The decision to DFA Robinson Cano was widely praised by Mets fans on social media once the team announced the move on Monday morning.
But it likely wasn't met by such celebration in the team clubhouse, particularly at Francisco Lindor's locker.
The star shortstop was asked about Cano being a potential casualty to league-wide roster trimming before Sunday's win, and Lindor made it clear that he wanted the veteran infielder to remain with the team.
"I wouldn't be happy. I don't want to see that happen," Lindor said, via the New York Post. "He's a good teammate, a good person and obviously he's got a great track record and we all know what he's capable of doing. I don't care how old he is, the mind is still fresh and he can still hit."
For that reason, Brandon Tierney didn't think cutting Cano was the right move for New York.
"My opinion was, I would not cut Cano," Tierney said during Monday's show, shortly after the team announced the move. "The primary takeaway here is, I guess they don't listen to their players too much, because Lindor wanted him to stay…I'm not in a rush to mess around with this recipe. From a playing point of view, Cano hasn't done a damn thing this year…complete justification from a playing point of view."
Cano has indeed been dreadful at the plate this season, with an OPS hovering around .500, but Lindor seemed to rave about his clubhouse presence, something that was absent in 2021, when the 39-year-old Cano was serving a season-long PED suspension. Lindor has bounced back in a big way so far this season, and BT believes Lindor's hot start could have played in a part in the decision to DFA Cano.
"If Lindor didn't show such early signs of showing that last year was an anomaly, and he is built for New York…and he went out and spoke the way he did about Cano, maybe they would have been more hesitant to get rid of Cano, because they would have viewed Cano as an asset for Lindor," Tierney said. "But Lindor looks good, they made their decision, and they moved on."
Clubhouse chemistry aside, and despite disagreeing with the decision, Tierney says the reasoning behind moving on from Cano should be a welcomed sight for long-suffering Mets fans.
"The thing that should further embolden Mets fans, is in previous years, the litany of horrendous contracts and being forced to stick with a guy that either couldn't flourish in New York or was flat-out done as a player, or was hurt," Tierney said. "Those are decisions that are made through the prism of baseball. That's it. how does it impact our team and how does it affect our pursuit of a championship? When the Wilpons, owned the team, first question was, 'How does it impact our pocketbooks?'"
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