Well, Francisco Lindor is Going to Look Really Good in Pinstripes One Day...

So obviously the big news of the day is that Mike Trout is signing the largest deal in professional sports history…

12 years, $430 million? Sheeeeeesh. That definitely has Mr. Trout smiling. But the number of this deal undoubtedly has other MLB stars grinning from ear to ear, too. And that list of players includes Mr. Smile himself, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor.

I’ve seen Hubbs calling for the Yankees to sign Aaron Judge for hundreds of millions of dollars right now, and I know Carrabis wants the Red Sox to ink Mookie Betts to a similar deal asap. Well I’ll join the crew: Indians, PAY THIS MAN WHATEVER HE WANTS. The only problem is, we may not have enough cash to keep him. I’d argue that Francisco Lindor and his million dollar 400 million dollar smile is right up there in talent with the best in the league. In fact, Sports Illustrated just named Lindor the 4th best player in Major League Baseball right now, only behind Trout, Betts, and Max Scherzer.

Lindor has been on three straight All-Star teams, has finished in the top 10 of AL MVP voting in all three of his full seasons, has won back-to-back Silver Sluggers, oh, and he has fun while playing the game. His talent is around the tops in the league….but it’s his marketability that’s going to get him PAID one day. The only question is, who’s going to pay the man?

I’d like to say the Tribe will, but he has already shot down their talks of a $100 million dollar deal. $100 million? Oh boy, that’s not going to cut it after these Machado, Harper, and Trout deals. We simply don’t have the means necessary to be a big-time player in these types of sweepstakes. Lindor becomes a free agent in 2021, and he’s going to deservedly demand ungodly amounts of money. And I’m sure the Indians will say they simply can’t afford it, even though I’m not sure why not…

I wish I had some hope that Lindor has perhaps fallen in love with Cleveland, Ohio and would will be willing to work it out, but that’s just a dream that we know is never going to actually come true. Cleveland has shown time and time again that they’re just a halfway house for young star players until they can make the real money. So let’s just try to enjoy these next couple of years while we can before he becomes the next good looking shortstop in those God awful pinstripes…