Speaking with reporters Friday during his first news conference as acting GM of the Mets, Zack Scott said talks with Michael Conforto and Francisco Lindor about potential extensions will begin soon.
"I've always looked at those (as being) the best time to do that is in spring training," Scott said. "And I think we'll have those conversations. We've had conversations internally, and I know Sandy (Alderson) was talking about that we obviously acquired Francisco with the hope of having him here longer than one year.
"We want to have those conversations. The focus has been on building the best roster we can for 2021. That could still be ongoing, but that's an important thing for us to at least talk to players about the potential for those types of deals."
Asked if there was any hard deadline for reaching a deal with either player, Scott said no.
"That's a common thing, and I completely respect it," Scott said. "We want the team focused on winning when the season starts. I get that. And I've had that experience with the Red Sox in the past. A lot of players feel that way. There should be plenty of time to talk through this before the season starts, to figure out if there's something to be done or not."
With Conforto on the record as being open to an extension -- and Alderson saying earlier this offseason that a long-term deal would be discussed -- it has always seemed like simply a matter of time before talks began in earnest -- something Conforto talked about on Feb. 2.
“He was on record saying that we’re going to broach that topic when we get closer to spring training," Conforto said about Alderson. "Now that we have a solid date for spring training I think things may progress, but at this point we really haven’t talked about extension stuff and all that stuff. We’ll see what happens here in the next week or two as we get closer to spring training and I think things will probably progress as we get closer.”
SNY's Andy Martino reported after the Mets missed out on signing George Springer that they were prioritizing the possibility of Conforto tomorrow over Springer today.
As far as Lindor, he said during his introductory news conference earlier this offseason that he was open to an extension.
"To all those fans out there, I live life day by day," Lindor said on Jan. 11. "I’m extremely happy and excited with what’s happening right now, but I haven’t really sat down and talked to anybody. Yeah, I had the welcoming conversations and I’m excited about it. I can’t wait. I have never been against an extension. I have never been against signing long-term.”
During the same news conference, though, Lindor said he would likely cut off talks at the end of spring training if an agreement hadn't been reached.
The potential free agent shortstop class after the 2021 season is tantalizing, and could include Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, and Javier Baez. But there is no guarantee that any of them will actually reach free agency.