioned, you
03:21know, the rookies, Benj and Ewing and Nolan McClain. So he sees a foundation there. You
03:28know, you have three real good rookies. You have Lindor, you have Soto, you potentially
03:35have Bo Bichette. So he sees that foundation there. And then he looks at what they did
03:42at the trade deadline as far as refurbishing the farm system. And that leaves him to think
03:51that the organization's in a decent spot.
03:54Yeah, he really feels like the organization's in a decent spot here. Because one of the other
03:59things that stood out to me, Mike, was he said, a losing season can look like you're taking
04:03a step back, but that there are things, quote, happening around it or behind it that are
04:09actually moving the Mets forward. So when he said that, did it sound to you like optimism
04:15or like, you know, you might just hear from players. We've seen this all the time. Players
04:19in the clubhouse locker room, they just have optimism. Or is this a player that really has
04:23bought into what David Stearns is building here, even though fans may not see it that way?
04:29Yeah, and you know, we see it in sports. Last year, you look at what happened with the Braves,
04:35where they just kind of, you know, they had some injuries and they fell off. And, you know,
04:41here they are a year later in first place. They're going to, you know, they're in good shape to go
04:45back to the postseason here. So you see it with teams, especially, you know, teams that have
04:51established players where, you know, they have that one year where things don't work out. Now,
04:57I'm not saying that's necessarily going to be the case with the Mets, but, you know,
05:01you do see a pathway to it, that there are pieces here in place. But at the same time,
05:09you know, a lot of things have not worked out here. So, but no, I think Lindor's point is,
05:16hey, you know, there are pieces here and there is, you know, reason to not look at this as a
05:24giant step backward. And you brought up that Lindor also talked about the players acquired
05:30at Deadline Prospects. And I thought it was fascinating that he specifically brought up
05:34Jefferson Rojas, now the number one prospect in the Mets organization, Billy Amick as well,
05:38too. What did that tell you about how closely he's following the Mets young talent and maybe
05:43how personally invested that he is in being part of whatever this next version of the Mets
05:48becomes? Yeah. And he, you know, he went, he went down the line, named five or six guys that he,
05:54he really likes in the system. And he, he brought up the point that, Hey, even though maybe there's
06:02not guys knocking on the door right at this moment at triple a, the way a lot of people would
06:10like that
06:11we see it where, where guys make giant leaps, you know, AJ Ewing case in point, 21 years old. And
06:18listen, at this point last year, nobody was talking about AJ Ewing potentially being a significant part
06:26of the, the 2026 mix. And, you know, here he is playing every day in the outfield and, and, and
06:33putting up solid numbers for the team. So yeah, guys make leaps, you know, Jefferson Rojas is at
06:39double a right now. Who's to say that, uh, you know, two months into next season, he's, he's not
06:45playing every day for the Mets. So, um, I think Lindor's point was, um, you know, he, he, he thinks
06:54there's some, uh, he likes the talent level. He, he likes the guys they brought back in these trades
07:00and that, but to your point, I think he, it is a good sign that he knows who some of
07:06these guys are.
07:07And he, he, he understands, uh, kind of what they have here.
07:11Yeah, that really stood out to me. It really did, Mike. Cause it told me, it was like, okay,
07:14he's really connected in what's coming through the farm system. And I felt like that point should
07:18at least be encouraging to fans. And to his point, things can change very quickly. Right. But there's
07:24also a clock ticking here with Lindor because after this season, Lindor is going to be halfway
07:29through his 10 year contract, still chasing that first championship with the Mets. Did you get any
07:33sense from him, Mike, that the urgency is different now that he doesn't just want the Mets to
07:38eventually get this right, but needs to see them get it right soon, sooner rather than later,
07:43like talking about 2027. Did you get a sense of maybe with him? Maybe a little bit, you know,
07:49he'd be brought up the fact that, you know, he's, he's 32 years old now and, uh, he's halfway through
07:56the contract at the end of the season. You know, you guys sign a 10 year contract and it seems
08:03like
08:04an eternity when it happens. And then here we are, what seems like a snap of the fingers and,
08:10oh, it's only a five year contract now. So, you know, I think Lindor can see that, uh, window closing
08:17a little bit here. And, uh, you know, he talks about the, he, he wants to win. He wants, he,
08:23he,
08:24he considers it part of the duty of the contract is to, to, to win here. And, uh, the Mets
08:30have not
08:31done enough of it. They have not for sure. Last thing for me here, Mike, after talking with him,
08:36do you believe Francisco Lindor will actually play the final five years of his contract as a Met? And
08:42what would have to happen for that plan to ever change where he isn't a Met through the duration
08:48of his contract? Well, he certainly has the control as, as you know, with the no trade protection
08:56within his contract. And plus the fact that he's a 10 and five player, meaning, you know,
09:0010 years in the major leagues, five with the, with the same team. So he can veto anything,
09:04but, you know, as we've seen in the past, uh, we saw it last, last off season with Brandon Nimmo,
09:09who had the no trade that, uh, uh, sometimes you can be convinced that, Hey, maybe you're not part
09:16of the plan here. So I don't know. It's, it's hard to say I would right now, if I were
09:22wagering on it,
09:23I would probably wager on him finishing his, uh, career with the Mets just because, you know,
09:27there's a lot of money left on that deal. And, uh, it, it's, it's, it's hard to orchestrate those
09:34kind of trades with it, with that kind of money left. Um, but at the same time, uh, you know,
09:41we we've seen it before. So, um, but I, right now I would, if I were a gambling man, I
09:47would wager
09:48on Francisco Lindor being a Met for his entire career. All right. There you go. I think that's
09:53fans who are fans of Francisco Lindor. They will be happy to hear that. And if you are a fan
09:58of
09:58Francisco Lindor, you should definitely check out Mike Puma's fantastic piece on Lindor. Great
10:03conversation you have with him up right now on nypost.com. Mike, always a pleasure having
10:07you here on straight out of fleshing. We will talk soon, my friend. Thank you.
