A season that began with both New York baseball teams having the loftiest of aspirations has devolved into a strong chance either or both will end up in last place in their divisions.

That dual level of ineptitude for the Yankees and the Mets never has happened since the latter’s inception in 1962, neither under the league-wide standings nor since MLB shifted to divisional play in 1969.

Much of that, of course, is reflective of the Yankees only finishing “last” twice over that 61-year span. They were 10th out of 10 American League teams in 1966 and seventh out of seven AL East teams in 1990.

The basement is where the Yankees reside, however, following Sunday’s ninth-inning collapse in Miami, and they are 2.5 games behind the fourth-place Red Sox after Monday’s 11-3 beatdown from baseball’s best team, the Braves, in Atlanta.

The Mets, meanwhile, are one game up on the Nationals for last place in the NL East following their 7-2 win against the Pirates on Monday night at Citi Field.

Just for masochistic kicks, I checked out the “MLB Futures” section on the BetMGM app on Monday to find out the dwindling odds of either team winning the World Series this season. And the numbers were not surprising.

The Mets were listed as one of eight dead-and-buried teams at +100,000, along with the A’s, Royals, Tigers, White Sox, Rockies, Nationals and Pirates. Say it with me, Lloyd Christmas: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

The Yankees’ odds weren’t quite as dismal, though they no longer even ranked in the top 15 across baseball, with a line of +8,000. With 43 games, barely six weeks to go in the regular season and Luis Severino headed back to the mound on Tuesday night, they are 5.5 games removed from the final wild-card spot in the American League.

The top five teams on BetMGM’s list of World Series-winning odds are no longer surprising at this mid-August juncture of the season, led by the Braves (+350), Dodgers (+450), Astros (+650) and Rangers (+800), with the Orioles and Rays tied for fifth at +1,000.

Here is a quick snapshot of that leading group with the biggest question facing each team as they prepare for the stretch run.

Braves

This is as complete a team as there is in baseball, with a legit chance to break the single-season record of home runs in a season set by the Twins (307) in 2019 — they’re on pace for 314.

Mets manager Buck Showalter’s assertion over the weekend was right on the money. The Braves’ best players — Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley, etc. — are not only incredibly productive, but they show up to play every day.

The biggest question is which of Atlanta’s superstars will cop NL MVP honors this season, though Acuña should be the clear front-runner over Olson and Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, the man Olson replaced last year at first base.

Dodgers

Freeman and Mookie Betts yet again are leading a dynamic Dodgers offense that has posted the second-most runs and homers in the National League — behind only the Braves in both categories.

As always, the key in Los Angeles will be a pitching staff fronted by future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who returned to the rotation last week after missing all of July due to shoulder soreness.

Astros

The defending World Series champions were more than happy to take advantage of whatever issues former ace Justin Verlander had with the Mets.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner already has posted two quality starts for Houston, even if he suffered a hard-luck loss to the Yankees in his first start back in the AL.

A massive key for Verlander and the battled-tested ‘Stros would be to overtake the upstart Rangers in the AL West and avoid the wild-card scenario.

Rangers

Texas’s division lead over their Lone Star state rivals stands at 3.5 games.

Verlander’s former Mets co-ace Max Scherzer won his third straight start for the Rangers after tossing seven scoreless innings Monday against the Angels with one hit and 11 strikeouts.

The Rangers must stay above water until AL Cy Young candidate Nathan Eovaldi returns from a forearm strain that has sidelined him since July 18.

Orioles/Rays

It’s been beyond impressive what these two AL East teams have done with two of the bottom four payrolls in all of baseball, just ahead of the also-ran Pirates and A’s, according to Spotrac.

The key for these young and talented squads will be which one can seize the East and join the Rangers/Astros winner to receive a first-round bye in the AL playoffs.

The Rays also are dealing with the troublesome absence of All-Star shortstop Wander Franco, who was placed on the restricted list Monday for at least the remainder of the team’s current road trip.

According to reports, MLB and authorities in the Dominican Republic are investigating the 22-year-old Franco over an alleged inappropriate relationship with a minor.

The Jets didn’t need another major signing to prove they are all-in after acquiring Aaron Rodgers in the offseason, but they provided their MVP-caliber quarterback with another weapon Monday night by agreeing to sign four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook.

The former Viking’s addition provides cover as Breece Hall continues to recuperate from a 2022 ACL injury, and Cook’s arrival also offsets the Patriots’ signing earlier in the day of former Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott.

It also raises the stakes.

As The Post’s Mike Vaccaro writes, “Cook brings four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons with him from Minnesota to New York. He also lugs dueling clouds of alleged domestic abuse charges and the alleged offer of $1 million to his accuser to keep the matter quiet. This is not a slip-him-in-through-the-side-door transaction. He is a big talent, undoubtedly; time will tell if he is also proven to be big trouble. The Jets now own all of that.

And they now also own exactly one chosen pathway where this can all seem even remotely worth it all: They have to win the Super Bowl.

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The Liberty still have their eyes on the biggest prize — a WNBA championship would be the first in franchise history — but they have a chance to hoist an in-season trophy on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The East-leading Libs will face the first-overall Aces for the Commissioner’s Cup title, an in-season tournament that would earn each member of the winning team $30,000.

That sum is not insignificant in a league in which the maximum salary is around $230,000 and the average is around $102K. The sides also will be playing for additional money to be donated to charities.

(Note: The NBA is holding a similar in-season tournament this year for the first time, with the winning team earning  $500,000 per player and $200,000 going to each player on the second-place squad.)

The Aces, who are coached by newly inducted Hall of Famer and former Liberty star Becky Hammon, won both the Commissioner’s Cup and the league title last year.

The Aces own the best record in the league at 27-3, including 15-1 on their home court.

But the Liberty have won 10 of their past 11 games and 14 of 16 to improve to 24-6 overall to top the Eastern Conference, including Sunday’s win over Indiana behind 42 points from Breanna Stewart.

They will remain in Vegas to play a regular-season game on Thursday, the final visit there until a potential showdown in the WNBA Finals in October.

What a surprise, James Harden is unhappy again.

The disgruntled former Net is disgruntled now with 76ers president Daryl Morey, calling him “a liar” while speaking at an event in China and vowing to “never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of” after the Sixers failed to acquiesce to the 10-time All-Star guard’s June trade request.

All of this is just tedious and redundant, at this point, right?

There predictably wasn’t much of a market this summer for Harden, despite being the NBA’s leader with 10.7 assists per game last season.

Little traction reportedly developed with the Clippers, his preferred destination.

The 33-year-old Harden is unhappy with Morey over the organization’s failure to offer a long-term max contract before the former league MVP opted in to the final year of his current deal ($35.6 million) in June.

ESPN reported Sunday that the Sixers plan to have Harden with the team in training camp for the start of the 2023-24 season.

So about that, James?

“Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden repeated.