MILWAUKEE — Rays Game 1 starter Nick Martinez mentioned how Tampa Bay was very high on his preferred list as a free agent last winter. So, too, were the Mets. 

Martinez is far from the biggest Mets mistake of the winter, and that’s true even within Tampa Bay’s veteran rotation. That distinction belongs to Freddy Peralta, who’s been great all of his nine seasons — save for his four-month stay in Queens, that is. 

And who’s to say for sure if Martinez, the former Fordham shortstop who had strong interest in coming to New York, would have been able to put together the same career year for the Mets? 

But after going 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA for the Rays and earning this once-in-a-lifetime assignment, the Mets’ inability to sign Martinez does look like another “E” on the team from Queens.