Dodgers: What Francisco Lindor updates mean for Corey Seager market

Francisco Lindor looks as if he was meant to inhabit a Mets uniform forever so far this spring.

Unfortunately, such things have no bearing on the way the team does business.

Lindor will go to the highest bidder, whether such an offer comes prior to April 1 or later on down the line, when a glut of other shortstops hit the market following 2021.

That group includes a reigning two-series postseason MVP in Corey Seager, someone the Dodgers would really like to retain, but also someone they haven’t really stressed over thus far.

Even after Seager’s postseason heroics, one would still assume Lindor is ultimately ticketed for the highest deal of the entire available group, which also includes Carlos Correa, Javier Baez and Trevor Story.

Lindor’s future at short is more secure than Seager’s, his pedigree has been marked with more consistency, and he’s on a Hall of Fame path. Perhaps most importantly, the Mets would be best-served not letting him hit the market, where he’d compare favorably to every one of his competitors with only Fernando Tatis Jr.’s mammoth extension as a real baseline.

As of Sunday, rumor has it New York is willing to go up to $300 million (per Jon Heyman), but perhaps hasn’t reached that mark yet with any offer…and they’re running out of time.

Can the Dodgers benefit from the Mets’ Francisco Lindor talks?

Those figures are nice, but Lindor doesn’t seem satisfied yet — he’s looking at $300 million as a reported baseline, whereas the Mets seem pressed to reach that number, which they consider a ceiling.

If Lindor’s number comes in close to the $300 million mark, Seager seems set to pocket slightly less, between $270 and $280 million.

If the Mets ultimately relent and reset the market in the name of keeping Lindor out of their rivals’ clutches? That could push Seager north of $300 million.

The Mets should be hell-bent on locking up Lindor in the next week and a half — or they should at least keep leaking these numbers to make their case look stronger.

It is a double-edged sword for the Dodgers, too. If a deal gets done, that’ll be one fewer shortstop suitor on the market, and one less appealing player, too. The number of teams chasing Seager will increase in volume, even if his price doesn’t rise exponentially.

Whether Lindor is signed quickly or at the tail end of 2021, his deal will probably drag Seager’s cost higher and higher, especially if $300 million is the baseline.

If the current Met sticks around in the market, the Dodgers would be wise to try to get Seager’s deal done on Day 1 of free agency before the Lindor number gets finalized — or the spurned Mets come calling.

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