Francisco Lindor Trade Rumors Shot Down: Mets Shortstop ‘Not Going Anywhere’ at Deadline
Mets fans hoping the front office would blow the whole thing up at the deadline can put that dream on ice. Francisco Lindor is staying.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Wednesday that Lindor is “not going anywhere” ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Heyman notes what most of us already knew: Lindor has a full no-trade clause in his contract and has shown no signs of being willing to waive it.
This comes right in the middle of speculation that got louder over the weekend when veteran New York radio host Mike Francesa claimed the Mets would try “very, very hard” to move Lindor. That report is the kind of thing that catches fire on a slow news day, but the underlying reality never really matched the hype.
Consider what would need to happen for a Lindor trade to work. The Mets would have to agree that they want to move him. Lindor would have to agree to waive his no-trade clause. A team would have to be willing to take on the $32.5 million per year owed through 2031. And Lindor would have to want to go to that specific team. Anyone who thinks all four of those dominoes fall in three weeks has not been paying attention to modern MLB trade deadlines.
The Mets themselves are a disaster. They sit at 39-54 at the bottom of the NL East and are staring down a rebuild that few of their fans have accepted yet. They already fired manager Carlos Mendoza after two and a half seasons. Owner Steve Cohen has publicly committed to not tearing things down, but the actions on the field say the team he built is broken.
Lindor is not helping the case for keeping him around, at least on paper. The 32-year-old shortstop is hitting .210 with four home runs and 10 RBIs across 35 games in 2026. He also missed more than two months with a calf strain suffered in April. It has been a lost season by his standards.
There are also whispers of tension in the clubhouse. Juan Soto had comments earlier this year about his relationship with Lindor that made headlines and that Soto has since had to walk back. Whether that is a real problem or a media invention is anyone’s guess. The kind of thing that would show up if the season keeps going sideways.
The trade rumors miss the point. This is a five-time All-Star who has been an MVP finalist multiple times. Cohen paid him this money on purpose. The Mets need Lindor to bounce back, not to be sold for pennies on the dollar during a down year.
The deadline still could be interesting for New York. Sean Manaea, Reed Garrett, and even Alonso (before his extension) could all get their names floated as sellable pieces if the Mets decide to shift into a partial retool. But Lindor is not going to be one of them.
He is going to be in Queens through at least 2031. That is either great news or a nightmare depending on whether he ever hits like Francisco Lindor again.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
