PORT ST. LUCIE — Bartolo Colon wasn’t ready to start a new family.
The veteran righty says he had at least one better offer to pitch elsewhere this season, but wanted the Mets and the comforts of remaining planted in New York.
“All these guys are my family,” Colon said Wednesday through an interpreter, following a workout for pitchers and catchers. “They have treated me so well — not just them, but also the big bosses around here, too.”
Colon accepted the Mets’ $7.25 million offer for 2016, even with no guarantee he will remain in the starting rotation all season. For the first half of the year he is expected to hold the fifth spot in the rotation, as Zack Wheeler targets July 1 for his return from Tommy John surgery.
Then there is the prospect of switching to the bullpen. But Colon, who turns 43 in May, says he is fine with that possibility. Colon showed his versatility by shifting to the bullpen during the 2015 postseason and thriving in the role.
It’s such a team-first nature that has endeared Colon to teammates, many of whom view him as a mentor.
“The thing I learned from him the most was how loose he stays, no matter what is going on,” Jacob deGrom said. “He really doesn’t let anything get to him, and I’ve tried to learn from that and take that whenever I go out there and pitch.
“You give up a home run or something, so what? You’ve still got to go out there and compete and get the next guy out. Keep that team right there and keep your team in a position to win.”
Colon was a workhorse last season, when he went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA over 33 appearances and logged 194 ²/₃ innings. About to begin his 20th major league season, he is 218-154 lifetime with a 3.97 ERA.
“You can see how everybody is excited because he came back,” Jeurys Familia said.
Nobody in the Mets clubhouse holds more reverence for Colon than Familia, who also hails from the Dominican Republic. The relationship was forged during Colon’s first season with the Mets, when Familia was still trying to prove he belonged in the major leagues.
Familia recalled Colon taking him aside during a rough stretch in April 2014 and asking him if he was “scared” to pitch. Familia was surprised by the question.
“He said if I was scared to pitch, pack up and go home,” Familia said. “If you are afraid to play this game, go home. Then he talked to me about confidence.
“And the confidence, it doesn’t matter what position you play, if you are a starting pitcher, a bullpen guy, if you have confidence you are going to have success. From that day, I think everything changed with me.”
Colon, whose locker is a popular gathering spot for the team’s Dominican pitchers — including Familia, Hansel Robles and Rafael Montero — has embraced the leadership role.
“It makes me so happy and fills me with so much pride that they are constantly speaking so highly of me,” Colon said. “I just always want to be there for them — I always will in my free time. Whenever I was coming up and I was maybe their age, I didn’t always have someone to look to, so I always will be there for those guys.”
DeGrom has come to appreciate Colon’s clubhouse humor, which includes taking a foam pad and smashing it against a wall or leather couch to startle teammates.
“You are supposed to have fun playing this game, and that is why we all play it and I think he has as much fun as anybody else, if not more,” deGrom said. “Your bad days, you can’t let them get to you — you will never see him have a bad day.”