MATZ AN OPTION

Mets letty a viable trade target for Yanks

IF I ran the Yankees — and their fans will be thankful I don’t once they hear my full proposal — I would call the Mets and say: “You can’t have Gleyber Torres. Take any other four prospects for Jacob deGrom.”

Though Miguel Andujar is playing daily in the majors, I would count him in this category. The Mets can have him plus the Yankees’ top two prospects — Estevan Florial and Justus Sheffield — and take your pick of one of the Yankees’ many power righty arms lower down from among Freicer Perez, Domingo Acevedo, Clarke Schmidt and Trevor Stephan.

The Red Sox gave up considerably less for Chris Sale. But the cost to get a top-five starter at the peak of his powers with cost-control reasonableness for not one, but three pennant races should be extreme pain. Because the pleasure is this: If the Yankees teamed deGrom with Luis Severino, their chances of winning one of the next three World Series — maybe even two of them — would soar.

And, well, why am I wasting my time? The Mets are not trading deGrom. If they did, it would not be to the Yankees. Even if the Mets were willing to trade him 8 miles away, the Yanks would not surrender the necessary talent for something as fragile as a starter who turned 30 this week and already has endured Tommy John surgery; not when they might win one of the next three World Series even without deGrom.

So if it is not deGrom, and the light bulb never goes off for the Giants that all the championships they are winning with this core already have been won and that it is time to cash in Madison Bumgarner for a big package (Sheffield, Clint Frazier, Chance Adams and Tyler Wade, anyone?), where do the Yankees turn in what is projecting to be a trade market not only devoid of an ace, but perhaps a legit No. 2 starter as well?

The Yankees could just hold and hope Masahiro Tanaka returns at a high level and that Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga and eventually Sheffield are a pitching version of Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez and have immediate impact on a title contender. But that remains too uncertain for a win-now outfit. So, I suspect the Yankees will try to acquire the best guy available.

They can just not overthink it and go for Toronto’s J.A. Happ, who will obviously be traded in the next six weeks. I made the case late last month that while Cole Hamels is the more famous name, Happ is a better starter right now. A point not made that should be accentuated is his lefthandedness.

Job 1 for the Yankees is winning the AL East to avoid the potential of a one-and-done wild card. The AL East could come down to the 13 games left between the Yanks and Red Sox — 10 of which are after the trade deadline.

The Red Sox’s most overt flaw is their .673 OPS against lefties (second worst in the AL). They were 8-9 versus lefty starters, including an April 24 loss when Happ held the Red Sox to one run over seven innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

So if the Yankees could get a lefty starter whom they could, say, line up to face the Red Sox three times the rest of the way, that is preferable. Which brings us full circle: If the Mets don’t want to trade deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, should they deal high on Steven Matz? Mets officials have acknowledged a need to deepen their talent reservoir, even if they are committed to build around deGrom, Syndergaard, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Amed Rosario. Should Matz be part of that core? Do the Mets believe that, at 27, he has finally harnessed health and talent simultaneously, or do they want to capitalize on a moment when he has done that?

Enough risk exists there that the Yankees or any team could acquire him without surrendering their best prospects, such as Florial and Sheffield. But what if the Yankees met Matz’s dubious health with four could-go-bothways pieces who, if they hit, deepen the Mets in myriad spots?

Brandon Drury seems over the migraine issues, as he is leading the International League in OPS (minimum 160 plate appearances). He could play first now for the Mets and third when they move on from Todd Frazier. Despite a few failed major league cameos, Wade still is projected as a starting middle infielder by many evaluators. At worst, he offers the Mets much-needed athleticism.

Adams began this year as a top-75 prospect who has faltered at Triple-A. Tommy Kahnle was a top-15 major league reliever in 2017 who is trying to rediscover himself at Triple-A.

Does it have to be these guys? No. It doesn’t even have to be the Yankees. The Brewers and Dodgers stand out as deep organizations that would be tempted by Matz’s talent and control (Matz is first arbitration eligible this coming offseason).

But are the Mets ready to trade from their rotation? And, if so, how far would the Yankees go to make a New York-New York deal?