Francisco Lindor 'I Want to Win' with the Indians, Says Both Sides Talking About Deal

Francisco Lindor took center stage on Monday in Goodyear, getting asked many of the same questions as he was a few weeks back at TribeFest.

Most of the questions had to do with his future, and if in any way, shape or form it would include him continuing to wear script Indians across his chest.

Lindor is a wanted man by the Indians, but as has been well documented the price range that the shortstop wants is almost for sure well out of range for the team to come up with.

Monday though the attitude seemed to change, if even a little bit, and there seemed to be a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, something could get done.

“I love it here,” Lindor said via Indians.com. “I mean, people are great. The city of Cleveland has been nothing but good to me. Why would I want to leave?”

Indians fans feel the same way, but it’s not their money that would be being spent to keep him wearing Tribe colors for however many seasons the team could secure him for.

If Lindor is to stay in Cleveland, it’s very much going to put a dent in the pocketbooks of the team’s owners, the Dolans.

Fans have been critical of the owners in the past for not spending money and keeping players in the fold, but if they could find a way, anyway, to keep Lindor with the team, a lot of ill will would be forgotten.

It’s also going to take some creativity on the part of the team and Lindor to come up with a fair deal. Team President Chris Antonetti isn’t shy in saying how difficult a deal like this is to get done, and that the sides have to come to common ground to make a deal happen.

“It’s a really hard situation,” Antonetti said. “It’s not because of a lack of desire on our part or on Francisco’s part. But more when you look at the economics of baseball and the realities of building championship teams in a small market, it gets really tough.

“The interest is there. The desire is there, on both sides, to try to get something done. Whether or not that’s possible, we just don’t know.”

There was plenty of speculation this past offseason that the team was going to deal their All-Star shortstop, and just like last season with pitchers Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber on the block, nothing got done.

At least not yet.

Bauer was gone by the trade deadline to the Cincinnati Reds, and Kluber was dealt this offseason to the Texas Rangers for reliever Emmanuel Clase and outfielder Delino Deshields.

The same fate could await Lindor if a deal can’t get done by the 2020 MLB trade deadline, but for now the shortstop says that he is just interested in doing the best he can for the city and team that originally drafted him.

“My approach this year is winning here,” Lindor said.

“I want to win here. I want to stay in Cleveland. This is home. I’m not playing to get traded or to put myself in a good spot to get traded for a numerous amount of players. I’m playing to win. I want to win here.”

Getting a deal done with Lindor and keeping the Indians competitive is likely going to be next to impossible unless the Dolan’s do go in a very different direction with their pocketbooks.

Lindor isn’t shy about saying that he’s very open to chatting about a deal to stay with the Tribe, but he’s also treating this like he should – a business deal that has to make sense for himself.

“If the negotiations or whatever make sense, it’s gonna happen,” Lindor said.

“If it makes sense for both sides, it’s gonna happen. If not, it’s not gonna happen. God has a plan. I believe in what he’s got for me and that’s it, man ... I have shown how much I want to be here. So has the team. It’s a matter of things making sense.

“We’ve talked, but nothing has been concrete, nothing has made sense yet. It’s early still.”