By Ernie Palladino

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The Mets and Yanks have shown this offseason that different isn’t always bad.

In fact, it’s good to change things up once in a while; step out of character to achieve the same goal. Or, as it might be characterized in this presidential election year, switching parties.

Put it this way: if the Mets and Yanks do achieve their ultimate goal and face each other in the World Series, they’ll have gotten to it through a personality change.

The Mets, usually content to keep the team payroll down through conservative, perhaps even reactionary economic plans, have hit the free agent market hard and jacked up the dollars column to respectable levels.

The Yanks have added talent, too, but through trades. These formerly wild spenders, who ended last season with a $223 million payroll, baseball’s second-highest, used to sop up free agents like a sponge. But now they have opened free-trade lanes with their MLB neighbors.

They still added salary, but in a different manner.

And if it works for each team, no one will say a word about their personality change.

Mets fans, in fact, went well past ecstatic in their glee over landing Yoenis Cespedes for $75 million over three years, especially since the slugger left a considerable amount of money on the table from the Nationals and Orioles.

And don’t forget about that left-handed reliever Sandy Alderson grabbed. Antonio Bastardo may walk more batters than he should, but he gets out righties as well as lefties. As a setup man for Jeurys Familia, he offers Terry Collins depth and options beyond lefty long-reliever Sean Gilmartin, and re-signed southpaw Jerry Blevins.

Bastardo got swept under the rug in the euphoria over Cespedes, but his pickup will prove almost as important.

Asdrubal Cabrera also arrived via free agency to shore up the middle infield. They had to spend $18.5 million over two years for him, but he may turn out to be a bargain.

It’s not that the Mets changed their character entirely, however. They did ship off Jon Niese to Pittsburgh for second baseman Neil Walker to kick off the middle infield remake. But it is clear the Mets have chosen free agency as the preferred method of improvement this year, a move that has put their payroll at an estimated $139.3 million — sixth in the NL at this point.

The Yanks, on the other hand, have so far done whatever restructuring they’ve found necessary through trades. In fact, they haven’t signed a single outside free agent.

Not one.

Whether they will by the time pitchers and catchers report Feb. 18 won’t change the fact that they switched gears.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, the Aroldis Chapman deal may turn out as the trade of the century. The Reds gave up this troubled closer with the 100 MPH arm for peanuts — four minor leaguers. And now that police have chosen not to press criminal charges against the 30-year-old Cuban left-hander for alleged domestic violence in Florida, the Yanks need only worry about the punishment, if any, MLB hands him in accordance with its policy on domestic violence.

The shipped off Adam Warren to the Cubs for second baseman Starlin Castro, who could form a potent double-play combination with Didi Gregorius.

A report indicated the Yanks, apparently undaunted by the Chapman controversy, had initially contacted the Rockies about trading for Jose Reyes, the former Mets shortstop due to stand trial for his own domestic violence issues April 18.

Neither Chapman nor Castro came cheap, of course. Chapman still stands to earn $13.1 million if he wins arbitration against the Yanks’ $9 million offer. They picked up another, relatively modest $7.86 million in the Castro trade.

The overall estimated payroll stands at around $229 million, still second-highest behind the Dodgers’ $232.8 million.

But the character changed. Trades, not free agency, have fueled the Yankees’ upgrades this year.

A little change in personality never hurt any team. And if it lands the Mets and Yanks where they want to be come October, then so much the better.

Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino