Batting title put McNeil in driver’s seat for $50M deal

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Winning a batting title put Jeff McNeil in the driver’s seat — for a big-money contract and a new car. Mets teammate Francisco Lindor told McNeil early last season he would gift him the vehicle if McNeil won a batting championship. McNeil led the major leagues at .326, and the Mets rewarded him with a $50 million, four-year deal. McNeil says: “I did send Lindor a pretty good video of some very nice cars the other day.” He adds: “So any one of those should be up to my standards.”