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On the eve of his first game as a Mets shortstop, Francisco Lindor set a franchise record on Wednesday night as he became the highest-paid player in team history.
Lindor and the Mets have agreed to a 10-year, $ 341 million contract extension that will begin in 2022, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The person was granted anonymity because the team had not officially made the announcement.
Lindor, 27, joined the Cleveland Mets in a six-man trade on Jan. 7. His new deal, coupled with his $ 22.3 million salary for 2021, means new Mets owner Steven A. Cohen has pledged $ 363.3 million. to Lindor, breaking the previous record for a Mets player: an eight-year, $ 138 million contract with former third baseman David Wright.
An elegant hitter with a charisma that seems made for New York, Lindor is a career .285 hitter who hit 32 home runs in 2019. He averages about 20 interceptions per season and made four All-Star teams, won two. gold gloves and helped Cleveland reach the playoffs four times.
Only two players have richer contracts than Lindor: Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels (12, $ 426.5 million) and Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers (12, $ 365 million). Like Lindor, Betts signed just before Opening Day last year after joining his new team in a trade.
The Mets can only hope their union with Lindor will work as well as the Dodgers’ union with Betts, who had played for the Boston Red Sox. In Betts’ first season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers won their first World Series title since 1988. The Mets have an even longer drought; their last championship dates back to 1986.
For Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire who is said to be the richest owner of baseball, the deal ends a busy first offseason. Former minority owner of the Mets – the team he has loved since childhood – Cohen spent a record $ 2.475 billion to buy the franchise from the Wilpon family, promising to spend much more aggressively, but also wisely.
To that end, he installed a seasoned hand as team president: Sandy Alderson, general manager of the Mets’ last pennant winner, in 2015. Cohen put money behind the calculated and rational approach. Alderson; Despite their newfound wealth, the Mets haven’t simply outbid the field for every attractive free agent.
They’ve bolstered the roster throughout, signing wide receiver James McCann, reliever Trevor May, starter Taijuan Walker and others. But the exchange for Lindor and starter Carlos Carrasco was the real coup, and the conclusion of a long-term deal, just before the self-imposed opening day deadline Lindor gave himself, gives Les Mets will be a cornerstone until 2031.
McCann and Walker seemed particularly excited about the deal on Twitter on Wednesday night, with McCann writing that he couldn’t sleep, citing the extension and the opening day. Walker was succinct:
Seeker Tomas Nido tweeted a picture to mark the occasion: The Joker standing at the foot of a mountain of dollar bills. He tagged Lindor in the post.
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