PORT ST. LUCIE — The Astros’ cheating scandal comes down to integrity. You have it or you don’t.
The Astros have cheated baseball and their fellow players, and that will not be forgotten.
Michael Conforto — in many ways the heart and the soul of this Mets clubhouse, the closest thing they have to David Wright from his days as Captain — made that clear Tuesday at Clover Park.
“Even if it came from above you, I would not feel comfortable doing something like that. I just feel like the integrity of the players in this clubhouse, we just wouldn’t allow that to happen, no matter who brings it in or who has the idea,’’ Conforto told The Post. “I think it is the same league-wide.’’
For all their talent and advanced analytics, the Astros missed out on the character app with their sign-stealing scandal.
“It’s just an unacceptable thing in baseball,’’ Conforto said. “There are ways to do what they did that are within the lines. But to take it a step further and use what they used, that is just not OK. It completely changes everything about the game. It is such an old-school game. The game has changed with technology but it is still the game, more or less, we’ve played in this country for hundreds of years.
“It’s such a game, there are so many unwritten rules. But there is definitely a clear line, and the fact that they tried to hide it, obviously they knew they were doing something that gave them an advantage. I can’t imagine that happening in this organization or anywhere else.’’
Conforto pointed to Wright and the standard he set as Mets captain.
“I don’t enjoy talking about this, and I know this is something that is going to be talked about forever,’’ Conforto said. “But at least here we can focus on baseball, playing clean baseball, and over there they can deal with it the rest of the year because they deserve to deal with it as long as they have to deal with it.
“The whole thing could have been handled much differently. The best thing for everyone from the very beginning was to own up to it, and after the punishments came down, you’ve been caught, own up to it, apologize and show some real respect for everyone that feels like the playing field was uneven because it was.’’
Was it ever. In early September 2017, the Mets played in Houston and lost all three games as the Astros scored 24 runs.
“At that point, we just all assumed they were all superstars,’’ said Conforto, who was out with a shoulder injury at that time. “I have no doubt there are still great players in that clubhouse, I don’t think you can argue that, but I think [knowing what pitch is coming] makes things a lot easier. Not so much that you don’t know where it’s going and the movement could be a little different, but you can formulate a plan, if you are thinking as quickly as you can and you are smart — like a lot of those hitters are and know an off-speed pitch is coming you just are not going to swing. That changes everything.’’
And if a hanging slider is thrown?
“All you have to do is change where you are looking,’’ Conforto said.
The left-handed hitting slugger is ready to roll this spring after changing his offseason workout location from the Pacific Northwest to Scottsdale, Ariz.
“I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out,’’ said Conforto — who is coming off a season in which he set career highs in hits (141), homers (33), RBIs (92), runs scored (90), doubles (29) and stolen bases (seven) and tied his career high with 84 walks. “I found a really great gym, a lot of one-on-one, a new place that opened up, Conte Sport Performance. They were one-on-one with me, five days a week.’’
Conforto, who turns 27 on March 1, was able to work outside on baseball activities under sunny skies, a big change from the Seattle area.
“There is just so much baseball there,’’ he said of Arizona. “Everybody lives there. It felt like every organization is there. It’s just a cool little baseball snow globe, a baseball paradise. It’s a game-changer.’’
Getting better the right way.