Francisco Lindor era at Cleveland Indians is coming to an end. And it is most likely to be an unceremonious one.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Indians have decided to trade Lindor and want to get the job done before the Opening Day of the 2021 MLB season. The organization already informed interested teams about their intent and now is waiting to see what kind of package they can get for the All-Star shortstop.
Organizations rarely want to trade their star players, but this move was a long time coming for the Indians. Lindor has just one year left on his deal and hasn’t given any indications that he could resign. This would put Cleveland in jeopardy of losing him for nothing, and the organization isn’t willing to take this risk.
Another reason why Indians are looking to part ways is the financial struggles that saw them attempting to shed salary by all means possible. This even included rejecting the option on three-time All-Star reliever Brad Hand just to get out of his bargain $10 million salary.
Francisco Lindor has a slightly weaker year in 2020 by his standards, but Cleveland is expected to see a bidding war for the 26-year-old. Lindor, who is a career .285 batter, has made four consecutive All-Star teams since 2016 and has two Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards in his trophy case.
