MLB

Despite stop in talks, Mets GM sees Reyes as keeper

Mets fans should not concentrate on what Sandy Alderson offered yesterday as news.

For there was little surprise in Jose Reyes’ request the sides table contract extension negotiations during the season.

Players usually do not run 25 miles of the marathon and quit; when they are this close to free agency, they usually see it through to find out what 30 teams think of them rather than just one.

What Mets fans should fixate on, instead, was a subtler message delivered by Alderson that had this powerful message: The Mets GM sees Reyes as a long-term asset. Alderson went further than ever in separating Reyes from the herd, in making it sound as if he sees Reyes as a building block, not a trade chip.

“If we’re in it, it would be hard for me to see us trading Jose Reyes,” Alderson said. “I don’t think being out of it dictates anything. Whether we’re winning or losing, I think, is a lot less relevant in Jose’s case.”

Translation: If the Mets are out of it, of course they will work like crazy to deal Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez because they are not part of any long-term plans. But Reyes can be a cornerstone to where Alderson wants to take the roster. Therefore, even if the Mets are not in contention by late July, they would see the value of retaining Reyes.

“Jose’s situation is not a function of whether we’re winning or losing on a short-term basis in July,” Alderson said. “His future with us is not gonna be dictated by how we play, good or bad over the next month. . . . I just don’t want there to be any nexus between how we play in the next month and what disposition occurs with Jose. I don’t want anyone to have that misconception. It’s not how I view it.”

Both sides have strong reasons for tabling this seminal decision to a future date.

Does Reyes run a Pujols-esque risk of an injury that harms his value? Of course. But his camp also knows without a hard deadline and others bidding on his services, the Mets will not make their best offer in the coming weeks. The Mets will go nowhere near the seven years at $142 million Boston gave Carl Crawford or even the 10-year, $157 million extension the Rockies bestowed on Troy Tulowitzki.

Therefore, Reyes would end up looking bad to the fans when he inevitably rejected a lucrative, but not fair-market deal.

Conversely, Alderson buys himself more time. The belief was that he disdained mega-deals, especially to offensive players who did not have plate patience as a main skill. But as athleticism and defense have grown in importance around the majors, and Reyes’ positive connection to the fan base has become more overt, Alderson clearly has become more enamored with Reyes.

Still, right now, he would be bidding on Reyes as an MVP front-runner hitting 50 points above his career average. If Reyes retains this, then he almost certainly will reach or exceed Crawford’s dollars. So the Mets will wait to see if his health/production falter and take Reyes’ price south — especially because the Wilpon’s financial situation remain a major character in any negotiation.

Meanwhile, the Mets will see if some contender flinches and makes an offer of prospects the Mets cannot refuse. Historically, the mid-season trade return for position players in their walk year has not been overwhelming. If that continues, the Mets will hold Reyes knowing, at worst, they get his production all year and two high draft choices if he leaves as a free agent afterward.

But multiple outside executives keep saying they envision teams willing to make large offers for Reyes because of his potential impact on both sides of the ball. San Francisco is most often mentioned with one NL personnel man saying, “They have sold out every home game, they have lost their best offensive player [Buster Posey] for the season and they can repeat as champs, especially if they add someone like Reyes. If the Giants are willing to give up [left-handed starter] Madison Bumgarner, [top hitting prospect] Brandon Belt or [top pitching prospect] Zack Wheeler to front a package, how do the Mets not consider that strongly?”

They probably do. But what they are considering strongest of all these days — as Alderson said without directly saying it — is a future in which Reyes is one of their cornerstones.

joel.sherman@nypost.com