GOODBYE TO GRANDY

BOSTON— If anything good for the Mets came out of getting swept in the Subway Series, it should be seeing first-hand what a dominant bullpen can do for a team. Times have changed, after all. That five-aces starting rotation for the ages hasn’t come to fruition, and, let’s face it, almost surely won’t ever live up to the hype.

Hard to believe but after all these years, the quintet of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz has never been healthy at the same time for even one turn through the rotation.

GM Sandy Alderson last week said himself that the Mets can’t go into next year thinking the starting pitching will make everything right again for 2018. And the ongoing health questions are only part of the equation, as Matz, in particular, continues to flounder in shocking fashion.

All of which is a way of saying: the Mets should make it a priority to sign free agent Wade Davis this offseason and build something of a Yankee-like super pen.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, as we’re seeing with Aroldis Chapman at the moment. But for most of the last four years Davis has been as consistent and dominant as any reliever in baseball — he has yet to blow a save with the Cubs this season.

At age 31, meanwhile, Davis should have plenty left, and with a killer curveball as his out pitch, he’s not strictly reliant on fastball velocity.

Jeurys Familia? Even if he comes back healthy, he’ll be a free agent at the end of next season and will be determined to have a good year in any role, so let him be the eighth-inning set-up guy for Davis.

Throw in AJ Ramos and Jerry Blevins, and that’s the making of an excellent bullpen. Considering that three of the four have extensive experience as a closer, it would give the manager some latitude in making sure all of the relievers are fresh.

Beyond those four, well, you’d think the Mets have seen enough of Hansel Robles. Yes, he has a live arm but it’s hard to believe he’ll suddenly stop making the killer mistakes for which he’s known best in Queens.

So out with Robles and then the Mets have to hope one of those power arms they brought back in their various recent trades — Jamie Callahan is the most advanced, in Triple A — develops into a reliable part of the mix.

And there might be another veteran on the free agent market worth signing to a one-year deal.

For once, the Mets can’t be short out there, as has been the case every year during Alderson’s tenure, going all the way back to the signings of the likes of Carlos Carrasco, Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch.

Alderson did make solid bullpen moves down the stretch in 2015 by trading for Tyler Clippard, who offered some short-term help before losing his touch, and Addison Reed.

This season, however, thinking that Fernando Salas was more than a journeyman was a mistake, as was believing Robles would take a big step forward.

As it turned out, though, the season was doomed almost from the start because the Mets were so determined to baby the starting pitchers early in the year that they wore down their relievers, even those pitching well, by mid-May.

Next season, no doubt the Mets are going to exercise caution again with their starting pitchers. Well, the only way that works is by having a strong, deep pen to handle the big workload and deliver quality outings.

Not that signing Davis would solve all of the Mets’ problems. I think this is going to be an offseason that largely defines Alderson’s tenure, as he needs to fill holes created by all the veteran departures and get this team back to the post-season.

The time might even be right to trade a Matz or a Wheeler if there is a market for them, and bring in a veteran pitcher who adds some certainty to the starting rotation.

But the game is moving more and more toward the bullpen, so start there. Davis won’t come cheap, especially after what the likes of Chapman and Kenley Jansen got last winter, but for one year while Familia and Ramos are here, his presence could make for a championship bullpen.

Nice to see Curtis Granderson get a shot at his first championship ring with the Dodgers.

He came over one year too late to the Yankees, in 2010, and only got close with the Mets in 2015, so his eight years in New York were fruitless in that sense. But certainly Granderson left an important legacy.

As Terry Collins said more than once, Granderson was the ultimate pro, ever willing to hit anywhere in the lineup, play any position, or come off the bench without complaint to accommodate the Mets’ crowded outfield this season.

No less important, he was a role model for younger players in regard to his work ethic and dedication to staying healthy. If only his obsession with staying hydrated by drinking untold gallons of water had rubbed off on Yoenis Cespedes, in fact, the Mets’ Cuban slugger may not have missed so much time the last couple of years with leg injuries. But that’s quite another story. In addition, Granderson’s charitable work has been well-documented, and rightly so, as he donated money and time for a myriad of causes over the years, most of it to help kids in need.

“Nobody cared more than Curtis,’’ Mets’ PR director Jay Horwitz said Saturday. “He was as legit as legit could be when it came to the off-the-field stuff.

“He did so many little things too, and he never wanted publicity for anything. It may sound like a small thing, but he signed autographs for kids on the field before every single game at Citi Field. He thought that was important. He’ll be missed by everybody around here.”

Personally, I can’t say I got to know Granderson very well. He was frustrating to cover because, somewhat like Derek Jeter, he kept the media at arm’s length, refusing to offer any real insight about the team or his own game, and we all know he’s a bright guy.

But the big picture is he deserves to be hailed on the way out of New York for the way he did his job. Here’s hoping he gets his ring in LA. be completely on board with the plan to rebuild with kids, in part because he wants to finally get that payroll under the luxury tax threshold.

So while theoretically his comments, coming on the heels of Brian Cashman’s go-for-it trades at the deadline, should put Joe Girardi at risk if the Yankees miss the playoffs again, I still have a hard time believing Hal would fire the manager.

Girardi’s contract is up at the end of the season, and if his team does somehow play poorly enough in September to miss out on a wild-card spot when there is nothing imposing about the other challengers, certainly you could make the case it would be time for a change.

It just doesn’t seem to be Hal Steinbrenner’s way. Joe

Yes, Cardinals’ reliever John Brebbia stood in the set position for a maddening length of time, but Segal, who was working the plate, had no business calling time essentially because he was tired of waiting for a pitch to be delivered.

No doubt baseball needs someone to move the game along, and a 20-second pitch clock is almost certain to be in place next year. Furthermore, I don’t buy Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny saying that Brebbie was holding the ball that long for a strategic purpose, but neither do I blame him for getting tossed.

Segal simply can’t allow his frustration to change the dynamic of an at-bat, especially in the ninth inning of a close game. MLB should reprimand him publicly

for it.