Francisco Lindor has been an MVP candidate in the National League during the 2024 season, and if not for Shohei Ohtani, the superstar shortstop would likely be the favorite to win the award.
Lindor has been the most important contributor on a New York Mets team that went on an impressive run to bring them from a team hovering around .500 to one that’s battling it out with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
The Mets clearly have no regrets of acquiring him from the Cleveland Guardians after the 2020 season and signing the switch-hitter to a 10-year, $341 million contract.
While things ultimately worked out for the Mets, there existed the possibility that never came to fruition.
The Dodgers were among the teams talking with the Guardians about a trade for Lindor as well, and at various points, there appeared to be some momentum building, Andrew Friedman said via Andy McCullough of The Athletic:
We engaged quite a bit,” Friedman said. “Had some traction here and there. I wouldn’t say it was anything that was close. But he was definitely on our target list of guys.”
At the time of the discussions, the Dodgers already had Corey Seager in the fold, so some other parts would have needed to move to make it work. Still, they were considered the favorites at the time to acquire him.
But that became irrelevant when the Dodgers went on to acquire Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2020 season. Lindor ended up going to the Mets one year later.
Lindor started out his Mets career slowly, but turned it around the next season, getting back to superstar level and continuing that for an addition two years up to this point.
Trading a player like that, or missing out on a player like that, usually creates problems for a team, but not in this scenario. All three of the Dodgers, Mets and Guardians are playing in the 2024 LCS with a chance to play in the World Series.
Francisco Lindor ended Dodgers record
The Dodgers entered Game 2 of the NLCS needing just one scoreless inning to set the MLB record for consecutive innings putting up a zero in the postseason, which would have been 34.
Instead, Lindor homered as the first batter of the game to give the Mets a 1-0 lead and end the Dodgers’ postseason streak at 33 consecutive scoreless innings, leaving them tied with the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for the MLB record.
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