PORT ST. LUCIE — The “rah, rah” and “go team” will have to wait for another day.
When manager Terry Collins convened the Mets for a meeting Thursday before their first official full-squad workout of spring training, the message was more subdued than in recent years.
Instead of trying to get young players fired up and convinced they are good enough to compete in the major leagues — a tactic he had taken in the past — Collins concentrated more on raised expectations and how the Mets will meet them.
With Matt Harvey returning to boost the rotation, the bullpen in better shape this early than it has been in at least five years and Michael Cuddyer on board in the lineup, those expectations include the Mets legitimately competing for the postseason, if not ending a playoff drought that dates to 2006.
“These are good baseball players,” Collins said after the workout. “They are big league baseball players and in my opinion they are no longer young anymore. It’s time to step up and play like veterans. If that happens, I think we are going to be a lot of fun to watch.”
The Mets finished 79-83 last year — the victory total was the highest of general manager Sandy Alderson’s and Collins’ regime — and are mostly regarded as a team capable of making noise in the wild-card race, with the Nationals established as the clear-cut favorite to win the NL East for the second straight year.
Cuddyer, a 13-year veteran, was glad Collins avoided turning the meeting into a motivational talk.
“We don’t need blowing smoke or anything like that,” Cuddyer said. “Just go out and do your work and ‘We believe in you.’ ”
Collins said he may have a more “rah, rah” approach when he convenes the team in Washington before the season opener on April 6. For now, he wants players avoiding hypothetical talk and believing it’s a new day.
“I just talked about expectations, where they are, where I think they should be and, ‘It’s going to take every single guy to believe in it also,’ ” Collins said. “And not just talk about, ‘If this happens.’ We’re going to do it. You’ve got to have a mind-set this is going to get done.”
Collins wants players to have input on how spring training drills are conducted. The manager held a “long” coaches meeting before addressing the players to ensure camp is run efficiently and in an organized manner.
David Wright indicated there’s nothing Collins could have said Thursday that would have been a magic pill.
“Every year you have got 30 teams saying the same things to the players,” Wright said. “We think that the goals we’re going to set for ourselves are going to be realistic and we understand by talking the way guys have talked you’re going to have a bull’s-eye on your back. The expectations are going to be higher than years past, probably. But hopefully we’re up for that challenge, and today is Day 1 of that.
“Anybody can talk. Now let’s go out there and back it up and win baseball games. The last time I checked you don’t get anything for talking the best game.”
