Mets outfielder Michael Conforto met with the media on Sunday afternoon as the team prepares for Monday's opener in Philadelphia.
Conforto was asked about where things stand with contract extension talks, his personal COVID experience and when the team can get vaccinated, and what Francisco Lindor's extension means for the Mets.
Here are some key takeaways...
On contract extension talks
"At this point, I'm not interested in really talking about it. Right now, I'm focusing on baseball. I'm focusing on getting ready for the Phillies. Unfortunately we were looking forward to playing against the Nationals this week, but right now I’m just focused on baseball.
"I think any player wants what his value is. But again, kind of going back to anything involving the contract stuff, I’m just not going to talk about it. Right now I’m focused on the Mets. I’m focused on my teammates and on winning games."
On delayed start of season
"I wish you guys were asking me about a situation that I didn’t come through in in a game that we won. I wish we were talking about baseball. That being said, we’re not playing baseball right now. We get to tomorrow, so I’m excited for that.
"It’s tough watching other teams play, but it’s in the past and there’s no sense of lingering on it. We’ve done a good job of staying ready out here in DC and we’re just looking forward to getting out and being a part of this season.
"We’re definitely excited to play."
On COVID vaccine availability for team and his own COVID experience
"I think I’ll echo some of the other players in their sentiment that it’s a personal choice and everybody has their own opinions on whether or not they're going to get vaccinated. What I will say is that when we get home, anybody who wants a vaccine is going to be able to get one and I think that’s a good thing for the league, good thing for the teams.
"They’ve been asking for a survey. I haven’t heard how many guys we have, how many won’t, but I know that anyone who wants one will be able to get it.
"I don’t know if I could speak to the reasons why they would or why they wouldn’t. I can tell you we have great doctors, we have all the current information on this specific vaccine in particular, we’re very educated. Beyond that, I don’t think I can really speak to the reasons why they would or why they wouldn’t.
"I had COVID two weeks before I came to camp. So right now I have antibodies. So that’s something that I’ve continued to talk to the trainers about what that means and how long those antibodies will stick around. At this point, I’m not comfortable sharing whether or not I will, but I can say that – like I said before – we have all the current information, we’re very educated on it, and it’s going to be available to us any time that we do want to get vaccinated.
"I was very lucky. I had really, really mild symptoms. My fiancée, she had it more on the moderate side. She experienced everything. I certainly had some shortness of breath. It wasn’t easy for me – being so close to spring training I was really trying to work out, and I just couldn’t do that. But I was lucky. Coming into spring training it was not ideal to not have worked out for a couple weeks or 12 days or whatever it was, but we were able to build up and make sure that I was ready to go by the time we were supposed to start, so now I’m definitely ready."