Francisco Lindor 'super-excited' to have Carlos Beltran on Mets' staff

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Even before he joined the Mets and especially since, Francisco Lindor found a friend and mentor in Carlos Beltran, a fellow Puerto Rican who knows what it was like to excel (and not) not only in the major leagues but in Queens specifically.

And Lindor is awfully enthusiastic that the rest of the Mets now will get to benefit from that wisdom, too.

The Mets made official Thursday the hiring of Beltran, their former All-Star (five times) and manager (zero games), as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler. Although Beltran’s actual duties are unclear, manager Buck Showalter said he hopes to get him in uniform as an instructor at some point during spring training.

“He’s someone that the game needs,” Lindor said, calling Beltran a “huge asset” for the Mets. “I’m super-excited to have him.”

Showalter said: “He’s got a great reputation among baseball players as far as his knowledge and things he can bring.”

This is owner Steve Cohen’s third dalliance with a buddy of Lindor’s in less than two years. The first, Javier Baez, acquired at the 2021 trade deadline, wound up being a mess of an acquisition. The second, Carlos Correa, never officially joined the team; their 12-year, $315 million agreement in the offseason fell apart when the Mets grew concerned about Correa’s ankle.

The third is different, in part because Beltran — a potential Hall of Famer whose baggage includes being a face of the 2017 Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scandal, a dynamic that cost him his job as Mets manager mere weeks after his hiring — suddenly is an executive. He likely will spend minimal time in the spotlight, able to offer behind-the-scenes guidance and perspective whenever he or other Mets personnel see fit.

To Lindor, Beltran fills what had been an obvious Mets need: Someone in the front office who can directly relate to players. No one else in Eppler’s inner circle played in the majors. Beltran spent 20 years there, suiting up for seven teams.

Beltran also served as a special adviser for the Yankees in 2019.

“He’s someone that’s very knowledgeable, someone who had ups and downs in his career, someone that will help Billy and other members of the front office communicate with us,” Lindor said. “Sometimes we can’t really relate because they talk a different language or they never really played the game. But having Beltran, who has done both, he can definitely talk to players and talk to the front office. He’s going to do things whether it’s watch video and talk to us, whether it’s hitting, probably if he finds something with pitchers, [he can] help the pitching staff.”

Lindor sought Beltran’s counsel in 2021 as he toiled in his first season with the Mets. His top bit of advice, per Lindor: Fans were booing him, yes, but they mostly were booing his results.

“He went through the same phase where he was getting it from people,” Lindor said. “Give them something to cheer and you’ll be fine.”

Then there was the matter of Lindor’s inability to focus during his at-bats. He admitted being too worried about past or imminent failure, a mindset that led to more failure. Beltran reminded him “to stay in the moment.”

“We just talked through mechanics,” Lindor said. “When it came to how I was approaching myself in the on-deck circle and as I was walking up to the plate and what was happening in the batter’s box, stuff like that that centered me, that brought me back to the moment — instead of what was going to happen or what happened in the past. I was good at it, then kind of went away from it. He helped me bring it back. I appreciate him a lot.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.