PORT ST. LUCIE — Before arriving to camp for his annual visit as a Mets guest instructor, David Wright received a message from the team’s new third baseman saying he wanted to meet him.
On Monday, Wright planned to find Bo Bichette and begin that relationship.
“I’m not sure what direction that is going to go into, whether it’s third base or New York, whatever the question set is,” Wright said before the Mets faced the Marlins in an exhibition game at Clover Park. “But I am excited to get to spend some time with him.”
Bichette, who arrived to the Mets on a three-year contract worth $126 million in January, is shifting from shortstop to third base, as one of multiple new players learning a new position.
Following a winter in which the front office reshaped the roster, the former Mets captain is learning new names, aside from Bichette.
Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Díaz have departed and the new arrivals also include Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr. and Devin Williams.
“I really love spring training energy, especially with the new group of guys that the Mets have,” Wright said. “Now you get to meet some of these guys for the first time and it just seems there’s energy and enthusiasm in that locker room. I like being a small part of that.”
Team owner Steve Cohen has said there won’t be an official Mets captain as long as he owns the club. Wright, who held the title for five seasons, said the number of veterans in the clubhouse may preclude the need for an official captain.
“Knowing Francisco [Lindor] for the last few years, knowing Juan [Soto] for the last few years, when you have a handful or a group of leaders in there, that is just as good if not better than having a single leader,” Wright said.
“Times change. It makes sense when you have the veteran group that they have in here, that group can get together with these young guys, these top prospects, and say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to kind of do it.’ I think that’s what made the team successful, the success that we had when I played, that let these young players know that ‘Starting now, this is how we play the game. This is how we carry ourselves.’ ”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
