No, a NY Mets-Padres trade swapping Francisco Lindor for Xander Bogaerts doesn’t work

There’s little Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto can do to prove they’re best friends. Sharing bunk beds won’t do it. Matching bracelets won’t do the trick. For the remainder of their time as New York Mets teammates, the conversation about what went wrong and why early on in is going to be a distraction.

Over at East Village Times, a site covering the San Diego Padres, they’ve devised a way to solve the problem. Lindor gets swapped for Xander Bogaerts.

Wisley, the author of the story James Clark notes how this isn’t a simple one-for-one trade. The Padres would need to include prospects because the Mets are taking on the brunt of the financial responsibility. Lindor’s contract runs out after the 2031 season with a $34.1 million annual salary. Bogaerts is signed through 2033 at just under $25.5 million. This comes out to $170.5 million owed to Lindor over 5 years and a little less than $178.5 to Bogaerts over 7 years. Equal enough, the Mets are getting an inferior player whose inclusion on the roster goes against a lot of what they’ve already attempted to accomplish with several other moves.

Trading Francisco Lindor is already questionable, doing it for Xander Bogaerts and (a) prospect(s) is dangerous

Adding prospects is always a good thing in a lost year and yet there’s no guarantee anyone would be any good. The big turn-off here is obvious and that’s having a duo up the middle of Bogaerts and Marcus Semien. More than $50 million invested in a double play duo with limited abilities and small upside is essentially going to tank the Mets for the duration they stick together. Through 2028, the Mets have a pair of incredibly overpriced middle infielders

The pitch for the Mets to take on Bogaerts does include the idea of moving him to third base. That does very little to solve the problem. There is no shortstop solution coming up through the system. Moving Bo Bichette to shortstop permanently goes entirely against the idea of run prevention. While David Sterans leaned into that premise too large, he’s not going to abandon it completely nor should he.

Nothing about trading Lindor for Bogaerts is appealing unless you truly believe the relationship with Soto is what has caused the Mets to play this poorly. Only a handful of games in the same lineup together this year, it’s hyperbole to blame their relationship on last year’s collapse or this season’s limp.

Anytime fans of another team are eager to trade a player, we should take it with caution. Padres fans know Bogaerts inside-and-out. Any Mets fan who wants Lindor out probably never liked him in the first place.

If the Lindor-Soto beef is too much to damage the Mets, the Padres should be cautious about trying to help New York solve it. What’s to say some of those same problems wouldn’t arise in San Diego? Furthermore, they don’t save much money in the long-run with the biggest financial benefit being that Lindor’s contract runs out first.

Change for change’s sake can work. The Mets, for now, should hold off. Bogaerts’ trade value isn’t getting any better. It’s a move you make only when it’s your last resort.

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