Mets will explore long-term extension with Francisco Lindor in the next few weeks

When the Mets swung their blockbuster trade for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco on Thursday, one of the immediate thoughts most had was that there was no shot they would let Lindor leave as a free agent after the season.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon, team president Sandy Alderson -- while understandably guarded with his answers -- did nothing to dispel that belief.

“We’ve had one conversation with him and no conversations with his agent," Alderson said about a potential extension. "We acquired Francisco because of his present ability and the possibility that he could be a Met long-term. There’s no guarantee of that. It’s something we will approach in the next few weeks. 

"But at this point, we felt comfortable giving up the group of players we did for both Lindor and Carrasco, recognizing that Lindor is only under contract for one year and Carrasco for two plus an option. We gave up a lot of control for short-term control, but I think we’re comfortable with that and what we might be able to do going forward.”

What they might be able to do "going forward" would likely involve handing out a deal worth at least seven or eight years and hundreds of millions of dollars. And with Lindor set to hit free agency after the 2021 season, they have a large window to get it done.

Asked what made him optimistic the team could lock Lindor up long-term, Alderson injected some of his patented dry humor before explaining all the reasons why Lindor should want to be a Met.

"It's your assumption that we have optimism," Alderson said with a smirk as GM Jared Porter laughed. "I think what we have to offer is a great city, a great baseball city. An organization that we hope is on the rise. There's a lot of excitement associated with new ownership. I think there are a lot of reasons why we should be optimistic about any follow-up decision that we want to make."

Alderson was also asked about the possibility that the Mets -- if they didn't retain Lindor long-term -- could simply sign one of the star free agents expected to be available next offseason via free agency, including Javier Baez and Carlos Correa.

But Alderson kept the focus on Lindor and his potential future in Queens.

"We've got Francisco for a year. We hope he's fantastic in 2021 and that there's every reason to talk to him about some type of long-term arrangement," he said. "Not getting into that conversation on this day because we're kind of celebrating the acquisition as opposed to the extension at this point. We feel comfortable. So we'll see where it goes."

As far as whether he asked the Indians for a window to sign Lindor to an extension before making the trade, Alderson said he didn't. And he gave a pretty good reason as to why,

"We never asked for a window," Alderson said. "What we felt all along was, look, if we're willing to acquire this player for one year we have to be comfortable with what we're giving up for one year as opposed to making the assumption and put ourselves in a situation where we absolutely have to do something else in order to be comfortable.

"We did give up a lot in this deal. But we don't feel given the two players (we acquired) that we've given up more than we're getting in return -- not only in terms of quality but also years of control. So we never made that effort. In my history, I'm not sure I ever have done that."