Phillies: 3 Options to Play at Shortstop Next Season
By David Esser
Sell the Farm: Francisco Lindor
Despite the Cleveland Indians president Chris Antonetti proclaiming, “My expectation is Frankie (Francisco Lindor) will be the shortstop Opening Day next year”, trade rumors have been swirling around the 4x All-Star shortstop.
Simply put, Lindor is one of the best players in all of baseball. A 2x Gold Glove Winner, a 2x Silver Slugger, a 4x All-Star as previously mentioned, and a recipient of MVP votes in 4 consecutive seasons, his resume speaks for himself.
Lindor is due for arbitration after the 2020 season, and despite the team president’s claims, the likelihood of Cleveland shelling out the type of money needed to retain him is unlikely. Accredited baseball reporter Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) has reported the team has begun receiving calls for Lindor, and Jon Morosi (@JonMorosi) has gone as far to say he believes there IS a strong likelihood he’ll be moved before 2021.
Lindor is obviously an upgrade over Segura, that much is clear. His top of the league defense and elite bat (.854 OPS and 31 HRs last year) blatantly make the Phillies a better team. So how would they pull of a deal for the 26 year old?
“Sell the farm”. A term used when a team literally trades all of their top level prospects to acquire one singular superstar. Any sort of hypothetical trade package for Lindor would have to be strong enough to fend off the Dodgers, Yankees, etc.
If Lindor does end up a Phillie, expect top young talents like Alec Bohm, Spencer Howard, Adam Haseley, and Scott Kingery to all be on their way to Cleveland.