Indians: Francisco Lindor proved he isn’t worth a big contract

While many fans have clamored for the Indians own Francisco Lindor to be re-signed, the fact is that he isn’t worth his perceived market value.

Francisco Lindor, even by his standards, was bad in 2020. Lindor, a career .285 hitter, hit .258 in 2020 and was absolutely a non-factor in the Cleveland Indians race for the playoffs. You’d think the award for most disappointing players of the Indians 2020 season would be Carlos Santana but that’s not the case, as you’ll soon see. Lindor was easily the biggest disappointment this year.

For someone who’s supposed to be the face of the franchise and one of the leagues best players, as an offensive presence, he’s never warranted being paid like a top of the line guy. Baseball is one of the few sports where stats can be compared regardless of position. So let’s do that by looking at Mike Trout, who is the best player in all of baseball and only a fool would argue against that point. Lindor may be one of, if not the best shortstop in baseball but is he worth a deal on par with Trout, who makes $35 million a year? (The Angles have only been to the playoffs once)

Trout is a better hitter than Lindor in every way. It’s not even close either. Lindor’s best slugging year saw him hit .519. Since Trout’s rookie year, he never slugged below .557. Lindor’s best OBP was in 2016 where he posted a .358. Trouts’ worst was in 2014 where he posted .377. He won the MVP that year. Their OPS? Lindor’s best was a .871 in 2018. Trout’s worst was a .939 in 2014. With all of those hefty stats, it’s still fair to say Trout doesn’t deserve his 12-year/$420 million contract.

If Trout hasn’t earned his, Lindor doesn’t deserve a 10 year/$300 million contract and to even argue for that he does is laughable. He’s a good hitter but not a great one. He’s also not very clutch, Lindor was 11th on the team in batting average with runners in scoring position for 2020. Jose Ramirez (THEE MVP), Santana, and Tyler Naquin were No. 1- No. 3 in the category. Ramirez hit all but 11 of his RBI’s with runners in scoring position. Santana all but three and Naquin all but six. That means Ramirez hit 76% of his runs in that situation. Santana hit 90% of his RBI’s in that situation. Lindor only hit 14 of his 27 RBI’s in those situations.

Now you’ll argue “Well, he had fewer opportunities”. No, he tied with Santana for the most on the team, with 60 opportunities. Lindor was just bad at it. Hitting .167 and leading the team in double plays hit into with runners in scoring position? That’s horrible.

Think this is new? In 2019 he hit .202 (15th on the team), 2018 he hit .281 (better but only 10th on the team), 2017 he hit .277 (5th on the team), 2016 he hit .244 (12th on the team). The only year he hit over .300 with runners in scoring position (RSIP) was in 2015, his rookie year. He only had 99 games and 390 at-bats but still drove in 42 RBI’s with RISP. In 2015, 2016, and 2017 he ranked no lower than third on the team for total RBI’s with RISP but no year since has been in the top three.

Lindor is a crazy good defender and he’s a good offensive hitter. None of this is to say otherwise. The Indians won’t be better off without him. He’s simply not the player that so many think he is. The Indians know he’s not a $30 million player, nor is he a $25 million player. He’s simply not that kind of guy. The problem though isn’t on Lindor, it’s on the market value for these players who vastly overvalue themselves.

The simple truth is that no baseball player in the history of forever has ever been worth a third or even a sixth of his team’s payroll. Lindor will get paid, never live up to his contract (even if he’s a Hall of Famer), and will go down as a guy who made a lot of money but like Bryce Harper or Trout, didn’t do much winning.