The “Subway Series” ended a week ago and a new version of the intracity rivalry emerged soon after —- in the transaction column.

In the buildup to the trade deadline, the Mets and Yankees displayed significantly differing approaches.

The Mets basically told anyone who picked up the phone, checked their email, responded to a text message. Those communications likely said something like make us an offer, with the instructions being the better the prospect the less it costs you.

The Yankees on the other hand were more uncertain with their intentions, maybe considering something for left field, something behind the plate or something on the mound. And until about 15 minutes before the trade deadline frenzy ended, they were the only team without a move until actually making a transaction.

The Mets are in the predicament of turning into the latest team to “win the offseason” that loses that actual season, reducing their historic active payroll from around $350 million by about $200 million. Of course they are paying nearly $140 million for Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to pitch in Texas with the Astros and Rangers respectively where they also get to avoid state income tax.

The Yankees could have used someone in left field and perhaps another notable arm. Instead their deals were Kenyan Middleton to be a seventh or eighth reliever and purchasing Spencer Howard for a depth starting pitching option.

And in a sign indicating how underwhelming it was, consider Brian Cashman’s press conference during the third and fourth innings Tuesday night as the Rays took a four-run lead on homers by Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena off Carlos Rodon, the $162 million free agent pitcher.

“We could have gone a different way,” Cashman said. “We could have obviously taken a wrecking ball to it. But I honestly felt, based on the opportunities that presented themselves, that didn’t make any sense whatsoever and that kind of forced us to do a double-down. Three and half games out, let’s double-down and go for it.”

Cashman spoke for about 16 minutes Tuesday, was asked one question about the player he just acquired and it was to fill in space for a wire service story on it. And that question was asked about 12 minutes in after various inquires were made about his inactivity and the moves made by teams such as the Blue Jays, who obtained Jordan Hicks and Paul DeJong.

While Cashman was speaking, GM Billy Eppler was speaking to the media for the third time since Thursday.

First, he spoke when the Mets traded David Robertson likely during a rain delay. Robertson warmed up in the eighth inning, then did not pitch in the ninth when the Mets resumed things with the Nationals about 90 minutes later. Soon it was apparent Robertson was traded, making him the third player in the last decade to be traded during a rain delay in a game played in New York.

The first was Joakim Soria, who went from Texas to Detroit during a rain delay on July 23, 2014. The next was Zack Greinke, who was dealt from Arizona to Houston on July 31, 2019 during a delay.

A day later, an agitated Max Scherzer spoke in forceful tones, saying he wanted a meeting with the front office. By Saturday it was apparent the meeting occurred and around 4:30 pm tweets started circulating on the internet he was headed to Texas for Ronald Acuna’s brother, with the Mets hoping they didn’t get the wrong Acuna like the New York Rangers once had the wrong Hull in Jody Hull in the late 1980s.

It took about 21 1/2 hours for Scherzer’s departure to become official because the Mets were working out the details of how much they would pay for him not to pitch in New York and when Eppler said the following in an opening statement: “I do want to be clear that it’s not a rebuild. It’s not a fire sale. It’s not a liquidation.”

While Eppler was saying that, Justin Verlander was pitching his final 5 1/3 innings as a Met. On Tuesday after beating the Yankees, Verlander did not sound enthused about waiving his no-trade clause but after Scherzer’s locker was cleared out, Verlander seemed more open-minded to the possibility.

Verlander’s open mind became a reality at about pm Tuesday when tweets began circulating about his return to Houston. By about 5:30 the deal was official with Verlander coming back to Houston, which plays in the Bronx this weekend.

“We were just trying to be strategic and we wanted to see what opportunities exist on some of our players. We had certain price points that we were looking for and if those were met, we were going to execute it,” Eppler said.

Price points, allocating resources, sustainably and building the organization organically, were phrases nobody anticipated the Mets actually uttering in December, two months after a 101-win season was ended by the joyous San Diego Padres in the ill-fated wild-card round.

Yet, the trade deadline was defined by those phrases and the murkiness of being in baseball purgatory of 3 1/2 games behind the third wild-card spot.

“We’re here because we played poorly,” Cashman said. “We’ve underperformed in some cases and had some bad injuries and that’s why we’re where at right now. We were counting on more. If those are decisions that fall on me, they’re on me for the roster.

“We certainly were counting on better play and less injuries. We’ve got two months to do something about that and we’re going to find out.”

Underwhelming and meh performances explain how the New York teams arrived at a trade deadline that was memorable for all the wrong reasons and whether the Yankees can improve on their 85-win pace is now the responsibility of their current roster while the Mets stripped down roster will play out the string until the offseason.