Justification for Mets' $340M investment in Francisco Lindor offered by Twins veteran

When Francisco Lindor signed a 10-year, $341 million extension with the New York Mets, many thought there was no way the shortstop would be able to live up to the deal. At the time, it was one of the richest contracts in the league and came with massive expectations.

However, those doubts were challenged last season, when Lindor almost single-handedly dragged the Mets into the postseason and even appeared in the NLCS clash against the LA Dodgers.

Looking back on this deal, Baseball Today's Chris Rose asked former Minnesota Twins star Trevor Plouffe if Francisco Lindor has lived up to the expectations placed four years ago. The Twins star cited Lindor’s consistent 5.8 to 6.0 WAR averages while also praising him for being the clubhouse leader.

Plouffe first justified how his $340 million investment is now looking like a bargain, considering the gigantic deals of Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto.

"I mean, I think he has—if you’re just looking at the numbers and what he’s meant to the franchise—yes," Plouffe said (4:20 onwards). "And especially, you know, we always look at these deals in the present, but we have to understand this is a 10-year deal.

"So, the $34 million that he’s going to make—like, in six or seven years—we’re probably going to look at that and say, ‘Well, so-and-so is making $45M, so it looks like a bargain.’ You have to look at it through that lens."

Plouffe further highlighted Francisco Lindor's leadership qualities while further justifying his massive contract.

"You have to have the right leaders. And I think he’s been that," Plouffe added. "There’ve been times where we’ve called out the Mets for doing some silly things, but over the last couple of years, I feel like he’s really taken over a leadership in that clubhouse and kind of changed things.

"And now, we’re talking about them as one of the perennial powerhouses. ... I played against him and got to know him pretty well in the AL Central, and he’s a guy that shows up with energy every day. That’s rare—to have your superstar player be the guy that brings energy every single day and is that spark plug."

Francisco Lindor as Mets captain? Manager and teammate share opinions

After Francisco Lindor was announced as the captain of the Puerto Rican side for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, calls for him to be hailed as the Mets' captain started circling.

However, Lindor's teammate Brandon Nimmo suggests captaincy cannot be slapped on one guy and rather asked for it to be everyone's responsibility to step up when required.

“It’s supposed to be one person,” Nimmo said of the captaincy. “But from what I’ve seen, and how our team responded last year, I saw many different people step up and lead. And I think that just slapping the ‘C’ on one guy would probably not be a full picture of what’s actually been going on in here.”

Meanwhile, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza suggested that if there is one person who should be named Mets captain, it should be Francisco Lindor currently, but he could see other faces also coming through.

“You’ve got so many guys doing things that captains do,” Mendoza said. “Lindor’s right at the top, but you could make a case for a few of the guys. They police themselves really well.”

MLB teams don't have captains. At the moment, the New York Yankees are the only team with a captain, the two-time AL MVP Aaron Judge.