David Lennon: It's a different vibe right now for Mets' Francisco Lindor
Francisco Lindor speaks to the media at Mets spring training on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mr. Smile didn’t flash his usual high-wattage grin during Sunday’s news conference at Clover Park. The vibe was less bubbly. The energy a bit more subdued.
It was totally understandable.
The reason Francisco Lindor had the volume turned down upon Sunday’s arrival at spring training — already his sixth with the Mets — probably was due to the fact that his left hand was heavily bandaged, the fallout from last Wednesday’s surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone. The procedure was the latest in a series of depressing offseason events for Lindor, who previously had been denied insurance to play for his beloved Puerto Rico in next month’s World Baseball Classic — despite the attempts by Bad Bunny, the nation’s pop megastar, to foot the bill.
Of course, the shocking hamate diagnosis rendered the whole WBC insurance shutdown a moot point anyway. But it still seemed to gnaw at Lindor nonetheless, as the insurance problem apparently stemmed from the October surgery to clean up his right throwing elbow — two years after having bone spurs removed from the same joint.
“There was definitely conversations, for sure,” Lindor said of Bad Bunny’s involvement. “It’s a real thing. We appreciate how much he cares for Puerto Rico. He wanted Team Puerto Rico to be as strong it can be. But it didn’t work out.”
Compounding that disappointment was the discovery only weeks later that the hamate bone now had to be fixed, with a six-week rehab that can’t help but put Opening Day on March 26 in jeopardy. Lindor acknowledged Sunday that the wrist area had been a source of irritation for years — hardly unusual for an 11-year MLB veteran — though it was manageable until a pre-camp workout in Port St. Lucie earlier this month (he couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause).
A pair of imaging tests later, a week apart, indicated that it was time for Lindor to opt for a surgical solution. Still, he shares the Mets’ view that he’ll be playing shortstop in the Opening Day lineup against the Pirates at Citi Field.
Injured Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor at spring training on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
“I’m very optimistic,” Lindor said. “The goal is to be there.”
Lindor was very much a presence Sunday at the Clover Park facility, bouncing from the clubhouse to the batting cages, dressed in his uniform pants and royal blue T-shirt. He’s now the longest-tenured position player on the Mets, thanks to David Stearns’ winter purging of the previously existing core. But Lindor’s inability to participate fully for the next few weeks is not ideal for a team currently in need of cohesiveness.
With Stearns flipping over the entire infield, Lindor won’t benefit from early reps with his new double-play partner Marcus Semien or get the feel for Bo Bichette’s range beside him at third. He’ll also be throwing to Jorge Polanco, who has one pitch’s worth of real-game experience at first base.
Ultimately, none of that should be a problem. It’s just going to come together a bit later than it typically does. The larger issue is going to involve the makeup of the 2026 Mets, and can Lindor be the de facto captain, and perennial MVP candidate, he’s anticipated to be.
For as much as Stearns was able to shape the Mets more to his own vision for Year Three of his tenure as president of baseball ops, Lindor came with the Citi Field furniture when he took the job. It was owner Steve Cohen who signed off on the 10-year, $341 million deal for the newly acquired Lindor at the start of the 2021 season, leaving Stearns to build around him.
That got more complicated when Cohen had to have Juan Soto, giving him a record 15-year, $765 million payday to keep him away from the Yankees. Nobody anticipated that being a problem, until questions surfaced this past offseason about chemistry issues in the clubhouse, notably the different personalities of the Mets’ two biggest stars in Lindor and Soto.
Both downplayed any friction or lingering clubhouse malaise during their separate media sessions Sunday with reporters. But Stearns clearly was hellbent on a Flushing fumigation this winter, and now we’ll see how Lindor and Soto function together, especially with the spotlight turned up on their relationship.
Lindor is confident that winning will change the conversation, and history suggests it usually does. He also didn’t sound totally surprised that Stearns took a sledgehammer to the core after the Mets skidded to 83 wins last season, and a $340 million roster was home watching the playoffs on TV.
“When the year didn’t end the way we all wanted it to, it’s a business, and you have the feeling that every year is not going to look the same,” Lindor said. “Stearns is one of the best. His group, they’re great. So it was interesting to see how they went about it all offseason . . . They did a really good job. I’m fully onboard with how they did it.
“When the whole front office makes a decision, it’s for the best of the organization. And I feel like this team is better than last year’s.”
That’s entirely possible. But they’ll also spend this spring training without a fully functional Lindor and there’s the real possibility it could take longer than Opening Day for him to truly play like a five-time All-Star again. Stearns didn’t factor that into his offseason blueprint, and Lindor certainly didn’t anticipate being a spectator for Monday’s first full-squad workout.
After a gloomy winter, Lindor’s smile will be back eventually. But with the Mets navigating this transition phase, it can’t come soon enough.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
