How Francisco Lindor became the heart and soul of the Mets
-
Jeff Passan, ESPN
BEFORE EVERY GAME, Francisco Lindor flits around the New York Mets‘ clubhouse, stopping at the lockers of green rookies and grizzled veterans, players from the United States and Venezuela and Japan and Cuba and the Dominican Republic. It’s his ritual now, one performed out of equal parts desire and duty.
“I look forward to it every day,” Mets left-hander Sean Manaea said. “The consistency, the positivity — he really is like that every day.”
He does it after the game, too, regardless of the circumstances, and whether it’s with a pat on the back, a dap, a joke, a compliment, a wisecrack, a question or an embrace, Lindor seemingly manages the impossible: marrying extreme levels of wholesomeness with a sincerity that keeps it from growing cheesy. Earlier this month, after the Seattle Mariners held the Mets to one run in a three-game sweep, Lindor “is just walking around and saying: turn the page, enjoy the flight, enjoy your families, we’ll get ’em Tuesday,” said Mets reliever Adam Ottavino. “He is just hugging everybody, slapping five with everybody, making sure that we’re all together. Because that’s exactly who he is.”
To those unfamiliar with the rhythms of a baseball season, Lindor’s dismissal of a bad series could suggest a lack of care or urgency. In reality, the opposite is true. Lindor is the metronome. Now 30 years old and in his 10th major league season, he is acutely attuned to what the Mets’ clubhouse needs at any given moment — and, in fact, those inside it give him credit for launching the team back into playoff contention after a hellacious tailspin earlier this year.
This position in Queens didn’t necessarily come easily for Lindor. After six drama-free years with Cleveland, his first season with the Mets in 2021 saw Lindor wrap his hands around the neck of his double-play partner in the tunnel during a game, flash a thumbs-down sign to fans who had booed his substandard performance and generally fail to ingratiate himself in the manner of a star who signed a 10-year, $341 million contract. The next year, he was featured prominently in the Mets’ renaissance as they won 101 games. Last season, they flopped, having baseball’s highest-ever payroll at more than $400 million but finishing nowhere close to even a .500 record. And now, in a year when little was expected, Lindor has grown into the best version of himself.
Which is saying something, because for a decade now, Lindor has been one of the finest players in baseball, building the sort of résumé to pave a path 200 miles from Queens to Cooperstown. He is nearly halfway to 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. He plays shortstop with grace and flash and consistency, with precious-metal gloves — two gold, one platinum — to show for it. In all of baseball history, only four shortstops finished their first 10 years with more Baseball-Reference wins above replacement (WAR) than Lindor’s 48.0: Arky Vaughan, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr. and Pee Wee Reese.
Since 2015, Lindor ranks third among all MLB players in FanGraphs WAR behind only Mookie Betts and Mike Trout. And both by WAR and impact, this could be his greatest season yet. He tops the National League leaderboard, ahead of Shohei Ohtani and Ketel Marte, is one of seven players to have not missed a game this season and Thursday became the first shortstop ever with three seasons of 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases. He has found the sweet spot of personal and professional growth, embracing the responsibilities of the face of a New York sports franchise while staying true to who he aspires to be. And with it have come the MVP chants at Citi Field, three letters that tell as much of a story about who he is as what he has done.
“It brings a smile to my face because it would be a dream,” Lindor said, “but I understand we’ve still got a long way to go, and I’ve got to put up way better numbers. If the fans feel that way, it’s fantastic. But I got to continue to climb. I got to continue to help the team win.
“MVPs are not won in June and July. MVPs are won in August and September.”
SINCE LINDOR ARRIVED in a January 2021 blockbuster trade, the Mets have gone through five heads of baseball operations and three managers. Last year, over the course of just eight months, the team went from all-in to fire sale. Then the hiring this winter of David Stearns, widely regarded as one of the game’s best executives, brought a leader to a front office that under new owner Steve Cohen had grown increasingly efficient and modernized. Stearns’ hiring of Carlos Mendoza to run the on-field product was the final touch of stability for an operation that had spent most of the previous three decades foundering, practically capsizing, on account of an almost intrinsic ability to blunder.
Mendoza, a baseball lifer who had spent the previous four years as New York Yankees bench coach, understood his first priority as manager: ensure he and Lindor were on the same page. Mendoza had seen firsthand how Aaron Judge‘s support of Aaron Boone paid dividends inside the clubhouse — and that would be even more true in one with as many young players as the Mets expected to rely on.
“I needed him to trust me and I needed to get to know him,” said Mendoza, who also offered Lindor the chance to focus on the field if he thought it would better serve him. “That was my biggest messaging [to him]: ‘I appreciate the fact that you want to be a leader, but you have a big job. You’ve got to play shortstop for the New York Mets every day.’
“What I didn’t get is he can do it all. Everybody sees what’s happening on the field, but the person, the father, the husband, the quality of the human that he is — this guy is special, man. Everything is so detail oriented. The way he prepares is unbelievable. And he’s to a place now where New York is home for him.”
The Mets opened the season at home with five straight losses. They followed by winning 12 of their next 15. They finished April at 15-14. “And I’m looking forward to May,” Lindor said, looking back. “It’s going to get warm. Things are going to get better. And then they didn’t.”
It was, Lindor said, “very baseball.” The Mets weren’t getting blown out. They were just losing. A lot. Nineteen times over the next 26 games. The ugliness was reinforcing the expectation internally that the Mets would again spend trade deadline season subtracting from their roster. By the end of the month, their record dropped to 22-33, after a May 29 loss in which reliever Jorge Lopez responded to an ejection by throwing his glove into the Citi Field stands.
“I was getting ready to call a meeting,” Mendoza said. “And before I went to do my press conference, I was walking by and it’s like, ‘hey, the players are meeting.'”
Meetings helmed by players, particularly during chaotic periods in a season, can devolve into meandering festivals of grievance. Lindor had gathered them anyway. He has struggled in the past knowing when to speak or how much to say, but this players-only get-together would hinge on his ability to keep a losing team focused — and by then, he had earned their attention. All of the times patting his teammates’ backs and making them laugh and lifting them up bought Lindor the ability to speak without coming off as a blowhard.
“For him to sound the alarm is a tool that needs to be used in a very sparing way,” Cohen said. “Otherwise, it gets tuned out. But he knows his team, he knows the people, he’s at the stage in his life where he’s seen a lot, there’s a sense of emotional maturity and he’s really thoughtful.”
Lindor, who himself had spent the season’s first two months on the struggle bus — he was hitting .211/.279/372 through nearly 250 plate appearances — simply wanted the Mets players to ask themselves a question: “Are you actually working?” Were they running out ground balls? Or making the best effort to track down fly balls? Were they early for meetings instead of loping in when they were starting? Did their effort in all areas of the game reflect the sort of team they want to be?
“We didn’t have an identity yet as a team,” Ottavino said. “We were together, but we weren’t. I think guys were still thinking about other years, and sometimes it takes a while for the team to be in the moment. And I felt like finally after that game, after that meeting, we did kind of throw away a lot of the preconceived thoughts about what the season was going to be. And I think the team focused their energies a little better as a unit.”
Others spoke up. Manaea, the 32-year-old starting pitcher who had joined the Mets over the winter, pointed at other teams prioritizing fun, particularly on the basepaths. “I basically just said we need something to rally around,” Manaea said. “We’d just played the Dodgers. They have their thing. The Guardians have the Super Mario thing. You look at all these teams, and they have something everyone on the team rallies around.”
Both Francisco Lindor and Carlos Mendoza said that the celebration from Jesse Winker after his base hit in the 2nd inning set the tone for tonight’s energy pic.twitter.com/6pvu26UuCN
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 15, 2024
And thus began the Mets celebrating extra-base hits by — well, they slap the air. Some players opt for forehand only, while others go forehand-backhand and put some oomph into it. Though the intended target of the air swings remains a secret held tight by the players, quickly they found themselves air-slapping with regularity. In the first game after the meeting, Lindor went 4 for 4. The Mets won two in a row, then three straight shortly after. Grimace, the McDonald’s character and anthropomorphic taste bud, threw out the first pitch at Citi Field on June 12, and the Mets promptly ripped off seven consecutive wins.
Lindor and his teammates were quick to say: The Mets didn’t start winning because of the meeting. But it was the start of something. Soon after the players-only session, hitting coach Eric Chavez tore apart the team’s offense during a hitters’ meeting of his own. Mets players didn’t balk. They needed accountability to ensure that 22-33 lived only as a reminder of what had been.
“We live in a market where success is the only thing that matters,” Lindor said. “We are athletes, and we have to get it done. The best thing is how hungry the whole organization is to get better, to continue to find a way of accomplishing the ultimate goal. For me, the ultimate goal is to win and have a sustainable franchise where I’m playing for the playoffs every single year.”
And so as the season builds toward August and September, the focus for Lindor narrows. The leeway for him to slump dissipates. Since the day after the meeting, he is hitting .308/.383/.556 with 17 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 72 games. Only Judge and Bobby Witt Jr., the two best players in baseball this season, have more WAR in that stretch. “And that,” Manaea said, “is the stuff I love. The grind of a season. Having the ups and downs. And being able to right the ship and play for something special at the end. There are so few guys who have suited up every single game. And Francisco’s year mirrors our season. Didn’t really start off the year as good as he’d hoped for, but to be where he was and where we’re at now, it’s incredible.”
Only recently have the NL standings shaken out, with Pittsburgh and St. Louis faltering, San Diego and Arizona surging and the Mets finding themselves in prime position to take the last wild-card spot from their longtime rival, Atlanta. The Braves are banged up and have been all season, and though the Mets are missing their ace, Kodai Senga, and elbow issues have thinned their relief corps, their lineup is filled with the sorts of .400-plus-slugging hitters that Atlanta currently just can’t match.
The realistic chance to play in October compels Mendoza to keep trying to give Lindor a break. Take a day, he suggests. Nope, Lindor responds. Way back in spring training, Lindor was hyperspecific with Mendoza that he wanted to spend a particular number of minutes on his feet — rather than an exact number of innings played — on game days. October baseball is why. Lindor is intensely aware of his body’s capability, and he wants August and September — the MVP months — to be when he peaks.
“Here we are in August and I’m trying to tell him, like, dude, you got to back up back off a little bit,” Mendoza said. “He’s like, ‘no, I’ve got to show the way.’ I’m literally trying to do things like, let’s show up a little later to the ballpark just to give the guys a little bit of a break. And he’s the first one out there. He’s the first one on the field. He’s always taking batting practice; he’s taking ground balls. I’m like, I’m thinking about giving you a day and it’s like, ‘Monday is my day off, Mendy. I want Monday.’ Which is a scheduled off day for the team.
“On one hand it’s kind of frustrating. You don’t want the guy to burn himself out. But on the other hand, what a great example and what a great gift that you have not having to urge your leader and your star to be the example setter for everyone else. He just naturally gravitates to that.”
FROM THE MEETING to Grimace to journeyman Jose Iglesias dropping a chart-topping single while batting .335, the Mets’ 2024 season has served at least one purpose: to entertain. Compared to last year’s root canal, this has been a fun season, and starring a fun team, particularly when its offense comes alive (and the Mets’ conflagrant bullpen — the homer-happiest in the NL — avoids combusting again).
All of this matters to Lindor, as, increasingly, does the trajectory of the team, because the best remaining years of his career will be spent with it. Lindor’s contract runs through the 2031 season. He’ll turn 38 shortly thereafter. If he is going to win a championship, it will come with the Mets. And who would surround him on a title-winning team is starting to reveal itself. Brandon Nimmo is in the outfield and Francisco Alvarez behind the plate. Mark Vientos could stick at third base or potentially shift to first if Pete Alonso leaves in free agency. There’s probably a spot for Jeff McNeil, whose power has surged post-meeting, and rookie infielder Ronny Mauricio, who’s out for the season with a torn ACL. Their next generation of position players has ranged from injured (Jett Williams) to OK (Ryan Clifford) to eh (Luisangel Acuna) to not good (Colin Houck). The heart of a good rotation is there, with a healthy Senga, the electric young arms of Brandon Sproat and Christian Scott, David Peterson logging innings and Edwin Diaz finishing games.
“The more I talk with Steve, the more I talk with David, I do believe that we are going in the right direction,” Lindor said. “They’re very methodical. And that to me is a great way of running a company, a franchise or living life. They’re extremely smart, and they believe in the data, but also the data is not going to make the decision for them. The analytics is not just everything. They gather information from everybody. They believe in the human element and they believe in the computer and I think that’s fantastic.”
When Cohen bought the Mets, he said his goal was to win a championship in the first three to five seasons. This is Year 4. The juggernaut dreams ran into the reality that building a sustainably good baseball team takes time and process more than it does money.
Still, passing the Braves, even in an off year, would chisel away at the reputation of near-impermeability Atlanta has spent decades fostering. It’s the excellence of which Lindor dreams.
“He is consistent with his narrative as a leader, which is all about winning,” Ottavino said. “He always sheds light on the winning aspect. He’s not somebody that is going to talk about his own achievements or his own stats, yet he’s very good at celebrating other people’s accomplishments. So if somebody hits a milestone or does something special, Francisco is usually the one who’s quick to point that out after the game and make sure we’re all celebrating the team and the guys and making everybody feel good in that way.
Tonight kicks off a vital road trip in which the Mets will visit San Diego for four games and Arizona for three before a three-game respite against the Chicago White Sox. New York’s schedule softens slightly in early September but makes up for it with as gnarly an end-of-the-season docket as there is: four against the Philadelphia Phillies, three at Atlanta, three at the Milwaukee Brewers.
It could signal the conclusion of a solid season for the Mets or the beginning of a potentially great one. That they’re even in this position says this year is an unequivocal success for a team that looked one meeting from collapsing. Instead, there is meaningful August and September baseball in Queens and one man in particular looking forward to soaking in the next round of chants.
“I’m proud to be a New York Met,” Lindor said. “But my job is not done. I haven’t done what it takes to win. We haven’t won the World Series. So I don’t want to say I’ve done my job to the ultimate end. I feel like not until the day we win, when I have the opportunity to give the trophy to Steve or Alex and say we did it, the job is not done.
“And then since we’re in New York, nobody’s going to care in the next year. So we got to go out and do it again.”
Alijah Arenas, son of Gilbert Arenas, will suit up for the USC Trojans next season.
The five-star, 6-foot-6 guard from Southern California announced his decision on Thursday. He picked the Trojans over his father’s alma mater, the Arizona Wildcats, while also receiving offers from the Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats. He reclassified in December from the class of 2026 to 2025.
Here is a look at the most successful father-son combos in sports history.
Multiple sports
Deion Sanders/Deion Sanders Jr./Shilo Sanders/Shedeur Sanders
Father’s accomplishments: Deion played 14 seasons in the NFL. He was drafted No. 5 overall in 1989 by the Atlanta Falcons after being named a two-time All-American at Florida State. Sanders was named a Pro Bowler eight times, with 53 interceptions throughout his career and two Super Bowl wins. He also played nine seasons of professional baseball for the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. He famously played in a game for the Falcons against the Miami Dolphins, then immediately flew to Pittsburgh to dress for his baseball game with the Braves against the Pirates in the NLCS. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
How his sons followed: Deion Sanders Jr. was a two-star athlete in the 2012 class, signing with SMU as a wide receiver and kick returner. As a sophomore kick returner, Sanders Jr. was named a second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection. Shilo was the No. 287-ranked prospect in the 2019 class and signed as a cornerback with South Carolina.
Shilo and Shedeur were coached by their father during their college football seasons with the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes.
MLB
Ken Griffey Sr./Ken Griffey Jr.
Father’s accomplishments: Ken Griffey Sr. played 19 seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds. He was part of the Big Red Machine that won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Griffey Sr. was a three-time All-Star and finished his career with a .296 batting average, 152 home runs and 859 RBIs. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 All-Star Game and has been inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.
How his son followed: Ken Griffey Jr. also had a long career, playing 22 seasons in the big leagues, including 13 with the Seattle Mariners and nine with Cincinnati. Griffey Jr. was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He is seventh all time with 630 career home runs, was a 13-time All-Star and won 10 Gold Gloves for his play in center field. He was the American League MVP in 1997 and led the AL in home runs four times during his career.
In 1990, Griffey Sr. and Griffey Jr., both playing for the Mariners, made history when they became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs in a game.
Bobby Bonds/Barry Bonds
Father’s accomplishments: Bobby Bonds played the majority of his 14 seasons with the San Francisco Giants and became just the second player to hit 300 career home runs and steal 300 bases, joining Willie Mays. He set records for most times leading off a game with a home run in a season (11) and in a career (35) — both of which have since been broken. Bonds was a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.
How his son followed: Barry Bonds played 22 seasons, mostly with the Giants, and was a seven-time National League MVP. Bonds holds the records for most career home runs, with 762, and most home runs in a season, with 73. He was a 14-time All-Star, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner. Bonds tied his father for the most seasons with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, with five. He also holds the MLB records for walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688) in a career.
Sandy Alomar/Roberto Alomar/Sandy Alomar Jr.
Father’s accomplishments: Sandy Alomar Sr. competed in 15 seasons and could play all infield and outfield positions. He was an All-Star in 1970 and played a full 162-game season that year and in 1971. Alomar Sr. was a talented bunter and aggressive on the base paths, totaling 227 stolen bases in his career, including 39 in 1971.
How his sons followed: Twelve-time All-Star Roberto Alomar was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He won World Series championships with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. He won more Gold Gloves (10) than any other second baseman and finished his 17-year career with a .300 batting average, 2,724 hits and 210 home runs. Sandy Alomar Jr. was the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star Game, and he won Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove Award in 1990. Alomar Jr. was named an All-Star six times during his 20-year career and had a 30-game hitting streak in 1997.
Cecil Fielder/Prince Fielder
Father’s accomplishments: Cecil Fielder was a three-time All-Star and won a World Series title with the New York Yankees in 1996. In 1990, he was the first player since George Foster in 1977 to hit at least 50 home runs in a season. Fielder led the American League in home runs in 1990 and 1991 and in RBIs from 1990 to ’92. He hit 319 career home runs, recorded 1,008 RBIs and was a two-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award.
How his son followed: Fielder was the youngest player (23) to hit 50 home runs in a season. Prince Fielder was a six-time All-Star and won the Home Run Derby twice — once as an NL All-Star and once as an AL All-Star. He totaled 319 career home runs, the same number as his father, and drove in 1,028 runs. Fielder was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2015.
Cecil and Prince Fielder are the only father-son duo to each hit 50 home runs in a season.
Vladimir Guerrero/Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Father’s accomplishments: Guerrero spent 16 seasons playing in the MLB for the Montreal Expos, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles. He was a nine-time All-Star, the 2004 American League MVP and an eight-time winner of the Silver Slugger award. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and finished his career with 2,590 hits.
How his son followed: Guerrero Jr. signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 and made his major league debut in 2019. He hit 48 home runs in the 2021 season and became the second father-son duo to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Prince and Cecil Fielder in accomplishing that feat. Guerrero has since been a four-time All-Star and a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner for the Blue Jays.
NBA
LeBron James/Bronny James
Father’s accomplishments: LeBron James is still going strong in his 22nd NBA season. He’s the league’s all-time scoring leader and eclipsed 40,000 points last season. LeBron has won four NBA championships and made an NBA-record 20 straight All-Star appearances.
How his sons followed: The Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, pairing him with his dad, LeBron, in the NBA. The two appeared in a game together in October 2024, becoming the first father-son duo to do so in NBA history. Bronny is expected to split time between the Lakers and their G-League affiliate. Bryce, LeBron’s youngest son, committed to Arizona in January as part of the Wildcats’ 2025 class.
Dell Curry/Stephen Curry/Seth Curry
Father’s accomplishments: Dell Curry retired as the Charlotte Hornets‘ career scoring leader (9,839 points) and ranked first in 3-pointers made (929). Curry was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1994 and averaged 11.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in his 16-year career.
How his sons followed: Stephen Curry has led the Golden State Warriors to four NBA championships and been named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player twice. Curry is a 10-time All-Star and was the NBA scoring champion in 2016 and 2021. He holds the NBA record for most made 3-pointers in a regular season, with 402, and most consecutive regular-season games with a made 3-pointer, with 268. Seth Curry was a two-time NBA D-League All-Star and has spent time with several NBA teams. He averaged 12.8 points over 70 games in 2016-17 with the Dallas Mavericks.
Doc Rivers/Austin Rivers
Father’s accomplishments: As a player, Doc Rivers was known for his defense, but he averaged a double-double during the 1986-87 season, with 12.8 points and 10.0 assists per game. He was an NBA All-Star in 1988 and played with four teams during his 13-year career. Rivers was named Coach of the Year in 2000 with the Orlando Magic and led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title as their coach in 2008. He was the head coach of the LA Clippers from 2013-2020 and Philadelphia 76ers from 2020-2023. He was announced as the Milwaukee Bucks head coach in January 2024.
How his son followed: In 2015, Austin Rivers was traded to the Clippers and became the first NBA player to play for his father. Rivers has averaged 9.2 points per game in his seven-year career, including 15.1 PPG in 2017-18 with the Clippers. He then played for the Wizards, Rockets, Knicks, Nuggets and the Timberwolves.
Mychal Thompson/Klay Thompson
Father’s accomplishments: Mychal Thompson, the No. 1 pick in the 1978 NBA draft, won back-to-back NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and ’88. Thompson was on the All-Rookie team in 1979 and went on to average 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his career. He averaged a double-double in 1981-82, with 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
How his son followed: Klay Thompson won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors. Mychal and Klay Thompson became just the fourth father-son duo to each win an NBA title as a player and the first to each win back-to-back championships. Klay is a five-time All-Star, was named to the All-Rookie team in 2012 and won the 3-point contest in 2016. He holds the NBA playoff record for most 3-pointers made in a game, with 11.
Joe “Jellybean” Bryant/Kobe Bryant
Father’s accomplishments: Joe “Jellybean” Bryant played eight seasons in the NBA before heading to Europe and playing seven seasons with teams in Italy. He scored 53 points in a game twice during the 1987-88 season with Pistoia. Bryant played into his 50s, suiting up for the American Basketball Association.
How his son followed: Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant is fourth in career scoring, with 33,643 points. He played 20 seasons for the Lakers and was named an All-Star 18 times. Bryant was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008 and the Finals MVP in 2009 and ’10. He was the NBA scoring champion in 2006 and ’07 and was named to the All-NBA first team 11 times and the All-Defensive first team nine times. Kobe had both his No. 8 and his No. 24 retired by the Lakers.
NFL
Archie Manning/Peyton Manning/Eli Manning
Father’s accomplishments: Archie Manning was a quarterback in the NFL for 13 seasons, mostly with the New Orleans Saints. Despite never leading a team to a winning record, Manning made the Pro Bowl in 1978 and ’79. He threw for 125 touchdowns and rushed for 18 during his career. He has been inducted into the Saints’ Ring of Honor and the Saints’ Hall of Fame.
How his sons followed: Peyton Manning was the first pick in the 1998 NFL draft and holds the NFL records for career passing yards (71,940) and passing touchdowns (539). He is the only starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl for two franchises. A 14-time Pro Bowler, Manning was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player five times and a first-team All-Pro seven times.
Eli Manning was the first pick in the 2004 NFL draft and led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles, earning Super Bowl MVP honors both times. He is a four-time Pro Bowler, ranks sixth in passing yards in NFL history and started 210 consecutive games from 2004 to 2017, the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history.
Howie Long/Chris Long/Kyle Long
Father’s accomplishments: Eight-time Pro Bowl selection Howie Long played his entire 13-year career with the Raiders organization. The defensive end helped the Raiders win the Super Bowl in 1984, and he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1985. Long finished his career with 84 sacks and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. He also made 10 fumble recoveries and two interceptions during his time in the NFL.
How his sons followed: Chris Long was the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NFL draft and won back-to-back Super Bowls — with the New England Patriots in 2017 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. The defensive end recorded 70 sacks in his 11-year career.
Kyle Long, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, was a guard for the Chicago Bears. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2014 and made the All-Rookie team in 2013.
He returned from his 2019 retirement with a one-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2021 season but did not play due to injuries.
Clay Matthews Jr./Clay Matthews III/Casey Matthews
Father’s accomplishments: Clay Matthews Jr. played 19 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Cleveland Browns. He appeared in 278 games, the most by a linebacker, and recorded 1,561 tackles, 69.5 sacks and 16 interceptions in his career. Matthews was a four-time Pro Bowler and was first-team All-Pro in 1984, recording 12 sacks that season.
How his sons followed: Clay Matthews III, a six-time Pro Bowler, helped the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl title after the 2010 season. The linebacker was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and totaled 91.5 sacks, 17 forced fumbles and six interceptions in his 11-year career.
Linebacker Casey Matthews played from 2011 to ’14 for the Philadelphia Eagles and recorded 2.5 sacks.
Christian McCaffrey/Ed McCaffrey
Father’s accomplishments: Ed McCaffrey’s 13-year NFL career included three Super Bowl wins and one Pro Bowl appearance. He earned 7,422 receiving yards and notched 55 receiving touchdowns, a majority of which came with the Denver Broncos. Ed McCaffrey played a key role in the Broncos winning back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998.
How his son followed: A highly touted recruit out of Stanford, Christian McCaffrey has lived up to the hype in the NFL. In his eighth season, the running back has rushed for 6,224 career yards and 52 touchdowns, including a league-leading 1,459 yards in 2023, when he earned Offensive Player of the Year honors.
NHL
Bobby Hull/Brett Hull
Father’s accomplishments: Bobby Hull received the Hart Memorial Trophy twice as the NHL’s most valuable player and earned the Art Ross Trophy three times as the NHL’s leading points scorer. The left wing won the Stanley Cup in 1961 with the Chicago Blackhawks and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. Hull led the NHL in goals seven times and was the second-leading goal scorer in NHL history, with 610, when he retired. Hull won back-to-back All-Star Game MVP awards in 1970 and ’71.
How his son followed: Brett Hull scored 741 goals in his career, the fourth-highest total in NHL history. The right wing won Stanley Cups in 1999 with the Dallas Stars (including scoring the championship-winning goal) and in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. Hull scored at least 50 goals in five consecutive seasons, and his 86 goals in 1990-91 are the third most in a season in NHL history. He was named the NHL’s MVP that season and received the Hart Memorial Trophy. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father to become the first father-son duo in the Hall.
Keith Tkachuk/Matthew Tkachuk/Brady Tkachuk
Father’s accomplishments: Keith was selected 19th overall in the 1990 NHL draft and played for 18 years with four different teams. He finished his career with 527 goals and 1,065 points. At the time that he scored his 500th goal, he was just the fourth American-born player to achieve that milestone and was the sixth American-born player with 1,000 points.
How his sons followed: Matthew was selected sixth in the 2016 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames but has since been traded to the Florida Panthers, where he helped lead the team to a 2024 Stanley Cup title.
Brady was taken with the fourth pick in the 2018 draft by the Ottawa Senators. He was named the team’s captain in 2021 and has scored 171 regular-season goals in his career.
Auto racing
Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Father’s accomplishments: Dale Earnhardt won 76 Winston Cup races, including the 1998 Daytona 500. Earnhardt claimed seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships, tying Richard Petty for the most all time. It was 22 years before Jimmie Johnson matched the accomplishment in 2016. Earnhardt died as a result of a collision on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2010.
How his son followed: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won 26 Cup series races, including the Daytona 500 twice (2004, 2014). He had 260 top-10 finishes in Cup races in his career. Junior was a fan favorite, winning the Most Popular Driver award 15 times. He was the Busch Series champion in 1998 and ’99 before being named NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 2000. He is retired and a broadcaster now.
Next generation
Carmelo Anthony/Kiyan Anthony
A four-star shooting guard from New York, Kiyan Anthony announced his commitment to Syracuse in November 2024. Kiyan follows in the footsteps of his father, Carmelo, who averaged 22.5 points and 6.2 rebounds across a 19-season NBA career. Carmelo spent a season at Syracuse, leading the Orange to the 2003 national championship.
Dikembe Mutombo/Ryan Mutombo:
Ryan followed in his father’s footsteps and played for the Georgetown Hoyas as a 7-foot-2 center. He transferred to play for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets after three seasons with the Hoyas.
Penny Hardaway/Jayden Hardaway/Ashton Hardaway:
Both Jayden and Ashton played for their father with Memphis. Jayden is a guard who averaged 3.1 points per game in the 2023-24 season, while Ashton averaged 2.3.
Dajuan Wagner/D.J. Wagner:
D.J. spent the 2023-24 season with the Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. He transferred to the Arkansas Razorbacks after the season.
Dennis Rodman/DJ Rodman:
DJ was a 6-foot-6 forward for USC. He averaged 8.4 points per game and made 36.2% of his 3-point shots in the 2023-24 season for the Trojans. He went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft.
Shaquille O’Neal/Shaqir O’Neal:
Shaqir is a 6-foot-8 forward at Florida A&M. He averaged 1.8 points per game in the 2023-24 season for Texas Southern.
Peja Stojakovic/Andrej Stojakovic:
Andrej was a McDonald’s All-American out of high school before committing to the Stanford Cardinal. He averaged 7.8 points per game as a freshman for the Cardinal. He transferred to UC Berkeley after the 2023-24 season.
Jerry Rice/Brenden Rice:
Brenden transferred to the USC Trojans from the Colorado Buffaloes prior to the 2022 season and led the Trojans with 12 touchdown receptions in 2023. He had 791 yards receiving on the year and was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 NFL draft.
Marvin Harrison/Marvin Harrison Jr.:
Harrison Jr. won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best wide receiver and finished the 2023 season with 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was selected No. 4 by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2024 NFL draft as one of the best receiver prospects available.
Frank Gore Sr./Frank Gore Jr.:
Gore Jr. was No. 32 among all FBS running backs in rush yards in 2023 with 1,131. He had 10 rushing touchdowns and averaged 4.9 yards per rush. Gore Jr. went undrafted in 2024 but signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Emmitt Smith/E.J. Smith:
E.J. had a slow start to his collegiate career with just 587 rush yards and five touchdowns in four seasons with Stanford. He transferred to Texas A&M in 2024.
Honorable mentions
Ray Boone/Bob Boone/Bret Boone/Aaron Boone; Felipe Alou/Moises Alou; Tom Gordon/Dee Gordon/Nick Gordon; Rick Barry/Brent Barry/Jon Barry; Bill Walton/Luke Walton; Larry Nance/Larry Nance Jr.; Tim Hardaway/Tim Hardaway Jr.; Bruce Matthews/Jake Matthews/Kevin Matthews; Jackie Slater/Matthew Slater; Gordie Howe/Mark Howe; J.P. Parise/Zach Parise; Peter Stastny/Paul Stastny; Lee Petty/Richard Petty/Kyle Petty; Mario Andretti/Michael Andretti/Jeff Andretti/Marco Andretti; Ken Norton Sr./Ken Norton Jr.; Calvin Hill/Grant Hill; Peter Schmeichel/Kasper Schmeichel
-
Jorge Castillo
On Dec. 8, one month and nine days after a nightmare fifth inning torpedoed the New York Yankees‘ hopes of overcoming a 3-1 deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, the Yankees absorbed another franchise-shifting loss at the winter meetings in Dallas.
Juan Soto wasn’t returning. And he wasn’t just not returning — he was signing with the New York Mets.
The Yankees offered the superstar outfielder a 16-year, $760 million contract. When he rejected it, general manager Brian Cashman and his front office turned to plans they had devised during their pursuit of Soto should they need to pivot. His departure set in motion a flurry of activity over a 12-day stretch in mid-December to attempt to raise the floor on a roster with franchise cornerstones Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole still in their primes.
“You can’t replace a Juan Soto,” Cashman told ESPN this week. “So how do you cushion the blow and diversify that throughout the lineup? And then the defense was a real problem on our roster. We had a bad defensive team. We have an opportunity to upgrade the defense at the same time, which will improve our run prevention and our pitching. So, getting more athletic, getting more protection on the defensive front while still trying to provide good, strong balance on the offensive side was, ultimately, the simple framework.”
The Yankees believe their aggressive restoration attempt after an uncharted disappointment — losing a bidding war for your superstar free agent? To the Mets? — wasn’t just successful. They believe it was an upgrade.
“Some people may disagree with me,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told the YES Network on Tuesday, “but some people will agree with me: I think we have a better team right now than we did a year ago today.”
The Yankees’ first post-Soto move — just 48 hours after Soto accepted a 15-year deal worth $765 million guaranteed to defect to Queens — was to bolster a strength: They added another front-line arm to a deep rotation with an eight-year, $218 million contract with Max Fried, one of the three best starters on the free agent market.
A day later, the Yankees agreed to re-sign reliever Jonathan Loaisiga to a one-year, $5 million deal. Two days after that, they acquired Devin Williams, arguably the best closer in the sport, from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin. Four days later, they finalized a trade with the Chicago Cubs for Cody Bellinger. Three days after that, they acquired reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson from the Cincinnati Reds for backup catcher Jose Trevino.
Then, on Dec. 21, the last major addition: an agreement with veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year, $12 million contract.
“The Soto deal is insane,” a rival executive said. “It could be a blessing in the end. Fried is an ace. Bellinger might hit 30 HRs there and shores up their defense. Goldschmidt is a Hall of Famer. Added a bullpen arm. All in all, pretty good.”
The Yankees let second baseman Gleyber Torres and relievers Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle walk in free agency. Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo are among the other contributors from last season’s club who won’t return.
“I think they’ve pretty much nailed everything they’ve done,” a rival scout said.
Among the Yankees’ potential targets in a pivot were left-hander Blake Snell and shortstop Willy Adames. The team held Zoom calls with both free agents. Real interest was expressed from both sides. But both players decided to sign in the week before Soto made his choice. The Yankees, not wanting to commit to any long-term deals before knowing where Soto would sign, watched them go elsewhere.
The Yankees also held a Zoom call with Corbin Burnes, the third of the big three free agent starters, but an offer was never made, sources said. The Yankees, with Snell off the market, instead focused on Fried.
In the bullpen, Williams represents an upgrade over Holmes, the Yankees’ closer until he lost the job in early September, though it could be for just one season. Williams arrives with just one year of control remaining, just like Soto had.
“At the end of the day, we are trying to win,” Cashman said. “It’s a win-now move, just like Soto’s acquisition the previous year was a win-now move. And, obviously, the Yankees are about impact and trying to find impact.”
The Cubs, seeking to free up payroll, were between trading Bellinger to the Yankees or Toronto Blue Jays, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. The Cubs ultimately settled on the Yankees’ offer of right-hander Cody Poteet, also sending the Yankees $5 million to pay down Bellinger’s salary over the next two years.
At the time of the trade for Bellinger, the Yankees were still shopping for a first baseman. They never had interest in signing Pete Alonso, sources said. Christian Walker could have been a fit, but the Yankees decided they didn’t want to pay the penalty for signing a player who was given the qualifying offer. The Yankees engaged in discussions with the Cleveland Guardians on Josh Naylor, but the two sides couldn’t come to a resolution, according to a source, before Naylor was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In the end, it came down to giving the job to Ben Rice, a rookie last season, or signing one of two free agents in their late 30s: Goldschmidt or Carlos Santana. Goldschmidt, another former MVP, is 37 years old and coming off his worst season, but the Yankees were encouraged enough by his strong second half (.271/.319/.480) with St. Louis to make the low-risk investment.
Goldschmidt’s down season — he batted .245 with 22 home runs, a .716 OPS, and 1.1 fWAR — would still be a considerable improvement on the production the Yankees received from their first basemen in 2024, who ranked last in the majors in OPS (.594), tied for 26th in home runs (17) and 27th in fWAR (-1.2).
Offsetting the loss of a player of Soto’s caliber — one who recorded a .989 OPS, blasted 41 home runs, posted an 8.1 fWAR, routinely delivered in clutch situations and made life easier for Judge hitting behind him — is an inexact science, with several moving pieces beyond all those transactions.
Judge is slated to move from center field, where the metrics said he performed poorly last season, back to right field. Jasson Dominguez, the organization’s top prospect, should be given an extended run for the first time after September call-ups the past two seasons — and he should be an upgrade in left field over Verdugo, one of the least productive regulars in baseball last season. Add Bellinger in center field, and the Yankees’ outfield projects to drastically improve defensively.
“What’s going to matter ultimately is the wins and losses that transpire over the six months when we open March 27th,” Cashman said. “Once that starts, that’s the real world. Sleep on us, don’t sleep on us. Overrate us, underrate us. None of it matters. All that matters is us winning. And if we win as much as we’re capable of winning, then it keeps those dark storms, that are really not fun to deal with, away. And that’s all I care about.”
The Yankees aren’t quite finished yet. They would like to further replenish the roster in two areas.
Acquiring a third baseman or second baseman — and having Jazz Chisholm Jr. play the other position — remains on their to-do list, though club officials maintain they have internal options, including DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza. Trading for Nolan Arenado or signing Alex Bregman are not among the options, sources said.
They could also use a left-handed reliever; the team’s 40-man roster currently doesn’t include one. A reunion with Tim Hill, who excelled after joining the Yankees in June and recorded a 2.05 ERA in 35 appearances, is on the table.
Financially, the salaries of Goldschmidt, Fried, Williams and Bellinger will combine for $74.6 million on the Yankees’ competitive balance tax (CBT) payroll while Soto alone will count as $51 million against the Mets’ CBT ledger. To facilitate further acquisitions, however, the Yankees prefer to shed right-hander Marcus Stroman‘s contract, which includes $37 million over the next two seasons. The Yankees’ current projected CBT payroll is $302.9 million, according to Cot’s Contracts, putting them nearly $62 million over the tax threshold.
Since they’ve been over the tax for at least three straight years, the Yankees would be taxed at a base rate of 50% plus a 60% surcharge if they exceed the threshold by at least $60 million at the end of the season.
Last season, the Yankees paid a $62.5 million tax for their $316 million CBT payroll. The tax bill was the third-highest among the nine payees. The Mets were second. The team that beat them in October was first.
The Dodgers, after investing more than $1 billion in player contracts last winter, continued splurging after winning the World Series, committing more than $450 million to free agents this winter after paying a $103 million tax payment on top of their $353 million payroll last season. Their spending spree has drawn angst from all corners of the baseball world — including from the Yankees, once the free-spending Goliath who engendered ire throughout the industry.
“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing,” Steinbrenner said.
The Yankees, according to Forbes, are the highest valued franchise in the majors and the fourth-highest-valued sports franchise in the world at an estimated $7.55 billion. The Dodgers rank a distant second in baseball and 24th in the world at $5.45 billion but are making major inroads in Japan with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and now Roki Sasaki on the roster.
For now, the Dodgers are the defending champions, and they are, on paper, better than ever — with All-Stars seemingly everywhere. The Yankees, without Soto, will try to chase them down with a very different roster after a very busy offseason. Time will tell if their pivot was enough.
“It’s impossible to make 110% great decisions at all times,” Cashman said. “We’re trying to aspire to that, but maybe this ’25 version will be the magic run. We’ll see.”
Joey Logano has found a way to tune out months of negativity.
Critics? Naysayers? Anyone who thinks his third Cup Series championship was a fluke?
“I can’t hear it because my trophies, they kind of, like, echo around me,” Logano quipped during a videoconference call with media Wednesday.
Logano won his third title in November, sparking debate about whether NASCAR’s current playoff format is the best way to determine the series’ worthiest champion. Few could make a strong case for that being Logano in 2024.
He won four races, had 13 top-10 finishes and rarely had the car to beat over 37 events.
He got huge breaks along the way, too. He used what amounted to a Hail Mary to win in Nashville — stretching his empty fuel tank through five overtimes — just to qualify for the postseason. And then he was actually eliminated from playoff contention in the second round only to be reinstated when Alex Bowman’s car failed a postrace inspection.
While competitors have since called for NASCAR to tweak its playoff format, with some wanting to move the finale to a different track every year instead of keeping it at Phoenix Raceway, Logano — not surprisingly — believes the setup is just fine.
“The playoff system is very entertaining,” he said, adding that teams often get hot in other sports and win it all. “It takes a lot to get through the 10 races to win the championship. … When the playoffs start, a lot of times you see teams that fire up.
“And we’ve been one of those teams, thankfully, and it’s worked out for us three times. But I don’t think that means you have to change the playoff system.”
NASCAR said earlier this week that no tweaks would be made to the championship format in 2025. Instead, officials plan to study it for another year before making any decisions. That won’t stop drivers from stumping for a makeover.
“I think it deserves a look for sure and probably a change down the road,” Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron said. “I just don’t know what that change is. I feel like we’ve just gotten into such a routine of going to the same racetrack for the final race, and having similar tracks that lead up to it has gotten a little bit predictable. But you could say probably the same thing in other sports, with the [Kansas City] Chiefs hosting the AFC championship every year.
“It’s just kind of the nature of sports, probably; it gets a little bit repetitive. But it’d be nice to see the final race to move around.”
Team Penske has won the last three Cup Series titles, with Logano sandwiching championships around teammate Ryan Blaney. All of those came in Phoenix, where the finale landed in 2020 after nearly two decades at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR has made wholesale changes to its schedule in recent years, including moving the season-opening Clash and the all-atar race.
The Clash bounced from Daytona International Speedway to the Los Angeles Coliseum and is now headed to historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Sunday’s exhibition.
The all-star race went from North Carolina to Tennessee to Texas before landing back in North Carolina.
No one would be surprised to see the finale end up with similar movement.
“We have some tracks that could be awesome for the championship, like Vegas and Homestead and even Charlotte,” Byron said. “Just being open to all the different ideas would probably be cool and bring some buzz and also just kind of even the competition out.”
With no changes in sight for now, Logano, 34, can focus on a fourth championship. He’s one of six drivers with three Cup titles and needs another to join Jeff Gordon (4), Dale Earnhardt (7), Jimmie Johnson (7) and Richard Petty (7) as the only guys with at least four.
“Probably not until I’m done racing will I be content with what I have because I’m not done yet,” Logano said. “I got a lot of years ahead of me to win more championships and races.
“As great as it is, the first 20 minutes is amazing because you’re celebrating with your team and your family. And then every day [after] it becomes a little less exciting and more thoughts of, ‘We got to do it again.'”
Another one surely would do a lot to drown out those detractors.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway