MLB

Now Mets owner Wilpon has to put money where his mouth is

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PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets take their bruises in 2013, but they grow. Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud arrive as bona fide major leaguers, and Matt Harvey and Jon Niese graduate to frontline starting pitchers. Ike Davis puts together a full campaign of power, plate patience and defense. David Wright copy-pastes something similar to his prior nine seasons.

They even make a run at .500, a milestone of mediocrity they have not reached since moving to Citi Field in 2009.

Oh, and their three remaining bad contracts — Jason Bay, Frank Francisco and Johan Santana — essentially come off the books; Bay still has some deferred payments coming beyond this year.

By November, Fred Wilpon’s team sits on the precipice of relevance, blessed with massive financial flexibility.

This imagined sweet spot, this anticipated perfect storm, is optimistic yet far from ridiculous. It would become ridiculous only if Wilpon, the Mets’ CEO, failed to live up to the vows of generosity and liquidity he made yesterday.

We will believe the Mets are once again a big-market team only when we see it. And if we don’t see it, then we will be free to question once more whether Wilpon should be running one of baseball’s jewel franchises.

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“There’s no one in family — there’s the Katz family, the Wilpon family, the kids — no one has any personal debt. Zero. Everything has been paid. We don’t owe a dollar to anybody,” Wilpon said as the 2013 Mets held their first official workout for pitchers and catchers. “That’s what made us tight. We were still getting lots of revenues, but those revenues were going to pay off debt. That’s done.”

The Wilpons settled their Bernie Madoff problem on very favorable terms. The real-estate market “has gone ‘Zimmo!’ ” Wilpon said, motioning upward and sounding like a “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” cast member. Same for the stock market.

Though the team has not posted good results during the Sandy Alderson-Terry Collins reign and currently lacks an outfield, most industry folks think Alderson has steered the team in the right direction, with a young nucleus coming together.

It’s when you get to this point in the process, especially if enough positive developments occur in 2013, that going after a high-end free agent makes sense. You acquire someone to supplement an already strong core. The Mets’ interest in Michael Bourn was limited in part because Bourn probably would not have elevated this year’s team to the postseason.

Next November’s free-agent class likely will include a pair of current Yankees, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson, as well as outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury. We know the outfielders would fit the Mets quite well, and though Daniel Murphy has become a modest asset, his presence shouldn’t block a Cano pursuit.

All four of these players will be on the wrong side of 30 by the time they enter the market. So there will be risk attached. Nevertheless, the Mets owe it to themselves and to their fans to seriously engage in this arena. For real. No conditional discussions. Bona fide, big-time, market-appropriate offers.

“Do we anticipate big investments? If that were appropriate,” Wilpon said, and then he proceeded to explain why he hoped not to need re-enforcements for his infield, catcher or pitchers. He neglected to mention the outfield until pressed, at which point he said chances of a midseason trade for an outfielder were “50-50.”

The Mets fielded a payroll of about $150 million not long ago. They might not break $100 million this season. The cut, prompted by the factors Wilpon mentioned, and the related plummet in results have profoundly alienated the Mets’ fan base. Attendance has dropped each year the Mets have played in Citi Field.

“We’ve got to take this sour taste out of the fans’ minds” with a strong season, Wilpon said, which would provide more financial strength with an increase in ticket sales. Wins will draw fans.

It might not be that simple, though. The 2013 Mets could fail to contend or generate great revenues, yet show enough signs they are ready for the next step. Back to pennant races. Back to $150-ish million payrolls, only spent more intelligently than the last time.

Not everyone in the game thought the once-embattled Wilpon, 76, would make it to this point. He’s still here, to his credit. Now he needs to plan for his next climb. Or else face another fall.

kdavidoff@nypost.com