Jeff Wilpon departed cliche island to explain the scenario in which the Mets would deal Noah Syndergaard.

Forget the standard about a trade working for both sides. Instead, last week the Mets owner explained: “It all depends on what Brodie [Van Wagenen] thinks he can get back [in a trade]. If he thinks the return is outsized from what the value of Noah is, then I guess he’ll suggest it and we’ll move on and do that. But it takes two [teams] to make a trade and it would [have to be] pretty lopsided.’’

Was that posturing to extract huge bids from the outset? Preparation to explain to a fan base why Syndergaard is in Port St. Lucie in February?

Mets fans should just hope it wasn’t honesty. Because it would be bad policy to only be considering trades that are “pretty lopsided” for Syndergaard.

If these really are the new, new, new, new (which version are we up to anyway?) Mets, then know self-confident organizations fixate on if the trade works for them and don’t fret perceptions. The old Mets — they are dead, right? — cared greatly about real-time coverage and being perceived as winning each transaction. The value is limited — the Mets were praised, for example, upon signing Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier.

Another element that would mark a new path is if the Mets acted as a true big-market organization. Because the Mets have the baseball version of having their cake and eating it, too, in front of them. They could trade Syndergaard to enlarge their talent base and then sign, say, Nathan Eovaldi, J.A. Happ or Charlie Morton to keep the rotation powerful.

That is what an organization truly committed to winning now and in the future — Van Wagenen’s words at his introductory press conference — would do.

So could the Mets get enough for Syndergaard to follow that path? I asked a half-dozen personnel men and two, in particular, said analytics-heavy organizations could shy away from surrendering big pieces for a pitcher limited to 35 starts due to injury the last two seasons and who has a worrisome velocity/delivery combination that will always make him a health risk. In addition, Syndergaard has been six-tenths of a run better in ERA and 61 points better in OPS in his large NL home park than on the road.

Thus, the teams more likely to give the Mets the help now/help later types they seek are more scout-oriented, desperate to show improvement now and unlikely to land the starting pitching they want in free agency. I have two:

Reds: They want to upgrade a rotten rotation plus win sooner than later. Their limited budget and hitter-friendly home make the Reds a hard sell to free agents. They would probably need to trade for a difference-maker.

The Mets should center discussions around Raisel Iglesias and Nick Senzel. Iglesias is homer susceptible, but an otherwise terrific reliever. He would be the Mets’ closer and allow them to use Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo aggressively in setup. Add, say, Adam Ottavino or David Robertson and suddenly the pen is a Mets strength.

Senzel is MLB.com’s No. 6 overall prospect. But he battled vertigo last year, and a fractured index finger limited him to 44 Triple-A games. Is he a future batting champ or a .280 type with lots of doubles and average skills at third?

The Reds gave their third baseman, Eugenio Suarez, a seven-year contract before last season, and he was an All-Star for the first time. Second baseman Scooter Gennett has blossomed in Cincinnati, which has talked about extending him. So, Senzel is at least somewhat blocked.

If the Mets think Senzel is healthy and more the batting-title type, they could dream about the upside of a young core infield of Peter Alfonso, Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario and Senzel, with Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo on the outfield flanks. All would be 27 or younger.

Padres: San Diego’s best prospect, shortstop Fernando Tatis (No. 2 by MLB.com), would likely be off the table. But the Padres have such a deep system that a package could be formulated as, say, major league-ready infielder Luis Urias (MLB.com’s No. 27 overall prospect), two high-end arms and catcher Austin Hedges.

San Diego obtained top catching prospect Francisco Mejia last July from Cleveland, but there are questions if Mejia is going to stay behind the plate. Hedges has a strong defensive reputation and some power, and his 2018 road OPS (.778 compared to .642 at home) suggests out of Petco Park’s pitching paradise he might grow as a hitter.

Is that enough for Syndergaard? The Mets will have to decide, but the prism shouldn’t be pretty lopsided.