NEW YORK — As several ballparks around the majors buzzed with playoff preparations Monday, from Yankee Stadium to Wrigley Field, the one standing at 41 Seaver Way in Queens sat conspicuously empty.

A weathered New York Mets tarp covered the mound, another one encircled home plate. No possibility of any October baseball coming to Citi Field this year.

Ya Gotta Believe? More like hard to believe.

After building the best record in the majors at 45-24 through June 12 with baseball’s most expensive opening-day roster, Juan Soto and the Mets finished 83-79 and missed the playoffs when they lost 4-0 in their season finale Sunday at Miami.

It was a gradual and yet stunning second-half collapse for a star-studded team that began the season with seemingly legitimate World Series aspirations and

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