Mets, Guardians Play for First Time Since Blockbuster Trade

On Jan. 7, 2021, the New York Mets traded with the Cleveland Guardians to bring superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor to Queens. The Mets sent infielders Amed Rosario and Andrés Giménez and prospects RHP Josh Wolf and OF Isaiah Greene to Cleveland for Lindor and right-handed starter Carlos Carrasco. This weekend at Citi Field for three games, the Mets and Guardians will faceoff for the first time since the blockbuster trade.

A few months after the trade, new Mets’ owner Steve Cohen flashed his money for the first time, giving Lindor a 10-year, $341 million extension. Ensuring that Lindor would be the Mets shortstop for a long time.

For the most part, the trade has been hailed as a win-win, with the Mets feeling an important void at short and solid depth in the rotation while the Guardians got back a starting shortstop and one huge year from Giménez at second base.

Let’s take a look at each player from a value standpoint using both fWAR (FanGraphs) and bWAR (Baseball-Reference):

Guardians

• Amed Rosario: 6.0 bWAR (-0.2 in 2023) & 4.6 fWAR (-0.1 in 2023)
• Andrés Giménez: 9.5 bWAR (1.2 in 2023) & 7.6 fWAR (0.7 in 2023)
• Josh Wolf: 5.25 ERA (4.50 in 2023)/1.63 WHIP (1.60 in 2023), currently on High-A injured list
• Isaiah Greene: 113 wRC+ (75 in 2023)

That gives you a combined 15.5 bWAR and 12.2 fWAR, and two non-top 30 prospects. The entire group is having a rough 2023 season, with the defense of Giménez (88 wRC+) being the only real positive.

Giménez will be a Guardian long-term after signing a seven-year, $106.5 million earlier this year. However, Rosario will be a free agent following this season.

Mets

• Carlos Carrasco: 0.0 bWAR (-0.5 in 2023) & 2.2 fWAR (-0.1 in 2023)
• Francisco Lindor 9.8 bWAR (1.3 in 2023) & 12.5 fWAR (1.4 in 2023)

That gives you a combined 9.8 bWAR and 14.7 fWAR for Carrasco and Lindor. Regardless of the calculation, the one clear thing is Francisco Lindor has been the best player of the trade despite his slow start offensively (102 wRC+) this season.

Lindor won’t become a free agent until after the 2031 season, but Carrasco will hit the market after this year.

Win-Win

The Guardians should’ve just given Lindor an extension to stay in Cleveland alongside Jose Ramírez. However, they chose not to and ended up with a return that might’ve looked light at the time, but has been better given the monster 6 WAR season Giménez had in 2022. For me, this looks like a rare win-win trade from the view of both organizations.

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The post Mets, Guardians Play for First Time Since Blockbuster Trade first appeared on Metsmerized Online.