The Mets still need a third baseman and would like to get younger and more athletic at second base.

Such a confluence of circumstances has team officials considering the idea of reuniting Jeff McNeil with third base for next season. McNeil played the position earlier in his Mets career, but gradually moved to second base and the outfield.

That the Mets are considering McNeil for third base tells you the organization’s level of desperation in trying to fill the spot.

Brett Baty struggled for much of this season, both offensively and defensively, and earlier this week was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse. It’s possible the 23-year-old Baty will remain at third base, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the organization begins transitioning him to the outfield next season.

Mark Vientos has received a look at third base, but the rookie hardly projects as a full-time player at the position. Vientos, if he isn’t traded this offseason, is more likely to settle into a backup first base/DH role. Vientos previously dabbled in the outfield with Syracuse, but that wasn’t considered a fit.

The wild card in this situation might be Ronny Mauricio, who this week started a defensive rotation for Syracuse that includes third base. Mauricio played the position in the Dominican Winter League and received high marks for his work.

Mauricio, a natural shortstop, began playing second base and left field this season. He struggled in the outfield, prompting organizational officials to devise this new plan in which he rotates among second, third and shortstop.

If the 22-year-old Mauricio is going to have a future with the Mets, he might have to show he can play the three infield positions.

Shortstop is important, too, as team officials look for additional opportunities to rest Francisco Lindor, who turns 30 in November.

The Mets kept Mauricio as solely a shortstop into this season in part to bolster his trade value, but that strategy may have backfired: Lindor is entrenched at shortstop for the foreseeable future, and Mauricio missed opportunities to receive reps at other positions.

Though third base was crowded at Syracuse as the season began — Baty and Vientos both opened on the Triple-A roster — it’s confounding that Mauricio didn’t factor into the position once the others had been promoted.

The Mets expect to have Luisangel Acuña in spring training next year for a look at second base. But the 21-year-old Acuña — who arrived in the deal that sent Max Scherzer to Texas — likely is still at least a year away from major league consideration as he develops at Double-A Binghamton.

If not Mauricio or Acuña, the Mets likely will have to look outside the organization for the athletic second baseman they would prefer.

David Wright played his last game at third base for the Mets in 2018, but hadn’t been a regular player for the club in the three seasons that preceded his farewell. The conga line at third base since then has included Jose Reyes, Wilmer Flores, Todd Frazier, McNeil, J.D. Davis, Jonathan Villar, Eduardo Escobar and Baty.

McNeil has shown competence at third base, but a rough stretch defensively during spring training in 2021 seemed to put the position in his rearview for good. Necessity now may dictate McNeil revisiting his old stomping ground.

When the Mets traded R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays following the 2012 season, the focal point was Travis d’Arnaud, but it didn’t take long for the buzz to center around another player included in the deal: Noah Syndergaard.

The Mets might have a similar scenario with Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford, both of whom arrived last week in the trade that sent Justin Verlander to the Astros. The outfielder Gilbert was the Astros’ top-rated prospect, but Clifford’s raw power is tantalizing.

Clifford, an outfielder, homered in his first at-bat for High-A Brooklyn.

“He’s a gigantic individual, and he’s really strong,” Mets farm director Kevin Howard said. “That is the first thing that stuck out — a very strong and simple kind of approach. It looks repeatable and looks like he’s very comfortable in the box. Those combinations of things, he’s really exciting.”

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There wasn’t a more conspicuous omission among Mets players traded at the deadline than Daniel Vogelbach, who figured to join Tommy Pham and Mark Canha among the hitters dealt.

But the Mets misjudged the amount of interest they would receive in the lefty-swinging DH and ultimately decided there was more value in keeping him than unloading him for minimal return.

Vogelbach is arbitration-eligible after the season — he’s under contract this year for $1.5 million — leaving open the possibility he will be non-tendered if the Mets can’t find a taker for him.

Retaining Vogelbach wouldn’t seem to make sense unless the team is prepared to give him significant at-bats at DH again, but what’s the definition of insanity?

A different approach to DH the Mets could consider for next season: a rotating cast that could include Pete Alonso, Lindor, Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo and McNeil, allowing for the team’s best players to each receive rest from playing in the field once a week while remaining in the lineup.

For such an approach to work, the Mets would have to bolster their roster depth at other positions. Adding a super-utility player who is capable of handling infield positions and center field would help.

Team officials are debating whether Edwin Diaz should pitch this season if he clears all rehab hurdles after undergoing March surgery to repair the torn patellar tendon in his right knee.

Normal rehab time for such surgery is eight months. Diaz would be returning in about six.

The fact the Mets are unlikely to play another meaningful game this season works in both directions.

On one hand, why even bother? Let Diaz receive the extra rest and get him ready for the spring training report date in February.

The flip side is seeing Diaz pitch in September would mean one fewer question heading into camp next year. And if Diaz is deemed healthy enough to pitch in September, wouldn’t hearing Timmy Trumpet on Blasterjaxx’s “Narco” blaring through the speakers at Citi Field even just once this season be something to which the club could look forward in what otherwise should be a blah month?

It will be worth watching Pham’s performance over these next several weeks with the Diamondbacks. The veteran outfielder has kerataconus, a thinning of the cornea for which he wears corrective contact lenses, and told a friend recently that he’s often had a difficult time seeing the ball in the Diamondbacks’ home ballpark, Chase Field.

Pham owns a .701 OPS in 111 plate appearances at Chase Field. It’s well below his career OPS of .787.