MLB

Mets look like no-ring circus

The circus is coming this week to Port St. Lucie, Fla., but where will they find a tent big enough for so many sideshows?

If this wasn’t the most turbulent offseason in Mets history, it certainly was the zaniest. The Mets dumped general manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel, welcoming Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins to those respective positions. His wallet clutched tightly, Alderson shopped at the thrift store, perhaps with currency bearing Bernie Madoff’s unflattering image.

It leaves the Mets as the biggest soap opera in baseball, starring Madoff, Fred Wilpon, Irving Picard, Francisco Rodriguez, Oliver Perez, Jose Reyes, Jason Bay and Johan Santana. The plot lines are scintillating, even if the Mets on paper are not, especially when compared with the NL East rival Phillies — who added Cliff Lee to a rotation that already included Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

As pitchers and catchers report to spring training for initial workouts this week, gone is much of the belief the Mets are just a lucky bounce away from the playoffs. The perception is the Mets are broken — and perhaps broke, as Wilpon looks to sell as much as 25 percent of the team to cover potential losses in Picard’s clawback lawsuit on behalf of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme victims.

On and off the field, the Mets are viewed as damaged goods.

“It’s probably the lowest the expectations have ever been for the Mets, in recent years,” a National League executive said. “The expectations aren’t there, so maybe it will be a ‘Me against the world’ mentality and they go out there and play their tails off.”

Can the Mets somehow contend for the postseason?

“So many things would have to fall into place,” the executive said. “The injury factor is huge, getting Johan back, getting Bay back. There are a lot of things that would have to fall in place. But a team like [the Mets], just play the game hard — and nobody picked the Giants last year, so what the hell, you never know.”

Santana’s recovery from shoulder surgery and return to form is paramount to any playoff chances. The Mets are hopeful Santana can return by June, leaving Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Chris Young and Chris Capuano, among others, to hold the fort.

If fans aren’t busy monitoring how many games Rodriguez finishes — he needs 55 to trigger a $17.5 million option for 2012 — they will be dissecting Reyes’ play. The shortstop is unsigned beyond this season and figures to command upward of $100 million on the open market if he stays healthy and produces strong numbers. But Reyes also could become trade bait in July if the Mets are removed from contention and looking to shed payroll.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, has been a disappointment in his two seasons as Mets closer, and that was before his arrest on charges he assaulted the grandfather of his two children following a game at Citi Field last summer. Rodriguez, who injured his thumb in the scuffle, subsequently was placed on the disqualified list and forfeited $3.1 million in salary.

Bay, returning from a concussion that shortened his disappointing 2010 season, joins Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Angel Pagan and Ike Davis to give the Mets a potentially solid lineup.

“We still have a very good lineup,” Reyes said. “The only piece we’re going to miss is Johan Santana, and he’s going to probably be ready later in the season. If we stay healthy, I think we can be contenders.”

But do the Mets have enough pitching without Santana?

“You’ll better be able to answer that at the end of spring training,” the NL executive said. “If you don’t see much out of Capuano and Chris Young, and it doesn’t look like they are going to be ready, you’re in trouble. You need one of them, if not both.”

Alderson went the inexpensive route, signing Young and Capuano, both of whom are deemed reclamation projects after dealing with arm problems in recent years. Alderson also signed backup catcher Ronny Paulino and reliever D.J. Carrasco.

Perez and Luis Castillo — owed a combined $18 million for this season — figure to be goners by Opening Day, but both will have a chance to make the team in spring training. The battle for second base will include Castillo, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner and Brad Emaus.

Team brass also will try to determine if Beltran still can play center field or if he will switch places with Pagan in right. That decision likely will be reached within the first few weeks of camp.

Then there is Collins, returning to manage in the major leagues for the first time since 1999, when a player revolt led to his resignation from the Angels. The “intense” Collins was hired by Alderson to keep the inmates from running the asylum.

But enough about Madoff.

mpuma@nypost.com