LOS ANGELES — Andrew Friedman turned on a New York Mets game last month and thought about sliding doors. On the screen was Francisco Lindor, the five-tool shortstop and franchise cornerstone in Queens, jockeying for position in the National League MVP race with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations, watched Lindor and remembered why he had once tried to outfit him in Dodger blue.
“Just thinking about how different the world would look,” Friedman said a day before Lindor’s leadoff home run sparked the Mets in a 7-3 victory against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
In the winter after the 2019 season, Friedman engaged with free agents and rival executives in search of the star who could help end the team’s championship drought. He eventually struck a deal with Boston for Mookie Betts. In an alternate reality, though, Friedman could have made a trade with Cleveland for Lindor.
“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.”
The actual outcome cannot be quibbled with by any of the involved parties. Betts, a perennial All-Star, led the Dodgers to a title in 2020. The Mets acquired Lindor that winter and made him the face of the franchise. The package sent to the Cleveland Guardians included second baseman Andrés Giménez, who has won two Gold Gloves and plays every day for the American League Central champions. All three clubs remain alive in this postseason.
Yet the thought experiment still intrigued Friedman. The acquisition of Betts represented the culmination of a years-long quest. When the Dodgers traded Adrián González, Brandon McCarthy and Scott Kazmir to the Atlanta Braves after the 2017 season, Friedman described the deal as “a little more subtle than most.” Friedman wanted to reset his team’s luxury tax figure and stop paying penalties. He also intended to open up a spot on his payroll for a player worth a $30 million salary.
He did not have a specific player in mind. That same winter, the Dodgers haggled with the Miami Marlins but couldn’t strike a deal for Giancarlo Stanton. A year later, Bryce Harper turned down a short-term Dodgers offer for long-term stability with the Philadelphia Phillies. There were perennial flirtations with Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Dodgers were serious enough about Anthony Rendon that franchise stalwart Justin Turner offered to move off third base heading into 2020.
In the months after the 2019 season, Friedman maintained dialogue with the Cleveland front office while doing the same with Boston Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom. Cleveland was considered unlikely to sign Lindor to a long-term deal, while Betts had turned down an extension offer from Boston. On the free-agent market, Friedman convinced owner Mark Walter to offer Gerrit Cole a contract worth $300 million that would have been the richest ever for a pitcher. The only catch was the Dodgers asked to defer some of the money. Cole opted for a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees. “In the free-agent market, the issue always is, when you’re offering money, it has to be real money, not deferral money,” said Scott Boras, Cole’s agent.
Losing out on Cole disappointed Dodgers officials but did not deter them. Friedman kept talking to Cleveland. Lindor was an imperfect fit for the Dodgers. He played a position already occupied by Corey Seager. There were a few options to make it work. The Dodgers could have moved Seager to third base and explored the trade market for Turner or Max Muncy. Or the team could have played Lindor at second base and tried to move Gavin Lux. There were ways to make it work, and Lindor was the sort of talent worth building around.
In a way, Lindor offered more value than Betts. He was under team control through 2021, whereas Betts could become a free agent after 2020. Lindor played a premium position with burgeoning power. He had averaged 34 home runs from 2017 to 2019. (This was in the mini-era of juiced baseballs. Lindor posted an .854 OPS in 2019, which merited a 118 OPS+. His .844 OPS in 2024 correlated to a 138 OPS+.)
Friedman prides himself on keeping his options open. In practice, that means he engages in lots of conversations that lead nowhere. He tried to loop in a third team to facilitate a deal built around Lindor. The talks fizzled. Friedman remained wary of parting with his best prospects, according to people familiar with the situation. That stance would not prevent him from acquiring Betts.
Friedman did not give up on Boston. Bloom had been his chief lieutenant with the Tampa Bay Rays. Eventually, the two men hammered out the deal that brought Betts and veteran pitcher David Price to Los Angeles in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo, catcher Connor Wong and infielder Jeter Downs. After the pandemic struck that spring, Betts agreed to a 12-year, $365 million contract that included some deferred money. He played a major part in the club’s run to a championship inside the bubble in Arlington, Texas.
Lindor played through the disjointed 2020 campaign with Cleveland. A year away from free agency, the team dealt him to the Mets for a package that included Giménez and shortstop Amed Rosario. Lindor was the first major acquisition made by new owner Steve Cohen. Eager to demonstrate his difference from the Wilpon family, the franchise’s previous stewards, Cohen lavished upon Lindor a 10-year, $341 million contract.
Lindor has never made an All-Star team as a Met. He tends to start seasons slowly. But his production has been tremendous. Only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Ohtani have been more valuable since 2021, according to FanGraphs’s version of wins above replacement.
“He excels at every aspect of the game,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “So he helps you win in so many different ways, both on the field and then what he does from a clubhouse perspective, leadership perspective.”
Lindor demonstrated both his tangible and intangible value earlier this season when the Mets appeared on the verge of collapse. On May 29, the Dodgers completed a sweep at Citi Field to dump the Mets 11 games below .500. The scene was turning ugly. Reliever Jorge López got himself ejected in the series finale, tossed his glove into the stands and earned a dismissal from the team that afternoon.
In the aftermath, Lindor called a meeting. He stressed that the players needed to dedicate more energy to preparation and hold each other accountable. He led by example. Lindor posted a .957 OPS during the rest of the year. The Mets returned from the brink and roared past the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final wild-card spot. Lindor’s two-run homer sank the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the final-day doubleheader. His grand slam in the National League Division Series ushered an early onset of winter in Philadelphia.
“What allows him to do all of that is how disciplined he is in his entire life,” Stearns said. “And the care he takes to prepare himself every single day to give himself the best chance to succeed.”
Lindor lived out that mantra in Game 2. The Mets had been stomped the night before. Lindor changed the conversation in the first at-bat of the day. He saw eight pitches. The last one landed in the Mets bullpen. His team never trailed. The other team — the one he might have joined all those years ago — felt first-hand why a championship contender could be built around him.
— The Athletic’s Zack Meisel contributed to this report.
(Top photo of Francisco Lindor: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
