Francisco Lindor had a solid series overall at the plate against the Giants over the weekend, but the one lasting image will be of the Mets shortstop striking out on a full count slider with the bat on his shoulder, seemingly spectating as the pitch clipped the outside corner.
Lindor said he couldn’t pick up the spin of the breaking ball during the entire plate appearance, and simply had to look for a walk. Regardless of the reasoning, it highlighted what Boomer and Gio say has been a disastrous contract so far.
“This is turning into an albatross contract,” Gio said. “He hasn’t been terrible since he got here, but he’s never been as good as he was at his best with Cleveland.”
“No way in the world is he living up to his contract,” Boomer agreed. “You’re paying him north of $30 million a year, and you expect better. You don’t expect him to put the bat on his shoulder and stand there to take strike three.”
Lindor will be tough to trade given that contract, but Boomer and Gio agree that the struggling Mets will likely be dealing away a lot of pieces this summer to allow David Stearns to rebuild the organization in his image.
“This is a dead team walking,” Gio said. “When this team gets better, most of these players are not gonna be on it.”