Steve Sica - What Kind of Leader is Francisco Lindor

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Jeff Passan said that the Met are a team "lacking an identity" right now. He tweeted that out along with a picture of Francisco Lindor.

Lindor is the undisputed leader of the Mets and even when Alonso and Nimmo were there, despite their longer tenure with the franchise and being home grown Mets', you still had the sense that this was Lindor's team.

Lately, well, it feels like every year, Lindor's play, leadership, aura, whichever you want to call it comes into question. This year, the noise is louder than most, thanks for a complete roster overhaul and one of the worst April's in team history. Lindor seems to always bear the brunt of the fan and media ire towards the Mets.

Which leads to the question of, what kind of leader is Francisco Lindor? This is not a question laced with criticism, but a genuine look at the type of player Lindor both on the field, around his teammates and to the media. 

The best example of Lindor leading this team is undoubtedly 2024. He had a career year and put the team on his back to get them to a postseason berth. His two key home runs in Atlanta in game 161 and then his grand slam in game four of the NLDS against Philly were two of the biggest blasts in recent Met history. But it's also a glance into the type of leader Lindor is. 

When he hit that grand slam at Citi Field against the Phillies, all but putting the final dagger into Philly, he ran around the bases like he just hit a home run on some random day game in April with 10,000 fans in the stands. Not like he just hit the most crucial shot in the Met season with a sell out madhouse at Citi Field erupting around him.

Even when the Mets clinched the series, he is seen acting very calm while his teams jump around him. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, in an era of showboating home runs, Lindor is a breath of fresh air that he simply jogs around the bases in a very "job not finished yet" type of way. Fans though can take this two ways. 

I read somewhere that winning in New York isn't good enough for New York fans. New York fans don't just want you to win, but win with style. It's all too true. New York fans want you to be just as loud and passionate as they are when you're on the field. It's why the 1986 team is so beloved. It's why fans latched onto Matt Harvey as soon as he came up. They love players that show their emotions and fans feed off that in the stadium.

This simply isn't what Francisco Lindor is. He's not the kind of player that's going to give you that fire and brimstone attitude out there. Perhaps that's why his legacy is cloudy. He reminds me of Carlos Beltran. Another soft spoken type of player that just got the job done and was great at it. Although, him jumping on home plate after that walk off against the Cardinals in August of 2006 is an iconic shot, Beltran's legacy as a Met always comes into question.

Francisco Lindor is without a doubt, the greatest shortstop to ever wear a Met uniform. But maybe it's time to stop forcing him to be something he's not. I do think he's a great leader. Captain worthy. But for the fans that want to see this high energy type player, it's just not going to happen. Juan Soto could be that guy, but in my opinion, him acting more like an Ivan Drago type player raises his intimidation factor. 

We can only hope that whenever Lindor's time with the Mets comes to and end, he'll have World Series ring to show for it. Otherwise, we're going to be going down the same road as we did with Beltran. Watching the best Met to ever do it at their position, but focusing on the negative and not appreciating what we have in the moment.