The Mets are in much better shape today to tackle 2027 than it appeared even, say, two months ago.

The strong performance of young homegrowns Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nate Lavender, Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton has created a more encouraging base for the future. Plus, a deadline-haul-infused minor league system is perhaps ready to bring more next year — including Jefferson Rojas, Jonathan Santucci and Mitch Voit.

This is particularly vital because with the potential for a salary cap or more stringent penalties for the biggest spenders, the expectation should be that the Mets will be lowering their payroll now and in the near future. Obviously, that is easier to accomplish with young (read: inexpensive) players filling lots of roster spots.

The Mets also will need their big earners to perform commensurate with their pay. So it helps that Bo Bichette (who can opt in for $42 million next year) and Francisco Lindor looked better in the second half to go along with a still-in-his-prime Juan Soto. The most upbeat item about the potential dead money of Sean Manaea, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Kodai Senga and Devin Williams is that none of their contracts run beyond 2028.