PORT ST. LUCIE — Frank Francisco didn’t need much of a sales pitch this offseason when he heard the Mets were interested in him.
The money and length of contract had to be right, make no mistake, but the righty fireballer also saw opportunity.
“I got excited, because it’s a young team with a lot of potential,” Francisco said yesterday. “Everybody has their eyes on the Mets to see what’s going to happen, and I like that. I like challenges — that’s me. I like people watching me.”
He will have no shortage of eyes on him this season, as he jumps into the cauldron that comes with the title “Mets closer.” In recent years, John Franco, Armando Benitez, Braden Looper, Billy Wagner and Francisco Rodriguez have carried that baton, with varying degrees of success.
The 32-year-old Francisco is a traditional closer-type: Big, with a fastball to match. Last season he recorded 17 saves in 21 chances for the Blue Jays, posting a 3.55 ERA in 54 games. He brings mostly heat, with a fastball in the mid-90s.
With the Padres, Twins and Red Sox among the teams that were also interested, the Mets stepped up and gave Francisco a two-year contract worth $12 million, and, just as importantly, an assurance he would be the closer.
“When we were going into the winter meetings looking for relief help, we weren’t looking specifically for a closer,” manager Terry Collins said. “We thought we had some guys who could do it, but we were looking for some guys who could get us to that guy. When Frankie Francisco was available, we said, ‘Hey, [now] we’ve got a guy.’ What other pieces of this bridge to get to Frankie do we need to get?”
The Mets answered that question with the additions of Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez, who will be the primary set-up relievers leading into Francisco. Manny Acosta, a holdover from last season, could also emerge as a factor, and the organization hasn’t given up on Bobby Parnell.
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Francisco had success as a closer with the Rangers in 2009, when he saved 25 games in 29 opportunities. But after a shaky April the following season he was shifted to a setup role. With the Blue Jays last year, he shared closing duties with Rauch for much of the season.
“[Francisco] has got an unbelievable arm — unbelievable stuff,” Rauch said. “Especially the second half of last season was just phenomenal for him.”
Collins plans to have a sit down with Francisco in the coming days to discuss specifics. The manager indicated he will try to keep the rule of thumb he had last year with Rodriguez: If the closer gets up, he enters the game. But Collins also said he believes Francisco is more flexible than K-Rod on that issue.
Francisco indicated to The Post he doesn’t necessarily need to enter a game just because he’s warmed up.
“Whatever they need to do to help the team to get that W, that’s what they’ve got to do,” Francisco said.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team. If they’ve got me up and a couple of hitters got on base and they think they have a better matchup with Rauch or Ramirez or anybody, go ahead. Bring your best guy for that situation, because this is about the team.”