The Mets did exactly what they needed to do in paying Francisco Lindor so much money

It’s the best move.

Is Francisco Lindor worth the 10 years and $341 million he was just handed by the New York Mets on Wednesday night after a contract standoff?

That’s not the question you should be asking.

Here it is: what would have happened if the Mets didn’t lock him up long term?

The answer to that last one is all the LOLMETS tweets and “shame on the franchise that continues to do all the wrong things,” and endless jokes about how owner Steve Cohen is richer than like 20 MLB owners combined (not true, but he has A LOT more money than the next name on the list).

This is what good franchises do. They make trades like the one the Mets made for the free-agent-to-be star and then hand them whatever they want. Because you don’t get to trade for a young superstar still in his prime at an important position and then do something that might make said superstar think about being appreciated more elsewhere if he doesn’t get what he wants.

It doesn’t matter whether it was an overpay or not relative to what Fernando Tatis Jr. got from the San Diego Padres (per Spotrac, it was 14 years and $340 million). What matters is the Mets needed to prove to fans that what Cohen said at his opening press conference wasn’t just empty words. The fans need to know this franchise isn’t going to do the same thing over and over again.

And they got that with the Lindor signing.

Yes, there’s more to focus on beyond the deal. Home-grown talent Michael Conforto also needs an extension and deserves one. Two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom will need a big deal if he opts out after 2022.

But the present makes all parties happy — Lindor, the fans and even Lindor’s teammates:

It’s a sign that the Mets are well on their way to no longer being a laughingstock. And that’s worth whatever they paid Lindor and more.

[mm-video type=video id=01f23mtx75q22ekd8z playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f23mtx75q22ekd8z/01f23mtx75q22ekd8z-3d7b40905efb118cb9d3fb6700028654.jpg]