NEW YORK — Trades between the Yankees and Mets almost never happen. The rivalry, the fan reaction and the risk of handing a star to the other side of town tend to kill the idea before it starts. This week, someone floated it anyway.
A proposed blockbuster would send Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor across the city to the Yankees. The pitch drew attention fast, then drew pushback just as fast.
The conversation says as much about New York’s two clubs as it does about one player.
Where the idea came from
The concept came from sports talker Sal Licata, who raised it Wednesday in a clip posted on YouTube. His version had the Mets sending Lindor, reliever Luke Weaver and catcher Luis Torrens to the Bronx, with prospects going back to Queens.
The fit, in theory, is clean. The pitch assumes the Yankees want an upgrade at shortstop and a right-handed catcher, and Weaver has pitched well out of a bullpen this season. Torrens bats right-handed, an element the lineup lacks behind the plate.
Licata made clear he would move on from the 32-year-old shortstop.
“I do believe the Mets should trade Lindor.”
He pointed to Lindor’s age and to what he described as chemistry concerns alongside Juan Soto, who left the Yankees for the Mets. As a starting point for the return, Licata suggested infield prospect George Lombard Jr., with additional pitching depth possibly attached.
Why analysts are split
Not everyone bought the framing. Evan Roberts agreed the Mets could at least consider moving Lindor, but he rejected the idea of trading a proven postseason performer for unproven youth.
Roberts argued that prospects are far from guarantees. He called them, bluntly, the riskiest kind of currency.
“They’re freaking lottery tickets.”
He also waved off the chemistry angle, saying two everyday players do not need to be close friends to win together. The stronger reasons to consider a deal, in his view, are Lindor’s age, his long-term contract and the direction of the franchise.
Roberts offered a different path. Rather than chase prospects, he suggested the Mets could route Lindor to a team like San Diego, absorbing a difficult contract in exchange for established talent.
The history hanging over Cashman
The Lindor chatter landed as some analysts pressed a broader point about the Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman. The argument is that the franchise wins when it is aggressive and falls short when it hesitates.
Writing for Roundtable, Jon Conahan urged the Yankees to study their own past and make a bold move before it is too late. He leaned on reporting from NJ.com’s Randy Miller about chances the club passed up.
In 2010, the Yankees declined to add a young infielder to a prospect package for ace Cliff Lee, who landed elsewhere. Lee then threw eight shutout innings in an 8-0 win at Yankee Stadium during a series the Yankees lost.
In 2017, the Yankees passed on Justin Verlander rather than absorb the money left on his contract. The Astros took him on, and Verlander helped end the Yankees’ season that fall.
The thrust is simple. History, these voices argue, rewards the team when it takes on salary and risk instead of guarding prospects.
What is real and what is not
Lindor is signed through 2031 on a 10-year, $341 million contract that carries a $34.1 million average annual value, with a roughly $32 million salary in 2026 and $50 million in deferred money payable from 2032 to 2041. For the Yankees, absorbing that would mean piling one of the sport’s largest long-term commitments onto a payroll already near the top of the league.
There is a bigger catch. Lindor’s contract includes a full no-trade clause that runs from 2026 through 2031, which means he alone decides whether he can be dealt anywhere, the Yankees included. No package the Bronx could assemble would matter unless Lindor agreed to waive it.
Still, the proposal struck a nerve, because it raises a real question about what the Mets do with Lindor and whether the Yankees will swing big before the trade deadline.
But cross-town trades of this size are rare for a reason.
What is real is the timing. New York entered the week with the best record in the American League and a lead in the AL East, the kind of season that invites big-swing speculation. The Mets, meanwhile, face genuine questions about their roster and their long-term plans.
The most grounded takeaway is one even the skeptics share. The pressing issue is not whether Lindor ends up with the Yankees, but what the Mets decide to do with their shortstop as the deadline nears.
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