PORT ST. LUCIE — Carlos Beltran’s return to the Mets can make you think about redemption or second chances, forgiving or forgetting.

It made me think a lot about a guy who was taking batting practice on the main field at Clover Park as Beltran — new Mets assistant to the general manager — talked to reporters Wednesday morning near the home dugout.

A few hours later, Francisco Lindor described his first two years with the Mets as “50-50” — one good and one bad. That’s exactly how the first two years went for another switch-hitter from Puerto Rico after he signed a huge contract with the Mets. Beltran had a problematic first season after signing a seven-year, $119 million deal following the 2004 season. That was part of an at-times tortuous relationship with the organization — first as a player (fractured cheekbone after colliding with Mike Cameron, called third strike against Adam Wainwright, falling out of favor with ownership after disputes with the Wilpons over the state of his knees) and then as an almost-manager (fired before ever managing a game following revelations of his deep involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme).

But whatever the valleys, Beltran is among the best position players in Mets history. I rank Beltran second behind Mike Piazza and ahead of David Wright, Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry. I consulted the foremost expert in Mets history on our staff, columnist Mike Vaccaro, who had the same list. You want to quibble and say Beltran was third or fourth, sure, go ahead. He is an all-time great Met.

I wonder whether Lindor will break into upper echelons while working through a 10-year, $341 million extension that began last season. And also whether he cares. The first part will take time — as it will also for players such as Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo. As for the second question, Lindor left no doubt. He cares about his Mets legacy quite a bit.

“Yeah, if I stay healthy,” Lindor said. “I’m a big believer that you do things little by little and eventually they stack up. You build a wall with one brick at a time and I go slow, slow. Hopefully, I can continue to build a wall because I take so much pride in what I do and how I get it done that I would love, toward the end of my career, if I can acknowledge, ‘Man, I gave you everything’ and then saying, ‘I’m out.’ That would be the utmost besides winning the championship. If I can have the [championship] trophy and that [great Met career], then I can say, ‘[Mets owners] Steve [Cohen], Alex [Cohen], [expletive], we did this.”

Lindor’s relationship with ownership diverges from that of Beltran, whose history with the Wilpons was chilly, not chummy. Lindor recalls a phone call he received from Steve Cohen when he was in a slump during his problematic 2021 Mets debut season. Lindor said the Mets’ owner told him: “ ‘Hey, I have bad days at the office too, it’s OK.’ I was like, man, this guy is calling me when I am like 0-for-25 and we talked baseball for three minutes and his job for a lot more than that.”

There is a sense, in fact, that Lindor is akin to an untitled assistant GM, having grown close and gotten the ear of Steve and Alex Cohen, whose parents and Lindor are from the same town in Puerto Rico, Caguas.

To that Lindor said: “I would say that Steve Cohen is a gatherer; he gathers information. Whether he uses the information I give him or not, is his decision. The same with Alex.

“But from what I have seen over the years is, ‘Hey, this is what I think.’ They listen to it and some things you see and some things come out the opposite of what I said. And that is fine. That is gathering information and making the decision based on what they think is best for the organization, not for one player. And I love that.”

Lindor said as a young player in Cleveland, he didn’t have the seniority to have the same voice. Over time, however, he developed an open-door, call-anytime policy with president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and manager Terry Francona. Lindor said with experience he has become more comfortable offering his thoughts.

But Lindor insisted his concentration is not on the front office. He finished ninth in the NL MVP balloting last year, but is disappointed he was not even one of three NL Gold Glove finalists at shortstop. Lindor said his 107 RBI were a reflection of teammates getting on in front of him and that he needs to raise his batting average from .270 to capitalize even more. He is thinking what he has to do — building the wall.

“I have to see more pitches, I have to get on base more, I have to be a better teammate,” Lindor said. “I want to be someone that can be counted upon every day.”

It is one brick at a time for Lindor. Will he construct an all-time Mets career?