Granderson acclimates to Mets' environment

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- This is all new to Curtis Granderson. When Granderson stepped out of his car for the first time Sunday at the Mets' Spring Training complex, he took a few steps toward the media center before realizing he was going the wrong way.

Once he found the correct route, Granderson posed for pictures in the Mets dugout and said all the right things about his new employers and teammates.

"Excitement," was how Granderson summed up his feelings about joining the Mets. "Nerves also -- I think you wouldn't be human if you didn't have that."

The most expensive piece of New York's offseason shopping list, Granderson cost the Mets $60 million over four seasons. The hope around Flushing is that he will give their lineup some much-needed thump, considering the 84 homers he hit from 2011-12 with the Yankees.

Given all that he accomplished during four years in the Bronx, Granderson's offseason comment that "true New Yorkers are Mets fans" struck a chord with some of his old loyalists. But Granderson clarified his words on Sunday, saying he never meant to be anything but grateful.

"It definitely wasn't a shot by any means to anybody," Granderson said. "The organization from top to bottom, including the fans, have been absolutely amazing for me and my foundation over the four years I had with the New York Yankees. It was just something interesting I had heard over time being in the city of New York. I felt like saying it, but it definitely wasn't anything that was meant in a negative way."