Deal is latest, and perhaps last, sign that

TODD Frazier’s shift from the Bronx to Flushing means the Mets have to be officially expecting a thumbs-down now on David Wright’s latest comeback attempt.

It was painstakingly obvious throughout last summer that the Mets no longer could wait for their former All-Star third baseman and franchise player, especially since Wright has been limited to 75 appearances over the past three seasons due to multiple back and neck surgeries — and none since May of 2016.

Signing the Jersey-bred Frazier to a twoyear deal worth $17 million marks the final realization and concession that the Mets need to operate under the assumption that Wright’s playing days for them — as much as everyone still can hold out slight glimmers of hope for a feel-good return to the diamond — are most likely behind him.

“It really hurts to say this, but I obviously can’t be relied on to go out there and do what I’ve done throughout my career. That is a tough thing to say,” Wright admitted to MLB.com in an interview two weeks ago. “Everything is a concern for me.

“I haven’t progressed to the point where I’ll know how it feels to throw a baseball until we get closer to spring. I certainly don’t know how the back is going to hold up.”

As of last week, the 35-year-old Wright notably still had not been cleared to resume baseball activity, another ominous sign of the precariousness of trying to restart his career while still managing the spinal stenosis he was diagnosed with a few years ago.

That doesn’t mean he hadn’t long ago earned the right to decide for himself how long to continue attempting to get back on the field, but it also doesn’t mean the Mets should have bypassed a reasonable deal such as this one with Frazier, who proved to be a strong local-guy fit both on and off the field after the Yankees acquired him from the White Sox last July.

As Sandy Alderson noted late last week, Asdrubal Cabrera’s public admission that he’d prefer to play second base instead of third in 2018 opened up the possibility for the Mets to add an everyday third baseman who can provide some of the middle-ofthe-order power the Mets have missed at