Cleveland’s season had barely ended before Francisco Lindor addressed the possibility of being traded during the offseason.

“It crossed my mind,” the shortstop said after the Yankees knocked off the Indians on Sept. 30 to finish the best-of-three wild card round. “It makes sense. You know, it is what it is. You can’t cover the sky with one hand. It makes sense. It’s the reputation that the organization has.”

Lindor was proven right on Thursday, when the 27-year-old was traded to the Mets in a blockbuster deal that also included right-hander Carlos Carrasco coming to Queens, in exchange for a package that included Mets shortstops Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario.

But the top player in the organization at the time also scoffed at the notion the Indians couldn’t afford to keep him when he was due to become a free agent following the 2021 season, when he’s likely to get a deal worth over $300 million, similar to the contracts signed by Manny Machado in San Diego and Bryce Harper in Philadelphia.

“Of course,” Lindor said of whether the Indians had the ability to secure him to an expensive, long-term deal. “It’s a billion dollar team. That’s all I can say.”

But the Indians have clearly made the decision to cut payroll this offseason, rather than compete for an AL Central title, a strategy that began with the August trade of right-hander Mike Clevinger to San Diego.

Last offseason, the two sides negotiated a potential extension, but Lindor said, “nothing has made sense yet.”

Lindor is coming off a subpar season during the abbreviated 2020 year, although he started all 60 games. He had been an All-Star and finished in the top 15 of the AL MVP voting each of the previous four seasons.

And in that postseason press conference, Lindor acknowledged he had little control over what happened to him this offseason with the team that drafted him eighth overall in 2011.

“I think the team does an outstanding job when it comes to drafting and developing players,” Lindor said. “I’ve seen when they have spent money and we have lost in the first round, too. I’ve seen when they have kept their hands in their pockets and we have lost in the first round. I would love to say, ‘Yes, spend money,’ but it’s [owner Paul] Dolan’s money. And [team president] Chris Antonetti knows what he’s doing. He knows when to spend money and not to spend money. That’s a different problem. I don’t deal with that.”