MLB

Don’t be shocked if Mets give Delgado curtain call

CARLOS Delgado is keep ing a low profile around the Mets and Citi Field these days, rarely talking to reporters as he works his way back from hip surgery.

The team’s best player the second half of the 2008 season is now little more than an afterthought, his departure from Queens after this miserable season considered by many to be a forgone conclusion.

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It’s easy to come up with a list of reasons why the Mets should cut ties with the veteran first baseman once he becomes a free agent this winter.

Delgado turned 37 in late June, and the Mets haven’t exactly had a lot of luck with aging players in recent years.

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Delgado is a liability at first base, which is even more problematic because the Mets aren’t exactly a team full of Ozzie Smiths.

And most of all, Delgado is less than four months removed from surgery on his right hip that was considered much more extensive than the ones performed on Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley and Mike Lowell.

Does that sound like a player the Mets should invest in, even if Delgado would agree to a relatively cheap, incentive-laden deal?

Hardly.

But this doesn’t figure to be an ordinary offseason for the Mets and GM Omar Minaya, thanks to Bernie Madoff and the $700 million hole he punched in the Wilpons’ finances.

All signs point to the Mets’ NL-leading $149 million payroll coming way down this winter, meaning you probably aren’t going to see Matt Holliday filling the power void.

Power is going to have to come from somewhere, which explains why Minaya told me yesterday that, conventional wisdom aside, don’t be surprised to see Delgado back in a Mets uniform next season.

“We’re definitely going to consider him next year,” Minaya said before the Mets went out and showed why in a 13-4 loss to the Marlins that completed a three-game Florida sweep.

Delgado, who avoided the assembled media again yesterday, hasn’t said if he would be willing to take a lot less money than his $12 million deal this year to come back to the Mets.

But the slugger has increased his workouts lately and has been fielding ground balls this week, looking nothing like a player who has decided to pack it in.

The Mets have seen enough of Delgado in batting practice to think he hasn’t lost the stroke that made him one of the NL’s most feared power threats the last half of 2008.

“You never know how a player’s going to come out of that [hip surgery], but I do believe he’s one of those guys with strength,” Minaya said. “If you watch him in BP, he’s still got that strength.”

Strength the Mets will badly need next season if Minaya, as expected, doesn’t make a lot of changes to a roster that plays in a cavernous stadium and ranks at the bottom of the majors in home runs.

Bringing back Delgado would stem the development of Daniel Murphy, who has been a defensive surprise at first base and is on an upward swing overall.

But in the wake of this season’s disaster and with their fans on the verge of revolt, the Mets can’t think about the long term this offseason.

That’s why no one should be shocked if Delgado is on Jerry Manuel’s lineup card on Opening Day next April. When you’re pressed to the wall like the Mets, you go with what you know.

bhubbuch@nypost.com