Tampa Bay Rays: Resources on Francisco Lindor Rumors

The Tampa Bay Rays are in the headlines again as trade rumors swirl around the club and the Cleveland Indians superstar Francisco Lindor.

The Tampa Bay Rays are not typically buyers in such trades, but Francisco Lindor is still under club control for a couple of years and the Rays may be in a position to strike for a World Series.

The Cleveland Indians will likely be looking to unload to the superstar once baseball activities resume. Buster Olney of ESPN pointed at the Rays as a likely surprise contender for the star shortstop.

These are new rumors as the Rays were linked to the mega-star earlier this offseason. It appeared the Indians were putting things to bed as the season approached. Recently, the word on the street changed.

.@keithlaw on @BullandFox more on #Indians - Lindor: "I personally think, knowing him and knowing who his representative is, they just want to go to free agency. My understanding is, the team was willing to talk extension with him and he just said 'I'm going to free agency.'"
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) May 5, 2020

This all brings great interest to Rays fans so we are here to provide you with resources.

Here is an article I wrote this winter when the rumors began. This was before the Jose Martinez trade.

This article asks and answers the following questions

Is he a rental?
Why Tampa will probably have no interest.
Why it might make sense to make an offer.
Who would the Rays have to give up?

That last part is the biggest issue at this point. Would the Rays have to give up both Willy Adames and a prospect like Brent Honeywell Jr. or Vidal Brujan? Probably so. That may sound like a lot to some Rays’ fans but to some of the folks in Cleveland, it doesn’t sound like enough.

Les Levine and Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com would prefer the Indians just keep Lindor rather than trade him for a guy whose name they don’t even know how to pronounce.

The reality is, Adames is one of nine shortstops to hit 20 homers last season and he led the American League in defensive runs saved. He’s under team control until 2025 and any team would be lucky to have him.

Paired with a prospect such as Brent Honeywell or Vidal Brujan, it may do the trick for a franchise who just traded Corey Kluber for Delino DeShields Jr. and Emmanuel Clase.

Honeywell was once one of the top prospects in the game but hasn’t pitched since 2017 due to injuries. By all accounts, he is healthy and ready to go for 2020.

Vidal Brujan is a speedster with 55 and 48 steals in the past two seasons, but with Brandon Lowe at second on the big-league club and Xavier Edwards behind him in the minors, he could be expendable.

Tracking Lindor is at least giving us a reason to talk about Rays baseball right now. By all means, share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Tampa Bay Rays are in the headlines again as trade rumors swirl around the club and the Cleveland Indians superstar Francisco Lindor.

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