​Any discussion about Francisco Lindor’s future with the Mets beyond this summer must start with the shortstop’s no-trade clause.Lindor has 10-and-5 rights. Since he has more than 10 years of service time and has spent the last five-plus years with his current team, he can veto any trade.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis past winter, Brandon Nimmo agreed to waive his no-trade clause when the Mets dealt him to Texas for Marcus Semien, a deal that hasn’t worked out so far for the Mets. Would Lindor be willing to do the same? He declined to comment when asked by both The Athletic and New York Post about it on Sunday.Suppose Lindor, 32, were open to a trade. Would that be the best decision for the Mets?Here’s an argument for both sides.The Mets don’t have a shortstop replacement within the organization. The next-best option internally is Ronny Mauricio. The Mets have prospects that play the position — Elian Peña, Wandy Asigen and Mitch Voit — but they’re all years away in the lower levels of the Mets’ system. It’s possible they could acquire a shortstop back in a trade, but it’s unlikely he would be as good as Lindor has been with the Mets in his career.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLindor isn’t having a great season so far this year by any means, but let’s not forget who we’re talking about here.Lindor finished in the top-10 in the MVP race in the National League in each of the last four seasons. In that span, the switch-hitting shortstop has the fourth-highest FanGraphs WAR (25.8) in baseball. In fact, since 2015, the year Lindor debuted with Cleveland, only Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge have a higher fWAR than Lindor (60.4).The Mets need to be in the business of stocking up on good players as they try to contend next year. When he’s at his best, Lindor is an elite shortstop. Decline is certainly a part of this conversation, but up until this season, Lindor has been durable throughout his career. It’s not like he’s 40 and has been regressing for years. Just last season, Lindor had a 129 wRC+ and .811 OPS over 160 games.Do the Mets really want to get rid of another fan favorite? Maybe he doesn’t have a perfect relationship with Juan Soto, but winning cures all. That isn’t as big of a story going forward if president of baseball operations David Stearns builds a better team around those two superstars as the organization strives to get back into the playoff picture next year and beyond.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Mets are +2500 to reach the postseason over on BetMGM. Our complete BetMGM Sportsbook review provides an in-depth guide on how to use their app. Even if the Mets wanted to trade Lindor, his value is likely diminished. What would the Mets realistically get back if they traded Lindor and his contract with the way he’s been hurt and underperformed to this point? After this year, Lindor is still owed the final five years of his 10-year, $341 million deal.And then there’s