Mets prepare to open season without new deal for Francisco Lindor

NOTE: Francisco Lindor’s first and potentially only season with the Mets begins Thursday.

With just hours to go until his Opening Day deadline to hammer out a long-term contract extension, Lindor and the Mets had not agreed to a deal as of Wednesday evening. A source familiar with the process said earlier in the day that the sides had had "no talks" and there were "none expected."

And so the Mets are poised to officially begin their Steve Cohen era — thus far highlighted by the trade for Lindor — at 7:09 p.m. Thursday in Washington against the Nationals knowing that Lindor might leave via free agency after the season.

In recent days, the Mets made their shortstop an offer that would have made him one of the highest-paid players in MLB history: 10 years and $325 million. That is more than double the largest contract in franchise history, David Wright’s $138 million (over eight years).

Lindor said no, then countered: 12 years and $385 million. Those figures would be the second-largest deal in the history of the sport behind Mike Trout’s $426.5 million.

That left the sides in a stalemate this week as the first pitch of 2021 drew near, potentially awkward circumstances obscuring the hype and excitement that have enveloped the Mets after Cohen’s purchase of the team five months ago.

Since joining the Mets in January, Lindor has been clear that he did not want extension talks to continue into the regular season. Technically, a team can negotiate a contract with a player during the season. Lindor just doesn’t want to.

"I will not be negotiating during the season. I will go to free agency," Lindor said on March 16, when he most recently spoke to reporters. "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 is expected to participate in a video news conference, with or without a new contract, in the next couple of days.

His contract status, however, does not change the great expectations for the 2021 Mets. Coming off their third losing season in four years — and their fourth in a row missing the playoffs — the Mets added Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, James McCann, Trevor May, Aaron Loup, Jonathan Villar and others in an attempt to turn it around.

Those additions contributed to the Mets’ franchise-record payroll of a little over $200 million.

In the eyes of the Mets, all the Cohen-related hype makes them a target.

"We need to play like we're getting everybody's best effort," Pete Alonso said this week. "It's nice [to be hyped] but it doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot because we need to go out there and do it."

Brandon Nimmo added: "We know we have a target on our back. I’m sure Atlanta is pretty pissed off that everybody is talking about us after the good years that they’ve had."

The journey begins at Nationals Park in a matchup of generational pitching titans: Jacob deGrom versus Max Scherzer, who have a combined for five Cy Young Awards.

The Nationals already ran into an issue Wednesday when a player tested positive for COVID-19. A reported five players total — the person who tested positive, plus those deemed close contacts — have to quarantine. General manager Mike Rizzo said the team will need to make roster moves ahead of the opener.

The Mets like their chances — Thursday and all the days after that. It’ll help, too, when they get back three key players during the first half, if they recover from injuries as expected: Carrasco (May), Seth Lugo (May) and Noah Syndergaard (June).

"We feel like a complete team," manager Luis Rojas said. "We feel ready."