It’s official. After agreeing to contract terms just ahead of Opening Day, the New York Mets and star shortstop Francisco Lindor put pen to paper this week to complete the third richest deal in the history of Major League Baseball. The 10-year deal is worth $341 million, including $50 million deferred, which will be paid out $5 million a year starting in 2032.

The news comes on the heels of the Mets’ home opener, a 3-2 win over the Marlins featuring a walk-off hit-by-pitch by Michael Conforto.

Lindor’s contract is not baseball’s biggest deal, but the four-time All-Star will set a pair of MLB records with the pact. He’ll collect $43.3 million from the Amazins in 2021, including his $22.3 million base salary and a $21 million signing bonus paid to be paid after the deal is approved by the league office. It represents the largest lump sum signing bonus payout in the history of the sport, as is the $43.3 million one-year tally.

The salary and bonus total for Lindor tops Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, who is set to earn $38 million in 2021, the previous one-year high. Lindor’s haul is higher than Steph Curry’s record $43 million salary in the NBA this season. The only athletes to ever top it in North American team sports in a calendar year are a handful of NFL quarterbacks.

Signing bonuses are a regular feature in the NFL’s blockbuster deals. They give players upfront cash in a sport where base salaries are rarely guaranteed, and teams use the bonuses to spread out salary cap implications over the life of the contract. QBs have set the standard—Dak Prescott locked up his $66 million bonus last month, a tick ahead of the $65 million Russell Wilson received in 2019, which was paid in two parts.

Large signing bonuses were rare in MLB deals until they popped up in many of the mega-contracts in recent years. The biggest was the $65 million bonus for Mookie Betts for his Los Angeles Dodgers contract, which topped the $50 million bonus Max Scherzer had in his Washington Nationals deal. Both of these payouts were officially tagged as “signing” bonuses, but Betts’ money is paid over 15 years and Scherzer’s over four years. Clayton Kershaw got a $23 million bonus from the Dodgers, but it gets paid over three years.

Lindor’s signing bonus is the biggest paid out in a single year, a tick ahead of the $20 million that Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Manny Machado each secured in the massive deals they signed within a month of each other, just ahead of the 2019 season. All three of their deals had a much lower first-year base salary when the signing bonus was paid.

The signing bonus has multiple benefits for Lindor. There is the time value of money, and Lindor gets a big chunk of his money now. MLB and its players are also facing a labor showdown as the current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. Any missed games from a work stoppage will cut player salaries. It does not impact signing bonuses.

The biggest impact is on taxes. Signing bonuses are taxed in the state you reside, instead of the “jock” tax on base salaries that is a function of where games are played. Lindor’s home is in Florida, which has no state income tax. New York state just raised the tax rate on its highest-paid residents this week. It means a 14.8% rate for those earning more than $25 million in New York City, including the city’s 3.88% tax.
The Mets’ new billionaire owner Steve Cohen made a splash when the club traded for Lindor in January. Cohen can afford the $21 million payment. The hedge fund titan’s $16 billion net worth is greater than the next three richest MLB owners combined, according to Forbes.

Lindor and his agent, David Meter, held all the cards in this negotiation. Lindor is a wildly talented player at the plate and in the field. He’s also one of the most charismatic and marketable players in the game with ever-changing hair color. His endorsement partners include New Balance, Oakley, Gatorade and Rawlings. Lindor is one of just three MLB players with a signature shoe, joining Trout and Harper. The Mets have played second fiddle to the Yankees in New York forever and need splashy players to make a dent in that mindset. Lindor set Opening Day as a deadline to complete a contract and was willing to test free agency in the fall if a deal wasn’t complete. Deadlines spur action.

The Washington Nationals selected Florida prep outfielder Elijah Green with the fifth pick in Major League Baseball's 2022 amateur draft on Sunday night. Green was the second outfielder taken, following Druw Jones, who went No. 2 overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks

Green was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the class in June by CBS Sports. Here's what we wrote at the time:

Green is a fascinating and polarizing prospect, a walking example of bimodal distribution who seems to inspire forecasts invoking only his left- and right-tail outcomes. To hear most scouts tell it, he's either going to make several All-Star Games, or he's going to wash out before becoming arbitration eligible. His boosters point to his near-elite power and speed combination, as well as his potential to play center field despite being listed at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. (This is where we note, to little surprise, that his father Eric played in the NFL.) Conversely, Green's critics say that his game needs a lot of refinement for him to max out his tools, and that his extreme swing-and-miss tendencies will cause him to deviate, from being a red-hot chili pepper to not, more frequently than John Frusciante. He's going to be selected early because perceived ceilings as high as his don't come around often; then again, perceived floors as low as his don't, either.

Green attended IMG Academy, which has produced a number of big-league players, including Paolo Espino and Chris Pérez.

The New York Mets and shortstop Francisco Lindor have agreed to a 10-year, $341 million deal, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday.
Lindor's deal will be the third largest based on total value in major league history, trailing only the deals for the Los Angeles AngelsMike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Los Angeles DodgersMookie Betts ($365 million).

The Mets were widely expected to sign Lindor to a long-term extension after acquiring the four-time All-Star in a blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Indians this offseason. The negotiations became a major storyline during spring training, with new Mets owner Steve Cohen writing on Twitter last week, "What do think Lindor will accept? I'm going to crowdsource the answer."
Cohen wrote on Tuesday: "Lindor is a heckuva player and a great guy. I hope he decides to sign."
Lindor, 27, had stated that he would "go to free agency" if he didn't have a deal in place by Opening Day, saying he did not want to negotiate during the season. The Mets open Thursday against the Washington Nationals.
In January, the Mets avoided salary arbitration with Lindor by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $22.3 million. It was the fourth-biggest one-year contract for an arbitration-eligible player, trailing Mookie Betts($27 million with Boston last year), Nolan Arenado ($26 million with Colorado in 2019) and Josh Donaldson ($23 million with Toronto in 2018).
A two-time Gold Glove winner, Lindor is a career .285 hitter and has averaged 29 homers, 86 RBIs and 21 steals in his six major league seasons -- all with the Indians, who drafted him in 2011.

Texas first baseman Nathaniel Lowe was named the American League Player of the Week for his work last week for the Rangers.

The American League made the announcement on Monday.

Lowe pushed his season batting average to .300 last week. The Rangers haven't anyone hit .300 for a season since since Elvis Andrus and Adrián Beltré in 2016.

This is the first time Lowe has won a weekly award, and he joins Corey Seager (July 4-10) as the second Ranger to win the weekly player award this season.

The last time the Rangers had multiple players win a weekly award in the same season was in 2017, when Nomar Mazara and Beltré were honored.

Lowe was the Rangers April Player of Month after hitting .313 with one home run and nine RBI. In May he went the opposite direction, hitting just .205 with two home runs and 7 RBI.

But his hitting has been on an upward trend ever since.

Lowe batted .385/.407/.923/1.331 (10-for-26) with four home runs and 11 RBI in six games last week, leading all MLB players in RBI, home runs (tied), and total bases (tied-24). He posted a career-high five RBI on Wednesday at Colorado and homered in three consecutive games from Tuesday-Friday for the longest such streak of his career.

Lowe also homered in Sunday’s 9-8 loss to Detroit.

Lowe owns a .392/.446/.657/1.103 (40-for-102) slash line with seven home runs and 20 RBI in August, ranking among AL leaders this month in hits (first), total bases (first, 67), batting average (second), slugging percentage (second), home runs (tied for second), on-base plus slugging (third), on-base percentage (fourth) and RBI (tied for fourth).

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel picked up all 32 first-place votes, becoming the tenth unanimous Rookie of the Year pick in National League history.

It didn't take long for baseball fans to earn free tacos thanks to Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies. A first-inning steal from Albies in Tuesday's World Series Game 1 means Taco Bell, as part of their long-running promotion, will offer a free Doritos Locos Taco to every customer on Nov. 4. 

Albies stole second in the top of the first inning with his team up 1-0 -- thanks to a Jorge Soler home run -- over the Houston Astros. Austin Riley doubled to left center on the ensuing at-bat, allowing Albies to score and revel in his Taco Tuesday glory.

This is the ninth World Series featuring Doritos' Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion. Albies ensured fans got their tacos early by swiping a base in the first inning, but he's not the fastest to secure the free grub. Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner needed only three pitches to steal a base during Game 1 of the 2019 World Series. 

The Nationals eventually overcame the Astros in a seven-game World Series battle. Albies is hoping history repeats itself, with him securing free tacos for the fans and a title over the Astros shortly after. 

Albies finished two hits in the Braves' 6-2 Game 1 win.

 

Long before Francisco Lindor became “Mr. Smile,” the Major League Baseball star with colorful hair and undeniable swag, people in his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico, knew him as a talented, but shy young player called “Paquito.”

Lindor is now 27 and has a 10-year, $341 million deal with the New York Mets, the richest contract ever for a shortstop. But he proudly remembers his modest upbringing in Caguas. He grew up playing baseball at Villa Blanca field, a short drive from a local retailer named Al’s Sports Shop. Lindor would go there often with his parents to shop for gear that he and his older brother needed to learn the game. 

“When we first walked in, to the right, there was all the gloves, the bats, the batting gloves,” Lindor recalled. “And then, if you go to the next aisle, there’s all the shoes. … It was cool going to that store. But most of the time, we had to wait till the next paycheck. It wasn’t like you could get it right there.”

Lindor’s mother and father, Maria and Miguel, purchased their sons’ baseball apparel in bimonthly payments using the store’s layaway system. To this day, the four-time All-Star cherishes that feeling when he finally got to lace up a new pair of cleats from Al’s.

“We’d go every 15 days and put down $10 or $20, and eventually in three months, I’d get it,” Lindor said. “That’s how my parents got most of my stuff. And I’m very proud of that. That’s part of my roots. That’s part of me.”

Al’s is still open in Caguas. Only now, kids are bringing their parents to the store to buy Lindor’s own line of footwear and merchandise. In March, New Balance released the Puerto Rican star’s signature shoe, dubbed the Lindor 1, in both a cleated model and lifestyle version for off the field. Lindor is currently the only Latino MLB player with a signature shoe.

Francisco Lindor against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on July 10 in New York City.

“It means a lot to have my own shoe,” Lindor said in an interview with The Undefeated and ESPN Deportes for Hispanic Heritage Month. “It’s got a special place in my heart. I know my whole entire family is proud. Obviously, the cleat is for Puerto Rico.”

The shoe incorporates two lockdown straps: one for midfoot stability and another for ankle support, added after Lindor sustained a sprain during the design process. The ankle strap is removable to promote wearability for all positions on the field. And the shoe is adorned with graphics of the Puerto Rican hibiscus, so Lindor always pays homage to home on his feet.

“I’m truly proud of being Puerto Rican and I wanted to send a little message to all the kids out there, that if I did it — and I come from not a lot — it is possible,” he said.

The new shoe arrives four years after Lindor signed with New Balance to lead the brand’s expansion in baseball. He is one of just three Latino players in MLB history to receive his own shoe and the first in two decades. In 1999, a season after being named National League MVP, seven-time MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa, a native of the Dominican Republic, laced up his debut signature cleat and turf shoe, the Fila Sosa. In 2001, the Italian brand delivered a training model, the Sosa Strength.

Roberto Clemente, the former Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder and Hall of Famer, was the first Latino player in MLB history to receive a shoe bearing his name. Clemente’s lifestyle sneaker, made by a company called Super Pro, was released exclusively in his native Puerto Rico in 1972. Production of the shoe was halted following his death at 38 in a plane crash that year on New Year’s Eve while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 

Coincidentally, Al’s Sports Shop opened in December 1972, the same month the island’s biggest baseball legend died. Edgardo Colón, the current manager at Al’s, began working at the store in 2003. He still remembers frequent visits from the kid they called Paquito. 

“I would see him come into the store looking for gloves and cleats,” Colón recalled. “He’d come in like a kid in a toy store, his eyes wide open.”

Back then, Lindor would sometimes visit the store with his childhood friend and teammate Miguel Colón. “This was Disney for us,” said Miguel Colón, who started working as a sales associate at Al’s a few months after the release of the New Balance Lindor 1. 

Francisco Lindor is one of just three Latino players in MLB history and the first in two decades to receive his own shoe.NEW BALANCE

“We grew up together and never could think about this,” he said. Miguel Colón played with Lindor from the time they were ages 4 to 11. “We never talked about him getting his line from New Balance … getting his contract. I know people play for money, but he loves the game. That’s why he’s smiling all the time.”

The Lindor family moved to Florida when Lindor was 12. He attended Montverde Academy near Orlando (the high school’s baseball facility is now named after him) and played his way onto USA Today’s All-USA high school team. Lindor was committed to play at Florida State University until the Cleveland Indians selected the 17-year-old with the eighth overall pick in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player draft. He decided to forgo his full scholarship at FSU to sign a $2.9 million contract with the Indians. A few months later, the Indios de Mayagüez club in Puerto Rico selected Lindor in the second round of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente draft. But Lindor stayed on the mainland to work toward his dream of a career in the big leagues. 

“He was a diamond that needed to be molded,” Colón said. “In the States, he had the tools to do it.”

He made his MLB debut for the Indians in June 2015. Over the next 16 months, he made his first career All-Star appearance, won a Gold Glove Award and started at shortstop in the World Series. New Balance had been paying attention since his days as a prep star.  

“Francisco was always on our radar,” said Neil Brooks, the company’s head of baseball sports marketing. “His draft year, we were just beginning to develop our plan on building a younger roster. Having watched him in high school events, he always played with energy and a love for the game. You could tell he had a different vibe than some of the other high school players at that time. Off the field, we knew he was a very respectful and generous person. But, more than that, he had swag that we knew we wanted.”

A detailed shot of the cleats worn by Francisco Lindor in honor of Roberto Clemente Day before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets at Citi Field on Sept. 15 in New York.MARY DECICCO/MLB PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES

But, at first, New Balance didn’t have enough swag for Lindor. He acknowledges he originally didn’t have much interest in joining the brand. 

“During the World Series in 2016, a couple New Balance reps walked up to me and said, ‘Hey, we’ll be talking to you this offseason.’ Quite frankly, I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ ” recalled Lindor. 

“New Balance, back then, it wasn’t fashionable,” said Lindor, who’s developed a reputation as one of the most stylish players in MLB. He dyes his hair every color fathomable and rocks iced-out chains. “I always saw New Balance as the brand that my dad and my grandparents wore, you know?”

Lindor spent his first five years in MLB wearing Under Armour cleats. But his deal with that brand expired at the start of the 2016 offseason after Cleveland lost to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Then a free agent in footwear, Lindor received a shipment from New Balance, and his perception of the brand changed immediately. He particularly liked the soles, which are made from composite plastic, instead of traditional metal spikes.

“I put them on and remember texting my agent, saying, ‘Bro … this is completely different from what I’ve been wearing. … We definitely gotta have this conversation.’ ” 

Brooks, who’s based in Florida, drove to the shortstop’s offseason home in 2016 and delivered an official pitch. In February 2017, Lindor officially joined New Balance on a multiyear endorsement deal that made the 23-year-old the face of the brand’s top-selling cleat division. 

Surprisingly, a signature New Balance shoe wasn’t always the plan for Lindor — at least in his mind.

“In a meeting, right before or right after we signed him, I remember him saying he didn’t want to do a signature shoe,” said Matt Nuzzo, a baseball product manager for New Balance. “His agent was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait … what’d you say?’ Francisco felt he needed to earn that right. That, to me, was like, ‘This guy is different.’ ”

Lindor responded to his own challenge with an impressive 2017 MLB season. He hit .273 with 33 home runs, 44 doubles and 89 RBIs. He won the first Silver Slugger Award of his career while finishing fifth in American League MVP voting. 

“It was clear we came to a point that we were going to do a signature shoe,” said Dan Webb, New Balance’s lead baseball designer, who crafted the Lindor 1. “We had a meeting and he sort of laid out all the stuff he was looking for. I was listening and taking notes, then I went and did some sketching on ideas.” After just a few hours, Webb reconnected with Lindor, who was still in the building at New Balance’s Boston headquarters.

“Francisco’s input was right there from the beginning. It was great to be able to work with him so closely to get the North Star set,” Webb said. 

As New Balance embarked upon the design process of the Lindor 1, the brand’s design and product teams found inspiration in Lindor’s performance during an April 2018 series between the Indians and Minnesota Twins. The two teams played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, seven months after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island. The trip marked Lindor’s first time playing back home as a big leaguer. And in the top of the fifth inning of the first game, he blasted a two-run homer to right field. The crowd at Hiram Bithorn Stadium repeatedly chanted “LIN-DOR!” in celebration before he left the dugout to greet them. https://www.youtube.com/embed/LiA0BpZO_6U?start=150&feature=oembed

“I get goose bumps every time I watch the video of him playing in Puerto Rico,” Nuzzo said. “Francisco speaks very openly about how much Puerto Rico means to him. So for us to be able to add details of his heritage into our work is an honor.” 

In 2019, Nuzzo visited Lindor in Arizona. Once he arrived, Lindor showed Nuzzo the hibiscus he planted outside the house he had rented for spring training.

“It was hilarious to me when he then pulled up his arm sleeve and showed a giant flower he had tattooed,” Nuzzo recalled. “I was like, ‘Damn, you’re not lying. … The flower is important to you. We’ll put it on your shoe.’ ”

It’s worth noting that nearly every element of the New Balance 1, from the removable ankle strap to logo design on midfoot and the flower detailing, came at the direction of Lindor. 

“It’s not something we dreamed up and threw his name on it,” Webb said. “It’s obvious that it’s his shoe.”

Lindor still remembers the moment a few years ago when he found out he’d be receiving a signature. He shared the news with his parents, who once did the best they could to make sure he had new cleats as a kid.

“I said, ‘Mom, we did it. Dad, we did it. I got …,’ ” Lindor recalled, correcting himself, “ ‘we have our own shoe. It’s special to have a Lindor shoe.’ ”

WASHINGTON — Francisco Lindor is one of three Major League Baseball players in history who can describe what it feels like to ink a deal worth at least $341 million. Mookie Betts ($365 million) and Mike Trout ($426.5 million) are the only other MLB athletes who know the feeling.

It all came together for the superstar shortstop in the 11th hour of his self-imposed deadline late Wednesday night. Lindor and the Mets had been in a stalemate since Monday, when the club offered a reported 10-year, $325 million contract extension. Lindor counter-offered with 12 years for $385 million and on Thursday he said, “I never drew a line in the sand.” He described his thought process as optimistic throughout those final few days. Though, according to sources, the Mets’ confidence that a deal would get done was low if Lindor didn’t close the $60 million gap.

And then Lindor picked up the phone late Wednesday night in his hotel room in the Nation’s Capital.
“I was just happy that my agent (David Meter) called me,” Lindor said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, 341. How does that sound?’ I’m like, ‘Alright, man. It sounds really good. Let’s do it.’ He’s like, ‘You sure?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah man, let’s do it.’”
Meter informed Mets team president Sandy Alderson and, just like that, the deal was done. Lindor’s 10-year contract goes into effect in 2022, and it will keep him in Queens until 2031. The $341 million he will receive has some deferments, but the overall value makes him the richest shortstop in MLB history and the third highest-paid player in the league. He will no longer become a free agent in the offseason.

How did Lindor celebrate the deal? Well, he wanted to be in his own house, surrounded by his fiancee Katya and his daughter, screaming until his voice was hoarse. He wanted to hug and kiss his family, and then jump into his pool. But he was stuck in the team hotel here, so he screamed “a little,” he said. Then he called his closest family and friends, including Roberto Perez, plus players on the team — no matter that it was nearly midnight — and shared the good news.
“I called (my dad), he was happy, he was ecstatic,” Lindor said. “And I told him I wanted to scream. And he said, ‘No, no, no, don’t scream, don’t scream.’ I’m like, ‘Pops, what are you talking about?’ I’m like, ‘You know when you drive down the highway and you see a billboard with the Powerball that says $300 million? Imagine you getting that right now. You’re going to tell me you’re not going to scream? I’m going to scream. I want to scream.’”

Lindor said his Sunday night Italian dinner with Mets owner Steve Cohen in Port St. Lucie played a role in the negotiations. It gave the shortstop a good sense of where the billionaire was coming from and how high his ceiling for a contract would ultimately be (as it turned out, $385 million was too far). Lindor even thought Cohen’s tweet last week about “crowdsourcing the answer” for what the shortstop would accept was funny. Lindor told him as much at dinner while he ate chicken parm that was “really good,” even though Cohen didn’t care for his ravioli.

“He’s all about winning and I think we won with this,” Lindor said. “Both sides are happy, are in a good, friendly zone, and I can’t wait to be stuck to his hip for the next 11 years.”
Luis Rojas was already in bed when he heard the news, on a phone call with his wife. Rojas told her about the deal immediately before texting some other Mets coaches to share in the delight. The skipper said, despite the Mets being bummed out that Opening Day was postponed, Lindor’s long-term commitment had a definite impact on their energy Thursday.

It gave players an obvious boost and a clear sign that they’re playing for a big-market team — knowing that they get to keep their shortstop for the next decade.
“Just to see that he’s going to be here for that period of time, it can give you that sense of winning mentality and presence that you’re going to have with just one guy,” Rojas said. “I think a lot of guys can benefit from it, and we’re looking forward to more guys being around potentially that long.”
Lindor brings up everyone around him. In just six weeks, he’s already influenced the way his teammates play, how they present themselves on and off the field and all he talks about is winning. When he agreed to the 10-year, $341 million contract, he wasn’t just doing it for himself. Lindor said it was important for him to set the bar for the next shortstop class, while many of his peers and competitors, including Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, Corey Seager and Javier Baez, hit free agency after the 2021 season.
“Players did that for me. They set up the path for me,” Lindor said, citing Manny Machado, Albert Pujols and Carlos Beltran as players who previously set the benchmark for large contracts. “And that’s why I’m getting paid what I’m getting paid today.
“It’s my turn to set up the market for the next players to come, and then they’re going to do it for somebody else behind them. That’s what it’s all about. The next one in line.”
Lindor isn’t worried about what kind of athlete he’ll be when his contract formally ends (he’ll be 38 years old). He’s not concerned with how much energy he’ll have and how durable he’ll be by his late 30s. But he does know one thing.

“I’ll be a bad mother f’er,” Lindor said. “That’s it. That’s all I got to tell you.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor was alone in a Washington, D.C., hotel room Wednesday night when he got the call from agent David Meter: the New York Mets had offered $341 million — $1 million more than Fernando Tatis Jr. got in February.
The biggest payday ever for a shortstop.
“I wanted to yell,” Lindor said Thursday. “I wanted to scream as loud as I could.”
Lindor kept his cool — mostly — and told Meter to get it done.
The sides agreed to a $341 million, 10-year pact on the eve of opening day, terms that could keep the four-time All-Star in Queens for the rest of his career. The deal kicks in for the 2022 season, meaning Lindor will be 38 when the contract expires.
“To the fans of New York, here we go baby!” Lindor said. “Here we go. We have 11 years together. I can’t wait.”
The Mets acquired Lindor this offseason from the Cleveland Indians, who were unable to negotiate a long-term contract with the face of their franchise. New York nabbed him knowing he could walk as a free agent after this season but hopeful Lindor would be willing to forego the open market.
The 27-year-old Lindor said he wouldn’t stretch talks with the Mets beyond opening day, but even as the clock neared midnight Wednesday, he remained confident the sides would find middle ground.
“I knew something was going to happen,” he said. “It was just a matter of getting to that sweet spot.”
The deal fulfills a promise by first-year owner Steve Cohen that these Mets mean business — and have the money to back it up. Lindor’s agreement trounces David Wright’s $138 million, eight-year contract for the largest in club history.
Cohen and Lindor had dinner over the weekend, and Lindor said they spoke frankly. Lindor confirmed reports that his side had asked for $385 million over 12 years but said it “wasn’t a line in the sand,” and the meeting with Cohen set the stage for the final leg of bargaining.
“He’s all about winning, and I think we won with this,” Lindor said. “Both sides are happy.”
A two-time Gold Glove winner over six seasons, Lindor is a career .285 hitter and has averaged 29 homers, 86 RBIs and 21 stolen bases per season. New York acquired him along with right-hander Carlos Carrasco for infielders Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez and two minor leaguers in January and agreed to a $22.3 million salary for 2021. Lindor will play out that deal before the new agreement begins in 2022.
It will be the biggest payday ever for a shortstop, slipping by Tatis’ $340 million, 14-year deal with the San Diego Padres signed in February.

“Tatis is a great player,” Lindor said. “He got an outstanding contract, obviously, but deals are different. Deals are different. It was a different deal completely. I was just happy my agent called me and said, ’341.’”
Lindor said shortstops Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros and Javier Báez of the Chicago Cubs were among the many people who reached out with congratulations.
“I love it, it’s a great contract,” Correa said. “He deserves every penny of it. ... He pushed the market for every shortstop coming after him.”
Correa and Báez are both eligible for free agency after this season, and Lindor acknowledged there’s a friendly competition among the Puerto Rican trio as they seek long-term deals.
“I love those guys,” Lindor said. “I hope they get more.”
Correa said he only briefly discussed a potential long-term deal with Houston, but was told the Astros “don’t believe in big contracts.” He expects to become a free agent next offseason.
“We were not really close at all,” Correa said. “There were not really any negotiations.”
Overall, only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million, 12-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million, 12-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers are worth more than Lindor’s pact. Betts’ deal includes $115 million in deferred payments through 2044.
The Mets were set to start the season Thursday night in Washington, but that game was postponed due to at least three positive coronavirus tests among Nationals players. New York manager Luis Rojas is hopeful the teams will instead start the season Saturday.
Lindor hasn’t been to New York since the trade and won’t play his first home game at Citi Field until next Thursday, when the Mets host the Miami Marlins. He acknowledged the expectations that will come with the hefty contract and promised to make good on them, saying there were “341 million reasons for me to go out there and play the game the right way.”
“To wear blue and orange, I’m excited,” he added. “I’m pumped, I’m honored and I’m humbled.”

Texas Rangers’ first baseman Nate Lowe is solidifying himself as a force in the heart of the lineup early this season, showing flashes of that once top prospect potential.
The start of the 2021 season hasn’t gone exactly as the Texas Rangers had planned, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
After giving up 25 runs in the first two ball games against the Royals, pitching has become the focal point of the Rangers’ struggles.
However, the offense has been piling up runs left and right, more specifically Nate Lowe and Joey Gallo.
The Texas Rangers are need of their middle-of-the-order hitters to come alive, and boy have they ever, as both Gallo and Lowe hit back-to-back baseballs upwards of 110 mph on Easter Sunday.
Looking at Nate Lowe specifically, he has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball through the first three games of the year.
So far, Lowe has a major-league leading nine RBIs and is tied for first on the Rangers in home runs and hits.
When the Texas Rangers acquired Nate Lowe in December, they were looking to provide some competition for incumbent first baseman Ronald Guzman, who had an incredible offseason of his own.
Up until this offseason and spring, neither Lowe or Guzman had lived up to their prospect pedigrees, but have both shown they belong at the big league level.
Lowe, a former Mississippi State Bulldog, hit .348 in his final collegiate season with a 32/31 K/BB ratio.
With the Rays, Nate Lowe was considered an offensive powerhouse in the minor leagues and was rated as high as 13th in the Tampa Bay farm system.
However, in limited plate appearances at the big league level, Lowe struggled against more advanced pitching.
He wasn’t allowed everyday at-bats with the Rays, and it hurt his overall production.
Now with the Rangers, Lowe has been handed the reins at first base and will get to see an abundance of the at-bats there.
At the time of the trade, many were skeptical of Lowe’s acquisition and doubted he could surpass Guzman at first.
Nate Lowe has since silenced the haters and, even after a slow spring, is proving why he had that high pedigree in college and the minor leagues.
After driving in four on Opening Day against the Royals, Lowe has quietly become one of the most fun players to watch in the Rangers’ lineup.
The slow start in spring proved to be worthwhile for Lowe, stating he was falling behind in the count trying to see the ball before the start of the regular season.
He has proven that his patience has paid off by driving the ball the other way in a majority of his at-bats in the opening series.
The one exception was his homer on Sunday, in which he sent the baseball into orbit and eventually landing it in the fountains at Kauffman Stadium.
Brady Singer hung a slider and Lowe didn’t miss. He hit that cement-mixing slider 465 feet at 114 mph off the bat.
That ball was crushed.
His success didn’t come overnight, though.
Both he and Gallo got bats refitted earlier in the offseason, and Nate Lowe also made adjustments at the plate.
Yes, he’s worked on his plate discipline, but also adjusting his stance and hand placement. Look at these still images of Lowe’s stance side-by-side.
Of note, his hands are considerably lower than his time in Tampa Bay, but more importantly, he looks relaxed at the plate.
His swing is as smooth as it has ever been, and the numbers reflect that work he’s put in.
In short, Nate Lowe is becoming more of a force than any Ranger fan had originally anticipated.
His presence is being made known across the league, but especially in the Rangers’ lineup, and he could provide some much needed protection for All-Star and Gold Glover Joey Gallo.
The Texas Rangers are fielding one of the most dynamic, interesting and fun lineups they have ever had without true star power.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, David Dahl, Joey Gallo and Nate Lowe arguably are one of the most lethal top-of-the-orders across the game’s highest level, and if they can find sustained success at the bottom half, they’ll be as competitive of an offense as anyone’s in the game.

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