Mets' Francisco Lindor trade update from Ken Rosenthal tells real story

There's no question that the New York Mets will be sellers prior to this summer's MLB trade deadline, which is clearly a situation they didn't plan on being in.

The real question doesn't surround the obvious pieces, like contract-year Freddy Peralta. Francisco Lindor is the name that everyone wants to know whether he's available.

The Mets themselves are saying Lindor isn't, with owner Steve Cohen recently emphasizing that Lindor and Juan Soto "aren't going anywhere."

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, though, tells a different story in his new article on Friday.

"Speculation about Lindor will persist until he and Soto prove they can co-exist and the New York Mets snap out of a funk that now dates back more than a year," Rosenthal writes.

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A Lindor trade might not happen immediately, but that will only allow speculation and rumors to grow even larger surrounding the star shortstop.

"Lindor, who enjoys full no-trade protection, recently declined to discuss whether he would be open to a deal," Rosenthal writes. "Moving position players with big contracts generally is easier in the offseason, when teams are more flexible with their rosters."

No, this report from Rosenthal doesn't say specifically what's next for Lindor.

What it does do, though, is show that the face the Mets are putting on about not trading Lindor might not be the whole picture, either.

At some point, the Mets are going to have to do something incredibly bold, because what they thought was a great plan has turned out to be brutal.

Is that trading Lindor now, or later? Maybe. It could be something else.

But the Mets aren't in a position to hold too firm. Right now, they aren't standing on very solid ground.

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