Francisco Lindor exclusive: ‘I’m a better baseball player today’ than in my 20s
Posted on: March 9, 2026, 06:20h.
Last updated on: March 9, 2026, 06:20h.
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- Francisco Lindor prioritizes championship over MVP as Mets chase title
- Lindor enters 12th MLB season still seeking first World Series ring
- Mets star hopes to play until age 39 as he eyes two-decade MLB career
The New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor is a full-fledged veteran at this stage of his career.
It’s hard to believe, but Lindor is about to begin his 12th season in the MLB after bursting onto the scene as a star shortstop for the Cleveland Guardians in 2015. Lindor finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting and helped lead the Guardians to a World Series appearance in 2016. Lindor has made a number of deep postseason trips in his career, advancing to the playoffs six times in his career.
He also more recently led the New York Mets to the NLCS during the 2024 season, finishing as an NL MVP finalist for the first time in his career. The veteran shortstop has been an All-Star, has won Gold Gloves and has won Silver Slugger awards. However, he’s still seeking his first championship as he enters his age-32 season.
“You want to be the best version of yourself every single year, you want to avoid that decline,” Lindor told Casino.org in an exclusive interview.
“You want to keep trending upwards and winning. It’s the number one factor — you play to win, day in and day out. The awards, the accolades, they’re going to come if you do things the right way and you play the game as hard as you can.” One other thing that Lindor has yet to accomplish is winning an MVP award. However, he has finished as a finalist multiple times in his career.
While he acknowledges it would be nice to win an MVP award, Lindor said the ultimate objective is to win a championship. He’ll hope to lead the Mets to their first World Series in 40 years this season.
“Winning MVP would be great,” Lindor said. “Winning Silver Sluggers would be great. Winning Gold Gloves would be great. Do I play for those? No. Do I prepare for those? Yes, but I don’t play for them. I play to try to win the game, day in and day out, and try to win the championship.”
Lindor: I’m a better baseball player now than in my 20s
Lindor has been to the All-Star Game on five occasions, he’s been a Gold Glove winner twice and he has won the Silver Slugger Award on four different occasions. He remains a strong player deep into his career, hitting 31 home runs last season. He finished 10th in MVP voting while posting his fifth All-Star selection.
When asked what is the biggest difference between him now compared to earlier in his career, Lindor said he’s a “better” baseball player now, and he doesn’t take anything for granted. “When I was young in the game coming up, I was just going through my days and not thinking about them,” Lindor said.
“Now I have more intent in how I do things. I’m probably stronger, and I’m a better baseball player today, because I don’t take anything for granted. The things I do on a daily basis have their right intent.” Lindor said he always had the objective of playing until the age of 39. That would mean the end of his career would be during the 2032 or 2033 season, which would mark around 19 seasons in the MLB and 22 years professionally. He said that remains the objective, but the decision will ultimately come down to his wife and kids.
“That’s always been a thought of mine since I signed professional,” said Lindor. “I always said I want to play 22 years and that was going to put me at 39 years old. That was when I was single. Now I would love to play 22 seasons still, but then the decision is going to come down to me and my wife and my kids when I get to that age. But at the end of the day it’s one of those where it’s a privilege if you get to play to that age. “Haven’t really thought about, am I going to retire when I get there,” Lindor continued to say.
“It’s going to be, does my wife and I feel like it’s the right decision to stay in the game or to walk away? Hopefully I’m in the position to say, ‘Can I walk away or can I stay?’ A lot of players don’t get that opportunity.”
Lindor: Shortstop greats have formed ‘small circle’
Lindor mentioned that he looked up to Roberto Alomar, Derek Jeter, Jose Reyes and Barry Larkin while growing up. He specifically mentioned Alomar, a fellow Puerto Rican baseball star who is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen of all time and is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I looked more at Roberto Alomar — he was the guy that I looked up to,” said Lindor. “I looked at guys like Derek Jeter, Jose Reyes, Barry Larkin, those were elite shortstops. But my guy was Roberto Alomar.” He said he has spoken to basically all of his idols over the years because it’s a “small circle.”
“Reyes, Alomar, Jeter, I ran into him, I talked to him a little bit,” Lindor said. “It’s a small circle, and we all appreciate what we have all done. Whenever you get the opportunity to talk to these guys, you run into them. “There’s been a couple (notable conversations). I’ve talked to guys about what it’s like in the playoffs,” Lindor continued to say.
“Don’t play every game like it’s Game 7. I’ve talked to others about what it’s like to be in a big market because I wasn’t in a big market first, and I actually trained with Larkin in Orlando.”
When asked who is the toughest pitcher he’s faced and who is the best shortstop not named him, Lindor said the New York Yankees’ Max Fried and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. “Bobby Witt Jr. and the toughest pitcher is Max Fried,” said Lindor. “Witt can do it all, and Fried I haven’t got a hit against in like three years.”
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