Francisco Lindor gives the Mets an ultimatum

The New York Mets kicked off the Steve Cohen era by making a huge move, landing both Carlos Carrasco and Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians. Now, they’re one of the most stacked teams in Major League Baseball.

Then again, not everything is great at Queens right now, as it seems like the team and Lindor are far from reaching an agreement on a contract extension and they could risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season.

To make things even worse, the Puerto Rican star recently admitted that the negotiations are ongoing but that he’s looking forward to getting a deal done by Opening Day. Otherwise, he’ll just test free agency.

Francisco Lindor Puts Pressure On The New York Mets

“We’re just talking. We’ll see how everything goes. My agent [David Meter] is in charge of that. That’s between the front office and agent. If I say no, we haven’t started, I’d be lying,” Lindor told the press, as quoted by Newsday.

“I will not be negotiating during the season. I will go to free agency. If something carries on during the season, it’s not fair for me, it’s not fair for the team. I gotta give everything I got into winning baseball games. So if it doesn’t happen in spring training, I will go to free agency. We’ll talk in November, December, whenever free agency starts,” Lindor added.

Lindor Says He’s Open To Playing Somewhere Else

The shortstop looked unfazed by the media and its questions and assured that he couldn’t give any kinds of details regarding the contract negotiations. Moreover, he showed a willingness to play somwhere else as long as his family is happy and safe:

“I’m going to play the game wherever I am. Like I said, I’m not going to get into too much details. This is a little bit more personal. I know I kind of owe it to the people, but I’m sorry to all those that are expecting me to go out there and tell them everything. That’s just not how I am. (…)I want my family to be happy. I want my family to be in a safe place. I knew they could be safe in Cleveland and I know they could be safe in New York. So we’ll see what happens,” he concluded.

Opening day is just around the corner and the clock is ticking on Steve Cohen and the Mets, and this is exactly the kind of situation that you don’t want to get carried into throughout the whole season.