Francisco Lindor: “We’re going to add pieces and get better in the second half”

If you had any doubt about Francisco Lindor’s mindset heading into the second half, it should be gone now.

In a wide-ranging interview with reporters ahead of tomorrow’s All-Star Game, Francisco Lindor talked about the weirdest thing a fan has asked him to sign, his Home Run Derby predictions, how excited he is about being on an All-Star team, and oh yeah, he’s decided the Indians are not trading anyone.

From your mouth to the Baseball Gods’ ears, Frankie.

A month ago, this proclamation might have sounded a bit brash. The Indians were trailing the Minnesota Twins by double digits and nobody told the offense the season started. Now, though, the Indians sit just 5.5 games back of the Twins with a pivotal series coming up right out of the All-Star break and an offense seems like they can put up 10 runs on any given night. Sweep or win that series against the Twins, and suddenly the AL Central anybody’s game.

From there, it’ll be up to the Indians not sit back on a month of good baseball and call it good for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. They may rattle off another six-game winning streak and take back the division, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have fixable holes. If a market is out there for a player that could help them overcome the Twins — do it. As General Manager Francisco Lindor said, the goal is to get better in the second half. One easy way to do that is by acquiring the pieces you need at the deadline.

Now, of course, Francisco Lindor is only the GM in my dreams, so in reality Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, and company could completely ignore the wishes of their superstar player and opt to rebuild. Or at the very least, they could reload by dealing Brad Hand at his peak value and exploring what they could get for Trevor Bauer. Lindor could also be referring to the return of players like Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco to the rotation as “adds”, or even an exciting young outfield prospect with bulging biceps like Daniel Johnson.

Either route could potentially fulfill Lindor’s prophecy.