Revisiting the blockbuster Mets-Guardians Lindor-Gimenez trade - ESPN

FOR SIX YEARS, Francisco Lindor was the smiling face of the Cleveland Guardians, helping the team reach the World Series in 2016, making four All-Star teams, hitting 30-plus home runs three times, winning two Gold Glove awards and finishing in the top 10 of MVP voting three times. Even now, in the third season since the Guardians traded Lindor to the New York Mets, Cleveland's Chris Antonetti reiterates how difficult it was to trade away their superstar shortstop.

«Our clear preference all along was to have Francisco play a really long time in Cleveland and we made substantial efforts to make it happen, but in the end that wasn't going to be our reality,» the Guardians' president of baseball operations said recently from the dugout at Fenway Park as his team took batting practice.

The Mets' side of the trade has been well publicized: They acquired Lindor and pitcher Carlos Carrasco before the 2021 season for young infielders Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez and two prospects, then signed Lindor to a 10-year, $341 million contract extension right before Opening Day.

Lindor's first season with the Mets was mostly a disaster as he hit under .200 the first two months. Then, while the Mets were collapsing out of the playoff race in August, Lindor and teammate Javier Baez, upset with booing Mets fans, delivered their infamous «thumbs down» to the home crowd.

Last season went much better. The Mets won 101 games as Lindor hit .270 with 26 home runs and 107 RBIs, good for 5.5 bWAR, and finished ninth in the MVP voting (Carrasco chipped in with 15 wins, after winning just one game in 2021). The performance was right in line with what Lindor did from 2016 to 2019, when he averaged 5.7 WAR per season, and he won back Mets fans in the