MLB

Experienced Mets Hairston, Rauch now free agents

They are free to leave and probably gone.

Scott Hairston, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, Ronny Cedeno, Kelly Shoppach, Tim Byrdak and Chris Young are the Mets who became free agents at midnight. In all likelihood each has played his last game for the team.

As general manager Sandy Alderson attempts to keep next year’s payroll around $100 million — with almost all of that money already spent — the team’s veteran depth figures to be the most susceptible.

Alderson’s immediate task remains negotiating contract extensions for David Wright and R.A. Dickey that would keep each under Mets control beyond 2013, but there will be holes to fill once the smoke clears.

A club source yesterday mentioned Hairston as the free agent the Mets most want to keep, but the veteran outfielder is coming off a career season (20 homers and 57 RBIs) and figures to command a huge raise from the $1.1 million he received in 2012.

Hairston’s departure would only further weaken an outfield that was among the least productive in the major leagues last season. But Alderson has also identified bolstering the outfield — probably via trade — as a primary offseason goal.

Rauch, a righty reliever, finished strong after a rough two-month stretch, but he earned $3.5 million last season and there are questions about his durability. The 34-year-old Rauch battled an assortment of injuries and was mostly limited to pitching fractions of innings in the second half of last season.

Ramirez was a bust in the bullpen after arriving with Andres Torres in the deal that sent Angel Pagan to the Giants and almost certainly won’t be retained.

Cedeno earned $1.2 million last season, but the Mets also have a less expensive backup middle-infield option in Justin Turner, who had trouble finding playing time last season.

Shoppach still could return as part of a platoon with Josh Thole behind the plate, but the Mets would like to first search for an upgrade, either on the trade or free-agent market. Miguel Olivo and David Ross are among the free-agent options the Mets could pursue.

The lefty Byrdak underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in September, likely sidelining him until next year’s All-Star break. The Mets will move ahead with lefties Josh Edgin and Robert Carson.

Young returned from anterior capsule surgery and went 4-9 with a 4.15 ERA, but could be headed toward a decent payout, and the Mets already have rotation depth.

* Mike Nickeas cleared waivers yesterday and was out-righted to Triple-A Las Vegas.