MLB

TIME TO PLAN FOR NEXT SEASON FOR METS

SHORT of a scandal or 15-game losing streak that gave them no other choice, the Wilpons were never firing Omar Minaya or Jerry Manuel during this season.

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They did not like the interim replacement options and, more important, they did not like that once the GM and/or manager would be gone that media and fan anger would galvanize in another direction. Namely at ownership. So Minaya and Manuel hold their jobs for now, as much to be human shields to the Wilpons as to get through the rest of this season.

But that does not make the rest of this season meaningless. The NL East race is over. In the wild card, the Mets could possibly repeat 1973 again and make a late surge. But I think the NL wild card will have 87-plus wins.

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Can these Mets get there? Maybe. They have a lot of Washington, Arizona and San Diego to try to inflate their record in the near future. Still the wild card remains highly unlikely, and the Mets should not prioritize a long shot over focusing on 2010.

So rather than “Ya Gotta Believe,” the Mets’ motto must return to “The Future Is Now,” and with that in mind, this should be their roadmap as they prioritize 2010:

1. They should stop looking for ways to rush back injured players, except for Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner. They are free agents at the end of the season. Wagner is not in the Mets’ future plans, while the Mets could consider bringing Delgado back. But if either or both could return to the active roster, then perhaps the Mets could make an August trade for a low-level prospect or two.

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For an organization as bereft of farm depth as the Mets, every little bit counts. Thus, the Mets also should be seeing if anyone is interested in providing even middling prospects for Livan Hernandez, Brian Schneider or Gary Sheffield, all of whom also are free agents after the season and not in the Mets’ 2010 plans.

As for the disabled Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine and Fernando Martinez, they are vital to the 2010 team, so you only bring them back when they are 100 percent healthy, not a second before. And, yes, Reyes and Beltran are part of the 2010 team. You don’t trade stars when their value has dropped, and these injuries have hurt the value of Reyes and Beltran. Perhaps the last best moment to maximize their value came and went at the end of last season.

And we cannot discuss injuries and moving forward without stating the Wilpons must have a very public vetting of their medical staff/protocol so the players, more than anyone else, regain some confidence that they are being cared for professionally.

2. They should not abuse Johan Santana or Francisco Rodriguez in a lust to win games in 2009. These are central players if you expect to win in 2010. Thus, pushing Santana an extra inning or two now in a futile playoff chase or using K-Rod a third or fourth straight day in the name of slim hopes is the kind of short-sighted, fool-the-fans thinking that should get someone fired.

3. Obviously, play youngsters. There are not many of them. But the Mets need to let Jonathon Niese make a dozen starts now to get a better read if he is part of the 2010 rotation. They need to get Bobby Parnell back into high-leverage situations to see if he is the eighth-inning man. Catching prospect Josh Thole should be summoned to see if he can be part of a platoon in 2010.

Can Angel Pagan, 28, stay healthy and be a viable fourth outfielder in the switch-hitting Stan Javier vein? Can the defensively-challenged, offensively-suspect duo of Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans be bench contributors to a first-division team? Should the Mets tender contracts for 2010 to Jeff Francoeur and/or Sean Green? These are all questions the Mets should be homing in on over the next few months.

The Future Is Now.

joelsherman@nypost.com