Half-measures set up another Amazin’ failure

THE worst of all possible options for the Mets this month and beyond would be repeating last year’s miscalculated assumption.

Convinced they had a good team that was broken mostly because of injuries, general manager Sandy Alderson and his lieutenants went the halfway route in the trade season, dealing from a pool of impending free agents — Lucas Duda, Addison Reed, Jay Bruce, Neil Walker and Curtis Granderson — without considering trades that included their top talent. The returns were slim.

Then the club took a similar halfway approach in free agency, avoiding the bigger fish on the market and going with relatively less expensive options such as Bruce, Todd Frazier, Anthony Swarzak and Jason Vargas.

It left the Mets with essentially the same team as 2017.

So here we are at another critical juncture, heading toward the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline with the Mets removed from playoff contention, barren in the upper levels of the minor leagues and wondering if the organization, under a threeheaded management structure, has learned anything.

The manner in which assistant general manager John Ricco spoke Friday sounded somewhat like last summer’s rallying cry that all is well. “Because of the makeup of our team and the fact we have guys like Noah [Syndergaard] and Jake [deGrom] at the top of the rotation, I think if we add the right pieces around them, we can be competitive really quickly,” Ricco said. “As we get Jay Bruce and [Yoenis] Cespedes back hopefully and Syndergaard, I think we are going to be a lot more competitive in the coming days.”

If the Mets want to keep deGrom and Syndergaard for a 2019 run at the playoffs, so be it. But if that happens, the other side of the equation had better be an offseason spending spree that includes a run at Manny Machado, then turns to the bullpen.

And we all know the Machado part isn’t happening, unless owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz have a sudden epiphany and decide the Mets can conduct business like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Dodgers and pursue top free agents other than their own.

In other words, if the Mets want to avoid the trap of returning essentially the 2018 Mets for a run at the 2019 playoffs, they probably need to trade deGrom or Syndergaard.

It’s not to say Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz are without value, but neither will command the type of package the Mets need to transform the organization.

“We are not out there actively looking to move Jacob and Noah by any stretch,” Ricco said. “I think honestly it would take a team to come in and present an overwhelming deal for us to move one of those guys. He is that kind of player and they mean that much to the organization.”

Ricco indicated next year will be the focus, even if either deGrom or Syndergaard is traded.

“We are not looking to make sure we have the best farm system,” he said. “We are trying to make sure we have the best major league team.”

DeGrom has been baseball’s best pitcher this season — he showed it again Friday, holding the Rays to one run over eight innings in his team’s 5-1 victory on Jose Bautista’s walk-off grand slam — and his trade value will never be higher, but the Mets risk a mutiny from their fans if he is dealt.

Syndergaard is the safer bet among the two to be traded, even with his value somewhat clouded by the strained ligament in his right index finger that has kept him from pitching since May 25.

But Syndergaard is also under club control through 2021 — a year longer than deGrom — and will turn 26 next month. DeGrom has already celebrated his 30th birthday.

Only adding to the potential combustibility of the situation is the Mets will likely pursue candidates for the general manager’s vacancy from outside the organization after the season. But here is Ricco (who is expected to be considered for the job) teaming with special assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi to make a critical decision that a possible successor would have thrust upon him or her.

The best realization Ricco and company can make is returning essentially the same cast for 2019 would be a bad idea. The 2018 Mets are evidence.