MLB

Mets cut Florida farm team

The Mets will have one fewer minor league affiliates next season.

In a move designed to trim costs, the team yesterday announced the elimination of its Port St. Lucie affiliate in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.

The Mets still will have Rookie teams in Kingsport, Tenn., and at their facility in the Dominican Republic. Mets players who would have spent next season in the Gulf Coast League will be dispersed among Kingsport and the Dominican Republic.

Though the Mets still will have eight farm teams — more than most franchises — the elimination of the GCL club serves as another belt-tightening measure. Recently, general manager Sandy Alderson indicated the Mets lost $70 million last season.

In November, the Mets laid off about 10 percent of their front office staff. Last winter the team also axed several workers in the ticket office after the Mets incurred about $50 million in losses in 2010.

Alderson also is overseeing a purge that will drop the Mets’ payroll to $100 million or lower next season. The Mets’ payroll for 2011 was about $140 million.

The Mets have two Rookie teams in the Dominican Republic and one at Kingsport. They have Single-A teams at St. Lucie, Savannah and Brooklyn; a Double-A team at Binghamton and Triple-A team in Buffalo.

* Former Mets GM Jim Duquette recently auditioned with WFAN for a spot in the team’s radio booth next season, according to sources. Wayne Hagin, who spent four seasons working alongside Howie Rose, is not expected to return.

Duquette currently hosts a baseball show on Sirius XM Radio. Other candidates for Hagin’s seat, according to sources, include former major leaguer Billy Sample, WFAN reporter Ed Coleman and SNY host Chris Carlin.