Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

This past weekend should’ve been great because it was scheduled to be the first weekend of regular-season New York Mets baseball for the 2021 campaign. That unexpectedly got snatched away from us, which was a huge bummer. However, it has given us time to continue basking in the glory of shortstop Francisco Lindor signing the third-richest contract in baseball history to stay in Queens for years to come.

And when he finally strolls to the plate Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, it’ll really sink in that one of baseball’s best players is a Met for the next decade.

Since the news of both sides agreeing to a 10-year, $341 million extension last Wednesday was so massive, Lindor has had a number of opportunities to talk about it publicly. He did so during his official press conference, and he also went on CC Sabathia’s podcast, R2C2, to talk about the deal and much more.

As if it wasn’t already obvious, these appearances cemented the fact that Lindor’s personality and style should fit in perfectly with New York. I’ve become increasingly interested in listening to exactly how players answer questions thrown their way, and Lindor gave us plenty to think about.

Here are two comments in particular that stood out to me as the Mets prepare for Opening Day (again).

Just the Beginning

While watching Thursday afternoon’s press conference, I got a lot of joy out of the “Here we go baby, here we go,” quote from New York’s shortstop. The content of the following tweet caught my eye more, though.

For this to happen, there needs to be complete buy-in from top to bottom on a daily basis, and especially in the clubhouse. Everybody wants to win a World Series — that’s the obvious goal for anyone affiliated with a Major League Baseball organization. However, it’s easy to chase after that without being a place that all players, coaches, and other staff members want to join if given the opportunity.

New owner, Steve Cohen, and Sandy Alderson set this kind of tone during their introductory press conferences back in November. Yes, Cohen said he’d be slightly disappointed if New York hadn’t won a title within the next three to five years, but both he and Alderson talked about winning today and winning tomorrow, which means building a sustainably competitive team that can eventually become an iconic organization well into the future.

The journey toward reaching this goal won’t be a straight line. There will be peaks and valleys along the way, but they’re all a necessary part of the experience because nothing worth having comes easy. Based of this quote — and others — it appears Lindor is truly excited about the journey as much as he is the end result.

Being a Bad Motherf’er

I’m sure this particular quote got more attention than I’m realizing, but even then, it’ll never be enough.

The Mets have obviously taken on a fair amount of risk by signing Lindor until his late-30s. While that’s the cost of doing business to nab one of the game’s best players, the end of Lindor’s contract will be a hot topic for, well, probably forever. And that’s regardless of whether this deal ends well or not.

Every player is built a little differently, but just think about the road Lindor — and all other players — take to get that lucrative extension or the big payday via free agency. It takes a lifetime to get there, so once a player does reach it and signs on the dotted line, it’s easy to mentally let off the gas pedal a bit.

Like Lindor said himself on Sabathia’s podcast, his daughter and family are now set, he knows where he’s going to be for the next decade, and he can really throw down some roots. Any type of multi-million contract brings a sense of stability to a profession that’s quite unstable for the majority of players involved. In Rocky III, Mickey said the worst thing that can happen to any fighter is they become civilized. Having a nice house, a fridge full of food, plenty of money in the bank, and everything that comes along with it can be enough for any ballplayer to lose their focus — even if it’s only for a few moments. It doesn’t seem like we need to worry about Lindor falling into this kind of trap.

We’ve seen a number of press conferences in recent years for players who sign mega-contracts. Being asked about how they view themselves at the end of such a deal is not an uncommon question to answer. What was uncommon, though, was how Lindor answered. It was one of those pure reactions where he wasn’t trying to be buttoned up, and he just immediately said what he was thinking.

This only comes from someone who knows the work isn’t done and that it’s just beginning. He knows his performance at the end of the contract (no matter what projections say now) is just as important as what happens in the more immediate future. It’s clear he’s excited about the journey he’s about to go on, how he’ll be challenged throughout, and everything in between. The journey finally starts on Monday night in Philadelphia, and I can’t wait to watch him work.