The Mets’ 27-22 record after the trade deadline works out to an 89-win pace, the kind of season that will usually get you to the playoffs. 

What president of baseball operations David Stearns must determine in an offseason that officially commences once the World Series concludes is how much of August and September was real, as opposed to the sludge that defined this Mets season. 

It’s a tricky line to walk. Did the Mets truly find themselves later in the season, or was this the proverbial garbage-time scoring that makes the final score more palatable? 

Stearns was asked a variation of that question during his season-ending press conference and not surprisingly took the glass-is-half-full outlook.