Mets Roster: Getting to know Francisco Lindor and the rest of the new guys

By early January 2021, the New York Mets had already made several high-profile trades and signings that far exceeded their usual Wilpon-era offseason haul. On December 1, 2020, the Mets signed righty reliever Trevor May to a two-year, $15.5 million contract, counting on him to be a reliable force in the back of the bullpen. A couple of weeks later, the Mets addressed their gaping hole at catcher by signing James McCann to a four-year, $40.6 million deal.

Then, on January 7, 2021, the Mets pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster deals in the franchise’s history when they traded with the Cleveland Indians for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco. All four of these players figure to be crucial components to the team’s on-field success in 2021, and Mets fans are largely very excited about all of them.

Though many Mets fans have become familiar with what Lindor, Carrasco, McCann, and May have to offer on the field, all four players have also done some fun “getting to know you” interviews in recent weeks. These videos gave them a chance to show Mets fans their personalities and off-the-field interests. Here are some “fun facts” about four of the Mets’ biggest offseason additions that may not show up on their baseball card or Baseball-Reference page.

Meet the Mets: Francisco Lindor

Much has been made so far about Francisco Lindor’s Gold Glove defense at shortstop and his potent bat at the plate, but Lindor is also well known across baseball for his megawatt smile. In a recent interview with Mets public address announcer Marysol Castro, he shed some light on the origins of his famous grin, which apparently wasn’t always as stunning as it is now.

“I had braces, my teeth were like neighbors who had never met before,” confessed Lindor in this recent one-on-one. “Now, they’ve met, and they get along, and I put a retainer in there. They gotta stay together, they’re not separating!”

It seems like the man known throughout MLB as “Mr. Smile” has no intention of surrendering this title any time soon, even to other famous smilers on the Mets like Mr. “Happiest Man in Baseball” himself, Brandon Nimmo.

Though Lindor hails from Puerto Rico, his favorite foods are pizza and lasagna. Coming to New York, a city known for its pizza and Italian cuisine, Lindor will hopefully feel right at home.

“I’ll eat pizza all day, every day. . . breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” emphasized Lindor to an incredulous Castro, who likely expected him to respond with a Puerto Rican dish of some sort.

Off the field, Lindor enjoys spending time with his family (he has a daughter who is just a few months old) and bike riding. His Instagram account features a recent photo of him kidded out in cycling attire, and he mentioned to Castro that he has joked with his family about competing in the Tour de France one day. He also noted that in his downtime, he enjoys “watching videos about cars and watches” as well.

When asked about his favorite kind of music, Lindor responded without hesitation, “everything but country and hard metallic rock.”

On a different music-related note, Lindor was recently featured in the music video for Bad Bunny’s song, “Yo Visto Así. ” He described the experience on set as “a lot of fun. . . it was special, for sure.”

Lindor has made a name for himself, in part, by approaching his life on and off-the-field with contagious enthusiasm and excitement. He is one of the most electrifying players in the game today, and he is determined to keep up this reputation as he begins his Mets career.

“I want people to get to know that I’m just a little kid at heart that smiles and has fun and cares about other people. This is me, this is who I am,” said Lindor to close out his interview with Castro.

Mets fans have wholeheartedly embraced Lindor so far. I have a feeling that he will further endear himself to the Flushing Faithful with his on-field play.

Meet the Mets: James McCann

From the moment that James McCann first became a Met, it was evident that he is a family man through and through. In his edition of Marysol Castro’s “getting to know you” interviews with the new Mets acquisitions, he revealed that he found out about the Mets signing becoming official while he was making pancakes for his two twin boys.

Later in the interview, he discussed how his twin boys were born 10 weeks premature, and how they inspired him and his wife Jessica to give back.

“We spent seven weeks in the Vanderbilt NICU with them. . . through the Christmas time, so we saw a lot of things while we were there. We knew at that moment in our lives that this was kind of our calling, and this was where we were going to use our platform to give back.”

Since that ordeal, the McCanns have gotten very involved at that children’s hospital, helping parents who are going through similar situations with premature babies. They plan to continue this involvement with New York-area hospitals for the duration of McCann’s time with the Mets.

Long before McCann was a major leaguer, he played in the same Little League as Jeff McNeil in southern California. The two got a chance to catch up at the 2019 All-Star game, which was the first All-Star selection for both players. Their reunion prompted the following photo, which McNeil shared on social media after McCann’s signing became official.

Though McCann’s most recent big league stop was in Chicago, he told Castro that he prefers New York-style pizza to Chicago deep dish. He later discussed his love of barbecue and that he loves deer hunting during the offseason. New teammates Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and David Peterson have all posted about various offseason hunting trips on their social media accounts, so it seems like McCann will be in good company there.

In slight contrast to his new teammate, Francisco Lindor, McCann also discussed his love for country music, and noted that he and his wife enjoy watching The Blacklist on TV, though they never watch it separately when McCann is on the road.

Finally, McCann answered the question that Mets fans, presumably, have all pondered on their own. . . Is a hot dog a sandwich?

“No, it’s a hot dog,” said McCann. There you have it, folks. Our new catcher has spoken.

Above all else, more so than his food or music preferences, McCann emphasized his commitment to being the hardest worker on any team he has ever been a part of, including his new team in Queens.

“The thing about me that I would love every fan to know is that there is no one who’s ever going to out-work me. I know the expectations that come with playing in New York, but as high as they may be, there’s no one with higher expectations for my performance than myself. . . No one will be more prepared than I will be,” said McCann to conclude his interview with Castro.

Mets fans have to like what they’ve heard so far from their new catcher. I look forward to seeing how his off-the-field work ethic and personality will translate into on-field success.

Meet the Mets: Trevor May

Trevor May is extremely Online. Any Mets fan who tuned into his introductory press conference on December 3 noticed his extensive microphone-and-headphones setup, a far cry from the laptop-and-Airpods combination that most players have been rocking during the era of virtual press conferences and interviews.

In his press conference, May revealed that he used to DJ, though he said that since he got into Twitch streaming, he has not DJed nearly as much.

“For DJing, I went under the name ‘DJ Hey Beef’ when I was 19,” May recounted. “We quickly changed that to ‘Mayser,’ just a play off my last name with the word ‘laser’. . . It’s just Trevor May now. But I do have turntables, I do still dabble in my young age at 31. . . I just like entertaining people. It’s the same thing for baseball.”

May has also been asked about his hobby of online gaming and Twitch streaming, which has been a big part of his life for several years.

“I’ve been Twitch streaming since 2016,” May told Newsday in a January 2021 phone interview. “I was a little bit ahead of the curve on that. It became a little bit of almost like baseball is my 1A job and streaming became 1B for a while. . . [when I was rehabbing from Tommy John] I was streaming every day, like 40 hours a week. I like entertaining. I think, if it weren’t for playing sports, I could have very easily been a theater kid and went down that route.”

In that same phone interview, May mentioned that he recently became a part-owner of a team in a new four-team football league called the Fan Controlled Football League (FCF), which allows fans to have a direct say in every detail of their teams, from uniform colors to the coaches and players. His team is called the Zappers, which will face off against the Beasts, the Glacier Boyz, and the Wild Aces starting in February.

Though May’s full-time job is, of course, his work as a pitcher, I have really enjoyed getting to know his many off-the-field interests over the past few months. I look forward to seeing how he will use his platforms to engage with Mets fans over the next couple of years.

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All four of these new acquisitions have had a chance to give fans a sneak peek of their personalities and interests. Their on-field pedigrees speak for themselves, but these recent interviews with the newest members of the Amazins gave Mets fans a great look into their off-the-field lives as well.