Since hiring Jared Porter as general manager, the New York Mets had been quiet. Almost too quiet.
The week of Christmas passed and ... nothing.
The week of New Year's Day passed and ... nothing.
Then, they provided perhaps the largest boom of the offseason thus far: A blockbuster trade that has them looking like immediate contenders in 2021.
The Mets on Thursday announced they acquired shortstop Francisco Lindor and right-handed starter Carlos Carrasco from Cleveland for shortstops Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, as well as prospects Josh Wolf (a right-handed pitcher) and Isaiah Greene (an outfielder).
Lindor becomes a free agent after the 2021 season and Carrasco hits free agency after 2022.
The Mets solved two issues in one trade:
1. They now don't have to decide between Rosario and Gimenez as their shortstop of the future, and traded for a superstar to play the position
2. They added a good starting pitcher that will go a long way in addressing their rotation problems from a year ago.
More importantly, they showed they're committed to competing — not for a winning record, not for a postseason berth, but for a World Series trophy.
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You’ve heard it since November: These won’t be your father’s Mets. Under new owner Steve Cohen, they were supposed to be the big, bad big-market Mets, the team that would always be in on top free agents and always be searching for the best of the best.
How’s Wednesday’s news for proof?
Because of the slow market caused by the pandemic, Cohen and Co. hadn’t made a splash. They’d been more active than most other teams, but they hadn’t yet grabbed headlines like they did with their latest — and, to this point, best — move.
Since debuting in 2015, Lindor is a four-time All-Star who has won two Silver Slugger Awards, two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove (given to the top defensive player from each league). Over his career, he's slashed .285/.346/.488 with 138 home runs and 411 RBIs.
The 27-year-old is a superstar shortstop.
But let’s not forget Carrasco, the 33-year-old who has pitched to a 3.77 ERA over 195 career starts since 2009. In the shortened 2020 season, Carrasco — who in 2019 was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a blood disorder — finished with a 2.91 ERA over 12 starts.
Prior to this, the Mets, from Cohen to Sandy Alderson to Porter, had said they would be aggressive in trying to win. But those are words.
This is action.
The Mets are officially, as fans like to say, “going for it.” They’re committed to winning, and they’re backing it up with their moves.
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Last season, the Mets ran into a problem — perhaps a good one, but a problem nonetheless. The rookie, Gimenez, was outplaying Rosario, who was also still young and developing.
You could see that this would be a hot topic come 2021.
It never got there.
Both are headed to Cleveland, and the Mets replaced them with a star player. It couldn't have worked out better because it clears up the position.
The other important part: The Mets were able to find a trade suitor for Rosario, whose value had seemingly diminished since a strong second half of 2019. The fact they could include him in this trade means they used him to get a great return.
The Mets were able to do this because Cleveland did not have much leverage this offseason. Teams knew Cleveland wanted to trade Lindor because it didn't want to pay him a massive amount to retain him after next season.
Instead of losing Lindor in free agency, Cleveland chose to get something for him — which is smart, but also leads to a lesser return (we'll get to that in the next section).
Now, to the rotation.
Oh, the rotation.
Last season, it was Jacob deGrom and everyone else. The Mets didn't have Noah Syndergaard due to Tommy John surgery. They didn't have Marcus Stroman due to an opt out for COVID-19 reasons.
This showed. An unlucky string of injuries exposed the Mets' lack of starting pitching depth. In general, the unit lacked talent.
By adding Carrasco, the Mets filled one more spot with a talented, proven starter. They could not afford to go with a mediocre or cheap option for this. They needed to be more aggressive than just filling out the rotation with back-end guys and hoping for the best from Syndergaard when he could return.
They didn't resort to this.
Instead, they acquired Carrasco and ensured they one more talented starter. At some point in 2021, the Mets' rotation could begin with deGrom, Stroman, Syndergaard and Carrasco.
That's a contending rotation.
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— Did the Mets give up too much?
No. Not at all. Not by any stretch.
In fact, if you're a fan, you have to be ecstatic. Not only did the Mets get two proven big leaguers — one of them a superstar — but they didn't give up anyone at the top of their system.
Wolf, a second-round pick in 2019, was the team's No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Greene, drafted with the compensatory pick the Mets received after losing Zack Wheeler in free agency, was ranked 10th. They both had upside, but the Mets were smart here.
They don't have an elite farm system, so they must be careful in trades like these. They don't want to further decimate their organization.
It's a positive that they held onto every one of their top-tier prospects, names like catcher Francisco Alvarez and right-hander Matt Allan.
In 2020, Gimenez electrified the Mets. He made them exciting. With a great glove and a bat that became better than expected, he seemed as if he would overtake Rosario in the future, too.
He was fun to watch, but make no mistake: He is not the type of player that should give a team pause about trading for — ahem — Francisco Lindor.
Lindor is that good.
As for Rosario, it seemed the Mets faced a tough situation there. His value diminished as Gimenez improved. The Mets were discussing playing him at third a bit, which would've also increased his trade value.
But as previously stated, it's a positive that the Mets — who maybe were going to find a trade for Rosario regardless — included him in this one.
In the last section, we discussed how the Indians had no leverage. That, plus the fact that Lindor and Carrasco don't have much team control remaining, naturally decreased the price to acquire them.
The Mets did well here.
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— The trade is the first step. Next, the Mets must find a way to extend Lindor before he fits free agency after the upcoming season. Carrasco, because he has an extra year of team control and is older, might be a different story. The Mets could probably let that play out and see how it goes.
— It doesn't seem the Mets are done filling their rotation, but this trade means they can shoot for a back-end-type of starter if they want. They've done well in being aggressive to bolster the rotation to this point.
— Amid all the celebration surrounding this blockbuster trade, many pundits still believe the Mets are the favorites to land star center fielder George Springer, one of the top free agents on the market.
— This trade might make the Mets the most talented team in the National League East right now. Of course, the offseason is not yet finished.
