January 8th, 2021 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When the news broke late Thursday morning that the Cleveland Indians had traded future Hall of Fame shortstop Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets (along with 33-year-old right-hander Carlos Carrasco), it immediately brought back memories of the Mookie Betts (and David Price) trade by the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers almost one year ago to the day.
Yes, Lindor is that good.
Like Betts, Lindor is a multi-time All-Star (Betts five/Lindor four), a multi-time Gold Glove winner (five/two), a multi-time Silver Slugger (four/two), and Betts a ‘Wilson Overall Defensive Player of the Year’ and Lindor a Platinum Glove winner.
With the stroke of a pen, the Mets went from being a (relatively) bad team, having finished fourth in the NL East in 2020 at 26-34, to immediately becoming a serious division contender in 2021.
Yes, Lindor is that good.
(Photo credit – Scott Kane)
Although the Caguas, Puerto Rico native, who celebrated his 27th birthday on November 14, posted a .mediocre 258/.335/.415/.750 slash line during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he boasts an impressive six-year career slash line of .285/.346/.488/.833, with 138 career home runs and 411 career RBI.
So what does any of this have to do with the Dodgers and, even more importantly, with fellow shortstop Corey Seager, you ask?
In a word, (two actually), a lot.
In addition to its ‘blockbuster’ status, the Lindor trade immediately increased the value of an already small pool of top-tier shortstops, of which Seager most certainly is. As such, Seager’s value as one of the top shortstops in the game today increased exponentially with Lindor now off the table. And even though the 26-year-old Charlotte, NC native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2012 out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC is still under team control through the 2021 season; you can bet that he and his agent (Scott Boras) will be looking to land a very lucrative contract extension from Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman before the 2021 season.
Although Friedman could wait until after the 2021 season to negotiate a free agent contract extension with Seager (and Boras), waiting until then to do so would not bode well for the Dodgers. In the simplest of terms, Seager – who slashed .307/.358/.585/.943 during the 2020 regular season and .328/.425/.746/1.171 in the postseason to win MVP honors in both the NLCS and World Series – will never come any cheaper to the Dodgers than right this second.
(Photo credit – Campbell Dunn)
Whereas the term ‘no-brainer’ gets thrown around ad nauseam, signing Seager to a multi-year contract extension – right now – is absolutely a ‘no-brainer.’
Pull the trigger on this one, Andrew.
Play Ball!
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Reports that Mets plan to discuss an extension with Lindor and his representatives in the next couple of weeks. Seager and Boras will want to wait to see what, if any deal the Mets and Lindor agree to before finalizing any deal with the Dodgers. I think Boras will make the case that Seager deserves the same deal as Lindor. While Lindor is the better defender at SS, with much better running speed, Seager’s career wRC+ is 130 to Lindor’s 118. Lindor is projected to have a 115 wRC+ in 2021; Seager 134.
I think you are spot on.
Maybe if Lindor signs quickly the Dodgers have a solid target for dollars and yrs. I’m thinking Lindor gets 8 years 240. Seager will than get 8 yrs 241.
I think you are in the right ball park for Seager for money and years. Boras will probably want to get an opt out (or two) in an eight year deal; one after three years, and another after five.
If the DODGERS can only sign two players out of Seager, Buhler,Belliniger, or Kershaw. I’d say Seager and Butler, are my picks.
I believe the Dodgers can sign all four, with Kershaw taking a significant cut in AAV to remain with team for his career. Bellinger must convince the Dodgers that he can utilize his enormous talent rather than being a home run or bust hitter before he gets a big $/year extension.