Lindor's eyes on health, season, not FA market

CLEVELAND -- Practicing in an empty ballpark just makes it even easier for Francisco Lindor’s laugh to radiate throughout Progressive Field, even when his mouth is covered by a mask.

The health and safety precautions have made Summer Camp look much different than a usual Spring Training, but Lindor’s personality hasn’t changed. The Indians’ shortstop walked out of the dugout with manager Terry Francona to take batting practice on Monday afternoon and told his skipper to make sure he applied enough hand sanitizer, handing him a bottle. Little did Francona know, he was applying a spray version of pine tar on his hands.

“We almost wanted to release him,” Francona joked. “I’ve used rubbing alcohol [to try to get it off]. I’ve used tape remover. It’s everywhere. It was actually kind of fun. It’s been a little bit of fun to have some fun with the guys.”

Lindor is one of the best players in the game, but his fun-loving, jovial spirit makes it even harder for a fan base to cope with the idea of potentially parting ways with him in the near future. Lindor is set to hit free agency at the end of the 2021 season. He’ll likely be a hot topic at this year’s Trade Deadline on Aug. 31 and, if he’s still with the Tribe in the offseason, he’ll be at the center of attention again at the Winter Meetings. But over the past few months without baseball, he said he hasn’t had time to think about his future with the club.

“I haven’t thought about that because there’s plenty of other things that I’ve got to think of, and one is this pandemic,” Lindor said. “We did such a good job in the first two months, and then all of a sudden, we started not to follow some of the guidelines. We don’t have to live in fear. Don’t live in fear. But respect your neighbor. Respect your surroundings, because you might be one person who is super healthy and nothing will happen to you, but somebody else is not as fortunate as you are. So understanding that taking care of yourself, or taking care of someone else’s life, is huge.

“I’ve been thinking more about that and all of the changes we have to make for the team to move forward than whether I’m going to be in Cleveland or not. That’s gotta be way down the list.”

Over the past three months, Lindor was able to hit, field, lift and face a few pitchers at facilities near his home in Florida. On top of that, he also represented the Indians for the Players Association during the negotiations with Major League Baseball, a process he considered enjoyable and insightful.

“I’m happy we are gonna play the game,” Lindor said. “It’s interesting being a part of this back-and-forth, and it gave me a good understanding of where both places are. It was fun, to be honest. It was fun to see and be part of this dynamic. I’m very aware of [the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations for] 2021, and I think we left off at a good place, with a sense of every player knows what could happen, what can happen, and they’re more aware of the situation, so it was interesting.”

While clubs and the league are working through some initial bumps in the road in getting testing results, Lindor is optimistic that a season can be successfully completed.

“I think the coaching staff and everyone that’s around us, we got to do a good job of protecting each other and protect yourself so you can protect others,” Lindor said. “With that being said, yes, we are exposed to the virus on a daily basis. We can get it anywhere -- even by mistake -- and I think there’s a good chance of playing the season, but we've got to continue to protect each other and do a good job of taking care of each other if we have to.”

In the meantime, the Indians will continue to prepare for Opening Day in just less than three weeks. But after nationwide movements and protests against racial inequality and social injustice have sparked a national dialog on those issues, the Tribe announced on Friday that it would begin discussions about the best path forward in regard to the nickname, “Indians.” In traditional Lindor fashion, the shortstop said he wants to do anything that will cause more people to be happy.

“I know society is shifting, and we are due for some change,” Lindor said. “So along those guidelines, yeah, I’m open for a change in name if it’s going to bring love and happiness and more peace to the world.”