Mets' Francisco Lindor shares update on Jeff McNeil promise

New York Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor continues to insist he will purchase a promised car for teammate Jeff McNeil. 

"It will happen — it’s just a matter of time," Lindor vowed following Sunday's season-closing home defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. "In the offseason, I have got nothing but time, so it will happen."

Lindor promised during the 2022 MLB season he would buy McNeil a car if the utility man won the batting title for the campaign, which McNeil did with a .326 average. However, Lindor has routinely generated headlines over the past 12 months for failing to keep his word. 

This past spring, Lindor declared the much-anticipated purchase was "a hundred percent" eventually going to occur. A couple of months later, he said during a podcast appearance that the unresolved situation was "just a matter of what car I’m getting." 

Lindor signed a 10-year contract extension that could be worth up to $341M with the Mets ahead of the 2021 season and presumably could afford to buy cars for just about every player on the active roster, but that's not the only reason his unwillingness to fulfill his promise has left many within the New York baseball community scratching their heads. 

Lindor and McNeil reportedly got into an altercation in the spring of 2021, and knowledgeable individuals have repeatedly said that clubhouse problems hovered over the 2023 Mets throughout what became arguably the most disappointing campaign in franchise history. 

MLB's most expensive squad missed the playoffs and ended Sunday at 75-87. 

As had been expected for weeks, if not months, the Mets officially announced Monday that David Stearns is their new president of baseball operations, and Stearns moved on from manager Buck Showalter even before Sunday's game. 

The Stearns-less Mets completed a pre-trade deadline fire sale this summer to stock up on prospects, and it's thought the new executive could shop players such as McNeil and All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso this fall and/or winter in an attempt to fix everything and anything that went wrong for the club this year. 

Lindor isn't going anywhere, but McNeil may find himself driving a new car to a new home city before spring training arrives assuming he receives a gift he earned roughly one year ago.