Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha introduced as Mets

The Mets’ new doctrine: Whatever it takes to help the team win.

Steve Cohen first declared it, then he proved it by spending $124.5 million on a trio of new Mets players. Less than a full week since the signings, those same players have quickly caught on to the message.

Outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha and infielder Eduardo Escobar all echoed their new billionaire owner Wednesday as they were introduced to the Mets together in a Zoom press conference. The trio is happy playing anywhere — no preference on starting positions, coming off the bench, or spots in the lineup — as long as the Mets are playing to win. Their unselfish attitudes were not only refreshing to hear, but Marte, Escobar and Canha are exactly the type of veteran players and leaders that Billy Eppler and Sandy Alderson believe will help improve the Mets’ clubhouse culture.

“It’s an exciting day in the Mets universe,” Eppler said on Wednesday. “Adding these three players really solidifies our lineup. It provides positional flexibility and depth and will really allow us to take on a lot of the elements that get introduced over the 162-game season. We want to be able to create a club that’s built to withstand the demands.”

The trio was acquired by the Mets before their blockbuster deal with Max Scherzer. Escobar, days after Scherzer’s three-year, $130 million contract became official, said “I still can’t believe we signed Scherzer.” Once Canha saw all the big names the Mets picked up, he said, “OK we’re cooking a little bit here now.” The defense behind Scherzer will improve with Marte, Escobar and Canha in the field, but some questions still linger about their playing time.

While Marte is expected to be the Mets’ center fielder, Eppler was noncommittal. The Mets GM said, particularly without a manager yet named, it’s too early to decide on starting roles. In the same vein, the Mets have not yet spoken to Brandon Nimmo, the team’s starting center fielder for the past few years, about shifting to left field. There is certainly a scenario where Marte will play in left and Nimmo will stay in his center field role, where he’s made significant progress over the past couple of seasons.

Eppler also would not commit to Escobar being the Mets’ starting third baseman, but he promised the infielder would get plenty of plate appearances. The Mets are said to still be pursuing Kris Bryant, who would become the obvious choice to play the hot corner if he comes to the Big Apple.

Marte, who played 119 games as a center fielder between the Marlins and A’s in 2021, is open to playing anywhere in the outfield for the Mets. The Gold Glover will likely be more helpful to the Mets on the bases, where he led MLB with 47 stolen bags last season. And after 10 years in the major leagues, Marte is looking forward to playing with a fellow friend from his native Dominican Republic.

“I have a good relationship with [Robinson] Cano,” Marte said, through interpreter Alan Suriel, when asked why he chose to play for the Mets. “Over the years he’s given me a lot of good advice. And earlier in my career I always said that I wanted to be his teammate. And now that I have the opportunity to do so, I decided to take it. There are a lot of Latinos on this team, I think this team is really good, and I also have a lot of family in New York, so I felt like it was the right time for me.”

Canha was impressed by the efforts of Eppler and Alderson and the lengths they went to acquire him. Alderson apparently flew round trip from Florida to California, on his 74th birthday no less, to persuade Canha to join the Mets. Canha said no other team this offseason visited him in person, and that made a big impact on the outfielder.

He said they made him feel like family, even though he “didn’t really know anything about the Mets” after his seven seasons with the Oakland A’s in the American League. Canha said he feels like he’s ready for the big stage in New York and he wants to show the world what he can do.

“It’s nice to feel wanted and the Mets made it feel like they wanted me,” Canha said.