The Mets still aren’t finished tearing down their core, and the latest name to drop is Jeff McNeil. Reportedly, on Monday, the team traded him off to the Athletics in exchange for a minor league pitching prospect. However, while it felt like McNeil’s time in Queens was already running out after the Mets brought in Marcus Semien back in November, this trade is raising eyebrows for another reason.

Well, if the rumors and clubhouse whispers are to be believed, McNeil’s exit had less to do with roster fit and more to do with tension behind the scenes, specifically an ongoing clash with Francisco Lindor. And guess what, just after the deal became official, McNeil didn’t stay quiet. He opened up about his experience inside the Mets’ clubhouse.

“I don’t want to go into detail; it was nothing out of the ordinary, and I loved everyone in that clubhouse,” McNeil opened up about the Mets clubhouse.

Well, the fact that McNeil said, “I don’t want to get into detail,” kind of says it all. Surely, you don’t use a line like that if everything was fine in the clubhouse. And it’s not like this stuff is coming out of nowhere.

Back in June, The New York Post’s Mike Puma detailed an incident where Lindor reportedly went after Jeff McNeil verbally following a defensive mistake during the Mets’ seventh straight loss to the Phillies. That moment allegedly led to a tense confrontation between the two! And if you remember, this wasn’t their first run-in.

These two have faced off before during their five seasons together. Reportedly, there was that infamous 2021 tunnel incident, where Lindor allegedly grabbed McNeil by the throat. He pinned him against a wall after arguing over a missed defensive play. So when you put all that history together, it’s not hard to connect the dots.

Now fast forward to the present. The Mets are rebuilding their roster around Lindor, and suddenly, McNeil is the odd man out. That alone makes it feel like his days in Queens were numbered. Still, Jeff McNeil tried to shut everything down after the trade, saying, “I love everyone in that clubhouse.” But whether that’s genuine professionalism or just taking the high road, we may never know.

What does seem clear is that things didn’t go smoothly for the Mets last season. However, whether blowing up the core is actually the fix for those issues, though, is still very much up for debate.

The Mets front office is making the record straight about the McNeil-Lindor tussle

Ever since that infamous clubhouse moment leaked out, the Mets’ front office has gone out of its way to shut down any talk of dysfunction. Reportedly, at MLB’s winter meetings, manager Carlos Mendoza flat-out rejected reports of issues in the clubhouse last season, including any rift between Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil.

According to Mendoza, it was a professional environment where players respected one another and showed up ready to compete every single day.

Former Mets manager Buck Showalter also weighed in, offering a more nuanced take. He pointed out that Lindor and McNeil are just wired differently. Jeff, as Showalter put it, is a classic Long Beach State Dirtbag. He lives and breathes the game, plays with an edge. And sometimes feels like the baseball gods are out to get him when line drives keep finding gloves.

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Hence, taken together, the message from the Mets’ leadership is clear. Disagreements happen, personalities clash, and that’s just part of life in any big-league clubhouse. Still, when you listen closely to how McNeil spoke after being traded, it feels like there might be more beneath the surface. Something that never fully sat right, even if the team insists it was business as usual.