How 'valuable' is Francisco Lindor to NY Mets? Here's what his teammates are telling us

When Francisco Lindor signed a New York Mets record $341 million deal before the 2021 season, he became the face of the franchise.

The shortstop had visions of grandeur.

While the beginning of Lindor's tenure was met with turbulence, an uneven performance, and a skeptical fan base, the 2024 season has allowed mighty expectations to coalesce into a new, momentous reality.

The boos from Lindor's first season have been replaced with cheers and "M-V-P" chants , and he has helped set the tone for what he hopes to achieve throughout the rest of his time with the Mets.

"I wanted to help this organization turn around," Lindor told NorthJersey.com. "I wanted to be a part of it and I wanted to accomplish my dream of winning a championship and give the Cohens what they want.

"I love the opportunity, the blessing that I have to be here, to be able to help this organization grow and to be what I think can be one of the best franchises in the world."

The Mets shortstop's success throughout the 2024 season has thrust him into the Most Valuable Player conversation, alongside the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani. And it has helped underscore Lindor's true value to the Mets franchise.

Lindor knows he has the chance to be a foundational component in the franchise's sustained success, and it's a responsibility that he does not take lightly.

Francisco Lindor's path to maturity

Before Lindor could begin leading the organization, he faced his own hurdles in getting acclimated to the intense scrutiny that comes with playing in New York.

In his first season with the Mets after being traded from Cleveland in 2021, Lindor had the worst season of his career. He batted a career-low .230 with 20 home runs, 63 RBI and 73 runs. For the first time in his career, at the onset of an 0-for-23 slump early in the season, Lindor heard boos from the home fans.

As the jeers reemerged later in the season, Lindor pressed down that criticism with a defiant thumbs-down gesture amid a winning streak in August of that season. He later took accountability and apologized.

"As a man, you grow," Lindor said. "As my wife (Katia) likes to say, ‘Your brain finally fully develops.’ I believe my brain has finally fully developed, so I’ve learned. I’ve grown. I’m more mature. I know how to deal with certain things a lot more now."

Those tribulations gave Lindor perspective. He's now going out and setting the example for his teammates.

How Francisco Lindor has become a Mets leader

When Jesse Winker looks out onto the field, he sees the same "crazy talented" shortstop that was there when he and Lindor grew up playing travel baseball together in Florida. Now, since being traded to the Mets ahead of the trade deadline, Winker has been able to see Lindor's leadership up close.

"He cares about everybody, and he cares about winning," Winker said. "I feel like as a guy who represents the organization and he’s the face of baseball, it’s exactly what you want. And on top of that, he does something every night to help the team win."

Lindor said every season comes with a different recipe for how to lead. Sometimes, it means being more vocal. Other times, it's going about your business the right way and hoping it trickles down to the rest of the team.

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This year with young players like Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez, along with numerous newcomers, Lindor called it a hybrid approach.

"I’m an observer. I just watch," Vientos said. "I watch what he does and I pick up things, and I’m like, ‘OK, I need to do this. I need to get better with this.’ The cheat sheet is right in front of me. If I want to be an MVP-type of player, it’s right in front of me to see what it takes."

Lindor has joined forces with Brandon Nimmo to set the example. When the Mets slipped to 22-33 on May 28, with a blow-up from Pablo Lopez, who hoisted his glove into the crowd, Lindor called a team meeting.

It galvanized the Mets clubhouse, and they went 26-13 to get back to three games above .500 at the All-Star break.

"We want to have a lasting impact," Nimmo said. "Both of our goals at the end of the day is to bring a World Series back to the Mets and so, in order to do that, we have to be willing to do some things that other organizations aren't willing to do, and we have to set a culture that is going to be willing to do those things."

This Mets team is behind Francisco Lindor

Over the course of the last four seasons, Pete Alonso said he has seen Lindor become the best version of himself. Nimmo said he can see the comfort and growth in Lindor.

And the joy with which Lindor is playing the game has shown in the results.

For the second straight season, he has eclipsed the 30-30 milestone, with 30 home runs and 38 doubles entering Tuesday's action. He's only the third shortstop to have recorded five 30-30 seasons, joining Alex Rodriguez and Ernie Banks. And he's added 100 runs, 84 RBI and 27 stolen bases.

"He’s been a jack of all trades this year," Alonso said. "Hitting for power, hitting for average, great defense, posting up every day. From a performance aspect, that’s exactly what you want to see. He’s checked pretty much every box. There’s still a lot of baseball left."

And Lindor, a two-time Gold Glover, continues to play sublime defense at shortstop, where his 17 outs above average (OAA) are tied for fourth-best in MLB and second-best in the National League. FanGraphs gives him a defensive rating of 17.2 − best in the NL.

"Just being like the quarterback of the infield, leading the way, staying on everybody, playing the game the right way with the scoreboard, throwing the ball to the right base, not making a throw when there’s not a play," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

"Not only we’ve seen that with him when he’s got to make the routine plays, when he has to make the difficult plays, but just the conversations, in the dugout, in between innings."

Lindor is there every step of the way. Since suffering an oblique injury during his first season with the team in 2021, he has played in all but three games over the last three seasons. He missed two games with right side soreness last season and played with bone spurs in his elbow. He made a ninth-inning appearance on the day his second daughter was born. In 2022, he only missed one game after fracturing his finger after slamming it in a door.

Mendoza said Lindor is constantly seeking information, from the training and performance science staffs, to help guide his decisions to play every day.

"It allows me to have the honor, the privilege to write his name in the lineup, knock on wood, day in and day out," Mendoza said.

Now, Lindor has earned the respect of the Mets fanbase. And his success poses the question: Where would the Mets be without Lindor on top of the lineup? The Mets shortstop would not want it any other way.

"I play for (the fans). I play for this organization and this city, for the people here," Lindor said. "Whenever I feel the same love that I give them, it’s special. I love it. It’s easier to come to work whenever you feel like you have a whole entire city behind you."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How 'valuable' is Francisco Lindor to NY Mets? Here's what his teammates are telling us