Indians: No real change in the Francisco Lindor situation

Indians fans have had to deal with plenty of rumors regarding Francisco Lindor. None of the latest news comes as much of a surprise.

There are plenty of reports out there about Francisco Lindor.

The latest this week came down from ESPN when it was written that Lindor is likely to be traded by the Cleveland Indians by the 2020 trade deadline. This isn’t exactly breaking news.

It is obviously the smart move to trade Lindor by the deadline if there is no intention to keep him beyond 2021. His value will continue to go down with each passing day and logic says he should be traded.

Then came the words of Indians GM Mike Chernoff.

He came out and gave his best political answer. Everyone in Cleveland wants Lindor to be here his entire career. And I am sure Chernoff wants him here too. But the GM is not the owner. The one signing the paychecks has the final say on major contracts.

So as of now we don’t know more than we did a month ago. The Indians can say they want to keep Lindor all they want. It ultimately depends what ownership wants.

The harsh reality is that if the Indians move Lindor at the deadline, there is a trade-off between it being a smart move and also bumming out the fans and potentially the clubhouse. Though any Lindor trade has to bring major league talent in return, along with plenty of prospects. Such a move could help keep the Indians set as contenders for a few more years.

I would assume that most sources outside of Cleveland will come out and say that Lindor should and will be traded by the deadline. It is just the right baseball move. And with the way the offseason is going right now, he could be traded at any moment.

Rumors will continue to come out but even those are hard to trust at times. False information may be placed out there to try to influence the Indians. The good news is that the front office has been very trustworthy in the past. They aren’t just going to give Lindor away.

This is the rough part of being a sports fan. Lindor staying is the ideal outcome. Him being traded soon is the unpopular opinion that may end up helping the team in the long-term.