On to more pleasant things.
Earlier today, the New York Mets acquired shortstop Francisco Lindor and pitcher Carlos Carrasco from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for infielders Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez along with pitcher Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene.
Lindor, 27, is the centerpiece of this deal. The switch hitting Puerto Rican native finished runner up in the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year balloting to fellow Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros. Lindor was named to four consecutive AL All-Star Teams between 2016 and 2019 and twice won a Gold Glove for his defense.
While Lindor batted a career low .258 in 2020 he did appear in all 60 games in the COVID shortened MLB season. He is also entering the prime years of his career. Thrice he has homered more than 30 times in a season and has had two years of 20 or more stolen bases. Lindor is eligible for free agency at the end of the 2021 season, but Mets new owner Steve Cohen is expected to sign him to a long term deal. He enters the 2021 season with 896 career hits for a lifetime batting average of .285 with 138 HR and 411 RBI.
Accompanying Lindor to Queens is Carrasco who has spent his entire big league career with the Tribe. The Venezuelan born hurler originally signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004, but was traded to Cleveland during the 2009 season in the deal which sent Cy Young winner Cliff Lee to the NL champions. Carrasco, now 33, debuted with the Indians that September.
He would miss the entire 2012 season to Tommy John surgery. Between 2015 and 2018, Carrasco was a mainstay in the Indians' rotation winning in double digits in each of those four seasons. His best season came in 2017 when he led the AL in wins with 18 finishing fourth in AL Cy Young balloting.
Carrasco would be diagnosed with leukemia during the 2019 and would earn his first win since surviving cancer early in the 2020 season. In a dozen starts in 2020, Carrasco went 3-4 with a respectable 2.91 ERA. He enters 2021 with a career record of 88-73 and a 3.77 ERA striking out 1305 batters in 1242.1 innings pitched.
Carrasco should fit in comfortably in an already strong Mets rotation with two time NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Steve Matz along with the return of Noah Syndergaard from Tommy John surgery.
With Carrasco in the rotation and Lindor in the lineup with Pete Alonso, Mets fans have a lot to be optimistic about in 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment