The Mets have agreed to a contract extension with Francisco Lindor.
The deal is worth approximately $341 million over 10 years, and there is a limited no trade clause and no opt-outs, according to SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Lindor will be paid $32 million a year in each of the 10 seasons (beginning in 2022) with $5 million each year deferred to 2032-41, plus a $21 million signing bonus.
Lindor, 27, had been set to hit free agency after the 2021 season, and had given a hard deadline of Opening Day for a deal to get done, reiterating recently that he would not negotiate during the season.
Martino reported on March 30 that the Mets had offered Lindor a contract worth roughly $325 million over 10 years, and that -- with Lindor seeking more -- the two sides were brainstorming potential solutions.
The signing of Lindor is the biggest expenditure for new owner Steve Cohen since taking over (and the biggest contract the Mets have ever given out) and comes after an offseason where the Mets made splashes (including the trade for Lindor and Carlos Carrasco) but were deliberate when it came to handing out huge deals on the free agent market.
Cohen has spoken about wanting to build a sustainable winner, and the Mets' reluctance to outbid the Toronto Blue Jays for George Springer (along with Trevor Bauer spurning them for the Los Angeles Dodgers) helped keep New York's future salary obligations in check -- and arguably made a massive extension for Lindor more palatable.
Shortly after dealing for Lindor, team president Sandy Alderson said that he was comfortable with the price the Mets paid via trade to get Lindor and Carrasco even if Lindor left via free agency after the 2021 season; that price was Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario, and prospects Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene.
But while Alderson may have been comfortable with the price via trade for one year of Lindor, a long-term deal with the Mets felt inevitable. And with the way the rest of their offseason shook out after the Lindor trade, the Mets were well positioned to get it done.