Yesterday Shawn Green rationalized his homer drop-off in 2006 as part of an offensive strategy.

“It’s not physical,” Green, the Mets’ new right fielder, said on a conference call. “I did make a conscious effort ’cause the first two weeks of the season, I was really struggling. And throughout my career, I’ve kind of started chasing home runs and it’s caused me at times to be streaky.

“So I just decided that I was going to forget about the home runs and just try to shorten my swing up and try to hit line drives. And then I got in a really good groove doing that with getting a lot of singles and a few doubles. But that was my approach, to try to be more consistent and it worked. And my goal is to eventually, hopefully sooner than later, build off of that and let the home runs come again.”

Coming into today – when he will be at Shea for the first time following Tuesday’s trade with the Diamondbacks – Green is hitting .283 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs. He’s hit 40-plus homers on three different occasions in his career.

Green, who turns 34 in November, talked about what he’s going to bring to the Mets.

“I feel like the Mets, it’s not like I’m going to come there and be the answer,” Green said. “I think … throughout the season obviously they have a great mix. And I’m just going there hoping to be a piece of the puzzle that can help in whatever situations come up for me as we get into September and October.

“And I feel like I bring experience, and I’m excited just to have a chance not only to play deep into the season and into the postseason but also to be reunited with some guys that I have a lot of history with.”