Cleveland Indians to trade Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco to New York Mets

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Indians are trading shortstop Francisco Lindor and pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets.

The deal, which was announced by both teams Thursday afternoon, included four players heading to Cleveland, including infielders Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario, and two minor league prospects: pitcher Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene.

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo first reported Rosario was included in the deal.

Since making his MLB debut in 2015, Lindor ranks first among all shortstops in WAR (28.4), home runs (138), and extra-base hits. He also ranks second in RBIs (411) and runs (508), and fifth in OPS (.835) and slugging (.485), while batting .285. At 27, Lindor has earned two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He also finished second in the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year voting and earned four All-Star nods while helping Cleveland to multiple playoff appearances, including the 2016 World Series.

Carrasco, who was acquired by the Indians back in 2009 as part of the team's trading of Cliff Lee, in a 2-time reigning A.L. Comeback Player of the Year winner, and also led the A.L. in wins in 2017. In eleven seasons, Carrasco posted a record of 88 wins and 73 losses, as well as a 3.77 earned run average and 1,305 strikeouts.

Of the players acquired by the Indians in the trade, only Giménez and Rosario have major league experience, with both posting at multiple infield positions (including shortstop). Giménez is coming off a rookie season in which he batted .263 with 12 runs batted in and 8 stolen bases in 49 games, finishing seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year vote.

Rosario, who leaves Queens after four seasons, batted .268 with 32 home runs and 148 RBIs in his time with the Mets, along with 50 stolen bases (and a career-high 24 in 2018).

As for the prospects, Wolf is a 20-year-old right-hander whose lone minor league season came in 2019 with the GCL Mets, in which he went 0-1 in 5 starts with a 3.38 ERA. Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 170 pounds, Wolf originates from Houston and had verbally committed to Texas A&M before signing with the Mets out of high school.

Greene is a 19-year-old outfielder who was drafted 62nd overall by the Mets in the 2020 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound left-hander was drafted out of the University of Missouri.

With the trade, Cleveland sheds roughly $44 million from the team payroll, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.