Mets owner Steve Cohen, Francisco Lindor do dinner, but is a big contract extension on the menu?

JUPITER, Fla. — Mets owner Steve Cohen and shortstop Francisco Lindor had dinner together Saturday night, sources said, a potentially critical meeting in the final days of their contract extension talks.

Lindor, who is scheduled to be a free agent after the season, has said since January that he is open to a long-term commitment to the Mets but does not want the negotiations to continue during the regular season. The Mets finish spring training on Monday and will open their season Thursday against the Nationals in Washington.

That leaves them with about three days to get a deal done, or else wait until the offseason.

If Lindor and the Mets do come to an agreement, it is expected to be for at least $300 million, a magic number of sorts after fellow top shortstops Manny Machado ($300 million over 10 years, moved to third base) and Fernando Tatis Jr. ($340 million over 14 years) hit that mark with the Padres.

The dinner and other goings-on made for a productive couple of days in Port St. Lucie for Cohen, who visited Mets camp again for the weekend, his routine during spring training.

"The ravioli wasn’t very good," he cracked on Twitter after news of his meal with Lindor broke.

Cohen watched the Mets’ game Saturday with Hall of Famer Mike Piazza in a suite at Clover Park. On Sunday morning, as much of the team headed to Jupiter for a 10-2 exhibition loss to the Marlins, Cohen stayed back at the team’s facility. He sat behind home plate with team president Sandy Alderson, watching Marcus Stroman, Trevor May, Aaron Loup and others throw live batting practice to a group of hitters that included Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.

Lindor, meanwhile, seems to have been able to maintain his focus despite the negotiations in recent weeks.

"He’s been very professional about it," manager Luis Rojas said. "We’ve heard nothing other than baseball in the clubhouse."

Rojas continues to be impressed by Lindor the baseball player, too.

"This guy is a competitor," he said. "He’s such a good player, but the special thing is that he makes everybody better, too. When he’s at the ballpark, he’s working on that. Whether it’s a conversation, whether it’s an idea he’s bringing to the coaching staff, whether he’s on the field while we’re doing drills and he keeps everyone on our toes.

"You guys see him out there during games and he’s yelling all the time. It’s paying attention to everybody, making sure everybody is synced in to the game and everybody is on their toes."

Cohen, as he is wont to do, had some online fun regarding the negotiations Friday night — about 24 hours before his meeting with Lindor — when he tweeted: "What do think Lindor will accept? I’m going to crowdsource the answer."

One person replied: Should that inquiry be taken as a sign that a deal is imminent?

"In this case no," Cohen wrote back.

Another suggested six years and $180 million. (Lindor might be able to get double that on the open market.) "I got a better shot at growing back hair on my head," said Cohen, who is bald.

If you’re wondering what Lindor is thinking about all this, welcome. The Mets have kept him away from their video news conferences since March 16, when he said the talks had started but were "nothing serious."

The Mets plan for Lindor to speak to reporters on Tuesday when the team works out at Nationals Park.

"I would love to give you a lot of details, but that’s not the person I am," Lindor, smiling, said close to two weeks ago. "So you’re going to get the good ol’ media answer, which is, we’re just talking. That’s it."