Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor trade possibilities to the AL Central

Royals upgrade shortstop

Like the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Royals don’t have much of a reason to explore a trade for the Francisco Lindor with the Cleveland Indians, but what if they were? Adding Lindor would be an offensive upgrade over current shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and maybe defensively as well. Mondesi is a bit better on the base paths, but the other upgrades could make it an interesting possibility for Kansas City.

Mondesi would be able to slide into the Indians’ shortstop opening left behind by Lindor. Including this season, Mondesi has three years of arbitration left on his deal with a projected contract of $3 million in 2021. Mondesi has been steadily improving his slash line over the last few years and is still regarded as one of the more dangerous players in all of baseball on the base paths, leading the majors with 24 stolen bases during the shortened 2020 season.

As for the second player from Kansas City, Khalil Lee is the Royals’ No. 8 prospect. At 22-years old, Lee played 129 games at Double-A in 2019. While his slash line was average, he stole an impressive 53 bases and logged three triples, bringing even more speed to the Indians in the trade.