Mets sign Francisco Lindor to 10-year $341 million deal

 It's official! Francisco Lindor is a member of the New York Mets not only in the present, but in the future. The Mets and the All Star short stop agreed to terms on a 10-year $341 million deal just hours before Lindor's self-impossed deadline struck on Opening Day. 

The agreement comes after it appeared negotiations were dead when the Mets made a final offer of $325 million, while Lindor's camp wanted a deal around $385 million over 12 years. Both sides wound up in the middle. 

The deal is the third richest in MLB history according to both Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, trailing only Anaheim's Mike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts ($365 million) in total value. It is $1 million more than the deal Fernando Tatis Jr. signed with the Padres this winter. 

The deal includes upwards of $50 million in deferrals according to Sherman, and a limited no trade clause, and no opt-outs. 

The Mets and Lindor had to get this done. Had they not, they risked creating a distraction, and angering an already perturbed fan base even more. Now the focus can be primarily, and exclusively on baseball.