What felt like a slow burn early in the offseason has turned into a stretch of blunt force trauma, with decision after decision breaking the wrong way. In the span of a few days, the Mets watched familiar names and targeted solutions land elsewhere, often on deals that revealed just how unforgiving the current market has become.

Sometimes, it’s watching as three of the Mets’ staples depart in a matter of weeks that creates an impossible reality.

Another day, another superstar-caliber free agent gone from the New York Mets roster. A day after All-Star reliever Edwin Diaz signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets watched homegrown first baseman Pete Alonso depart for the Baltimore Orioles on a five-year,

This is one of the last things that Mets fans wanted to hear Edwin Díaz admit.

Maybe Stearns thinks he can replace Alonso’s production with that of Bellinger, who’s shown he can do it in New York. Or Kyle Tucker, who hasn’t.

The Mets spent all summer among the chased and will begin the autumn — or is it The Fall? — as a team chasing. Goodbye lead for the National League’s third and final wild-card spot. The Mets now have six games to overtake the Reds or they will head ...

The Mets, Yankees and “most all big-market” teams have reportedly checked in on free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker, as have the Baltimore Orioles.

Overall last season, Polanco spent the bulk of his time at DH, adding 39 games at second, a handful at third and his emergency appearance at first. But with Alonso, who played 160 games at first last season, now in Baltimore, the Mets will currently need Polanco to spend plenty of time at the position.