Toronto Blue Jays Reportedly Almost Acquired Superstar Francisco Lindor in a Trade

How might things have changed if the Blue Jays had acquired Lindor before the 2021 season?

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) hits an RBI double against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning during game three of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citi Field on Oct 8. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

According to a post on social media from former New York Mets interim general manager Zack Scott, superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor was nearly acquired in a trade by the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2021 season.

Let's get to the facts here, first and foremost:

1) Scott served as the interim general manager for the Mets from January 2021-November 2021. He replaced Jared Porter before ultimately losing his job himself.

2) Lindor was traded to the Mets from the Cleveland Guardians following the 2020 season and before the 2021 season, so Scott would certainly have institutional knowledge of how the trade went down.

3) Scott posted the following on Tuesday on social media, which was picked up by TheScore. His posts were not still public as of Wednesday afternoon.

He said "I worked for the Mets, not the Guardians, so my perspective may not be fully informed. Cleveland asked us and the Jays if we would do a certain package. We both said yes. Cleveland slept on it and then told us they would do our deal. The Jays did nothing wrong... we squeaked it out."

Former Mets' GM Zack Scott says the Blue Jays had an offer on the table with Cleveland for Francisco Lindor but they chose to take the Mets offer instead. 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/YfTAsCJrIM

— theScore (@theScore) October 9, 2024

Lindor is one of the best players in baseball, having spent 10 years in the big leagues with the Guardians and Mets. He is a four-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger and a two-time Gold Glover. He's got the Mets just one win away from the NLCS entering play on Wednesday.

It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had Lindor joined the Blue Jays and not New York. For instance, would Bo Bichette still be in Toronto, or would he have been dealt? Would Toronto have actually won a playoff game in recent memory? They haven't won a playoff game since 2016.

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