The 3 most likely destinations for Francisco Lindor

The Cleveland Indians failed to move Francisco Lindor during the shortened MLB regular-season, partly because of the shortened schedule gave them a bigger window of opportunity to contend, partly because he struggled offensively.

But it’s not a secret that Lindor is the most likely trade candidate this offseason, considering he’s poised to hit free agency in 2021 and it doesn’t seem like the Indians are willing to meet his demands, let alone be able to surround him by elite talents to compete for a World Series.

Thus Lindor is going to be in the headlines and trade rumors a soon as the season is over, with plenty of teams interested in his great defense and solid offense, but where could he actually thrive the most? Moreover, who’d be really willing to part ways with enough assets to get him and then pay him what he wants? Let’s break it down.

3. New York Yankees

Well, this one’s a no-brainer. The New York Yankees have always pursuit top-tier players on every single position and even though they definitely don’t need the Puerto Rican, we’ve seen them do these kinds of things over and over.

DJ LeMahieu is coming off a career year at the Bronx and he’s going to demand a lot of well-deserved money. The Yankees would be dum not to meet the league’s batting champion’s demands but hey, anything can happen.

Lindor would become yet another marquee name to ever wear Pinstripes and that could allow Gleyber Torres to move to the second base where he could have an easier time in terms of defense.

2. Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia PhillIes are for real. Sort of. I mean, they want to be for real and have already proved that they won’t hesitate to spend big bucks or part ways with assetsto become a competitive team.

Didi Gregorius is soon to hit free agency and the Phillies could definitely use some help in their rotation and bullpen more than the offense but filling in that void with Lindor would certaInly appease their fans.

If they’re able to keep J.T Realmuto plus Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Lindor and manage to get at least one consistent starter, the Phillies could finally turn the page and go back to contention.

1. New York Mets

Expect the New York Mets to headline the list for, well, pretty much every single big name in Major League Baseball for the next couple of years, as Steve Cohen – or Jennifer López if the owners don’t approve Cohen – have vowed to take the team back to a World Series.

Whoever is in charge of the Mets next season is going to be quite aggressive in their pursuit for top-tier players and adding Francisco Lindor right away would definitely make a statement in Queens.

They have enough prospects to pull that deal off and could still make a run at Trevor Bauer, Taljuan Walker, or even try to keep Marcus Stroman to reinforce an already scary pitching rotation.