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PORT ST. LUCIE — David Wright has seen this before.
A splashy acquisition who was awarded an enormous contract and corresponding expectations. A disappointing first season going from a small market to a big market.
When Wright sees Francisco Lindor, he flashes back to 2005. The name changed, but the situation did not.
“I got a chance to see it firsthand with Carlos Beltran,” said the former Mets captain, who was around camp Thursday talking with the team.
Beltran arrived having spent 6 ¹/₂ seasons in Kansas City and a brief spell in Houston, and it took $119 million to lure him to Queens.
The Mets’ new No. 3 hitter was merely fine — batting .266 with 16 home runs in 125 games — in an underwhelming introduction to Mets fans.
“It’s a real thing when you come and you have the expectation that you’re going to be the savior of this organization. And you get off to a slow start, then you start pressing,” said Wright, who is quite happy out of baseball and being a dad. “I think that that’s a real thing.”
The following season for Beltran was “monstrous,” Wright said, and among the best in Mets history. Beltran posted a .982 OPS with 41 home runs during an All-Star campaign in which the center fielder won a Gold Glove and finished fourth in MVP voting.
It took a season for Beltran to fully adjust to New York, which Wright believes is significant for the Mets’ $341 million shortstop who spent his first six seasons in Cleveland.
“As athletes, you always want to live up to the hype or you always want to live up to the contract. Sometimes, it’s just not possible,” Wright said before the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Nationals at Clover Park on Thursday. “You just go out there, you play your game … and it takes care of itself, so I’m expecting a big bounce-back year [from Lindor].”
Lindor struggled immediately, hitting .194 through May last season and heard boos from home crowds. He was better in the second half, but an altercation with Jeff McNeil and his involvement in the thumbs-down saga tarnished any bright spots.
The 28-year-old is enjoying a strong spring, and Wright thinks Mets fans will soon see what Cleveland fans had witnessed.
“When you’re the center of attention and every at-bat or every play is magnified, and you’re a Carlos Beltran or Lindor, it makes it difficult to just go out there and play,” Wright said. “And once that’s past you and once you feel a little more comfortable, your talent comes out.”
Speaking of talent, Wright said the Mets are “loaded.”
As he sat in on a hitting meeting at the Mets’ facility, he looked around. “I wish I could be in this lineup,” said Wright, who also raved about the Mets’ pitching.
The 39-year-old is not sure the next time he’ll be around Citi Field. He had planned to attend the Tom Seaver statue unveiling, but the date change conflicted with a family obligation. He was unsure if he could make the July 9 ceremony when the Mets will retire Keith Hernandez’s No. 17.
And he won’t be at Old-Timers’ Day, saying he doesn’t feel as if he is old enough.
When informed 36-year-old Daniel Murphy would be there, Wright responded: “I know my body’s like an old man, but he’s really an old man. He moves like an old man, talks like an old man. Old-Timers’ Day is perfect for Murph.”
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