Frankie Montas met with Mets reporters for the first time on Friday.

There, he revealed what drew him to sign with the Mets. A conversation with one of his best friends and former A’s teammate Sean Manaea intrigued him with the idea of returning to New York. After another talk, this time with former Yankees teammate Luis Severino, Montas was sold.

“Severino, he just told me how much they helped him physically, mentally, like pitching wise, how to become a better pitcher, you know,” Montas told reporters. “And to be honest, I think that was one of the things that kind of, like, sold me on the Mets.”

On Sunday, the Mets signed former Yankees starter Frankie Montas to a two-year, $34 million contract. Like Manaea’s deal last season, the contract, which will pay him $17 million each season, includes a player opt-out for the second year of the agreement.

Since placing sixth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2021, when he posted a 3.37 ERA with 207 strikeouts in 187 innings with the A’s, Montas has struggled to find his footing. Over the next three seasons, on four different teams, he pitched to a 4.43 ERA with 291 strikes in 296 1/3 innings.

After being traded to the Brewers at the trade deadline last season, Montas was mostly effective. He allowed three or fewer runs in eight of 11 starts with Milwaukee and increased his strikeout percentage from 18.9% with the Reds to 28.6% with Milwaukee.

Montas spoke about what played into his increased effectiveness with the Brewers.

“To be honest, everything comes down to trusting myself, feeling good about what I was like health-wise, you know, (and) velo-wise,” Montas said.

Last season, Montas saw the velocity on his four-seamer increase to 95.6 mph from 94.8 in 2023. His 150 2/3 innings are the most he’s logged since 2021.