Báez's free-agent wish? Play with Lindor

El Mago on the big stage in New York? Sounds like that's something Javier Báez can picture happening.

Báez wants to play with Francisco Lindor. And that, of course, would mean going to the Mets.

The Cubs shortstop said in a radio interview Tuesday with Spanish station Mega 106.9 that if he goes into free agency at the end of this season, he'd like to be reunited with his Puerto Rico World Baseball Classic teammate.

Báez said in the interview that Lindor is the only player for whom he'd move back to second base, where the two-time All-Star played earlier in his career before taking over as Chicago's full-time shortstop in 2019.

Lindor, who played shortstop for Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic with Báez at second, is locked in as the Mets' shortstop, under contract through 2031 after signing a $341 million extension in April.

Bringing Báez to New York would entail the Mets either waiting for him to become a free agent after 2021 and signing him in the offseason or trading for him now, before Friday's Trade Deadline. The Mets have been linked much more strongly to Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, and not so much Báez. But Báez could still be a fit.

If the Mets got Báez, who's batting .245 with 22 home runs, 13 stolen bases and 65 RBIs in 90 games this season, they could play him at second base, keep Lindor at shortstop and move Jeff McNeil to third base.