TORONTO — It’s far less fun here at Rogers Centre, or especially where the Yankees visited prior to this, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, than at Citi Field nowadays.

What about, say, at this time in 2024?

Too early to tell, naturally, but that’s the key question, right? While the Mets saw a fork in the road last month and chose the more aggressive path, bringing August buzz to Queens for the first time in three years, the Blue Jays and Orioles, facing similar decision points in the last couple of years, opted for the longer road. They went in for pain in the hopes that it will lead to a more sustainable gain.

“It’s definitely painful at different points,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Thursday. “You’re seeing all of this progress below the surface on development and scouting. At the same time, the [major-league] team is struggling, and you owe it to everyone involved to do as much as you can to help them night in and night out.

“However, when you start to see some of your younger core transition, it’s a nice burst of energy.”

“This part wasn’t fun in Houston,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias, who worked for the Astros from 2011 through last year, said this past week. “[W]e went through some rough patches and some rough episodes, but I think it was a good indication of committing to a direction and being very persistent and patient with that direction, and there was a payoff.”

Can we agree that the Astros have become baseball’s role-model franchise? Deep, dynamic, innovative, intellectual, strong culture — and big-market big spenders, but not as gargantuan as the Yankees or Dodgers. They should serve as a road map for the rest of the industry, even those like the Orioles who probably can’t afford to reach their payroll stratosphere.

Consider this a defense of the deliberate rebuild. And a warning to the Yankees that the AL East’s soft underbelly, on which they have feasted this season, could very well eventually lose its paunch.

Now, let’s make clear: The Blue Jays and Orioles share a division, a record well under .500 and not much else. Toronto ranks as a big market — the Jays have an entire country of baseball fans to themselves, at least until the Rays move to Montreal — whereas Baltimore went from medium-ish to small when the Expos moved from Montreal to nearby Washington and became the Nationals.

The Blue Jays, who hired Atkins after the 2015 season, possess major-league building blocks in the form of talented legacies Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and of course Vladimir Guerrero Jr., among others.

The Orioles just hired Elias last winter and therefore find themselves at an earlier stage; their most important pieces, like outfielder Yusniel Diaz (acquired from the Dodgers in last year’s Manny Machado trade) and catcher Adley Rutschman (this season’s top-overall draft pick), still reside in the minor leagues.

The Players Association doesn’t like it when the Blue Jays drop their payroll from about $140 million to $112 million, as occurred this season, or the Orioles from $135 million to $83 million (thanks to the website Roster Resource for the figures). The fans don’t like it either; attendance has decreased by more than 10 percent in Baltimore and by more than 25 percent in Toronto (thanks, Baseball-Reference.com).

But look: Whether you want to call it tanking or something else, the game’s system currently rewards low finishers with high draft pools, and clubs in this phase have justifiably grasped the reality that it makes little sense to import a veteran free agent who will help you get from, say, 73 to 74 wins. You’re better off distributing that playing time among a group of youngsters and seeing who can stick.

On a daily basis, every team tries to win. Through a more global lens, to quote Kenny Rogers, you’ve got to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em if you want to stay at the table for a long time. The Astros played it right, stinking something special in 2012 and 2013 as Elias worked under GM Jeff Luhnow, and now you won’t hear the union complaining about the way Houston runs things.

There’s no more challenging division to stay at the table for a long time than the AL East, where the superpowered Yankees and Red Sox will make a major purchase either at a moment’s notice (Giancarlo Stanton) or with months of planning (David Price). The Orioles qualified for the postseason three times from 2012 through 2016, including the 2014 division title, and the Blue Jays followed the O’s with the 2015 AL East crown and then became a wild card in 2016. Baltimore achieved its success partly through smoke and mirrors, however, staying out of the international market as industrious GM Dan Duquette and accomplished manager Buck Showalter worked some magic, whereas the Blue Jays traded a plethora of young talent to secure their first postseason berths since 1993 and then got old suddenly.

This time, both clubs want to make it last longer. The Orioles finally have committed to utilizing all available markets. The Blue Jays are stockpiling inventory — like pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson, the return from the Mets for Marcus Stroman that they like better than the prospect ratings did — which they hope will allow them to trade youngsters when necessary while not dramatically compromising their long-term objectives.

“You look at the division we’re in, we’re never going to spend alongside the Yankees or Red Sox, or probably even Toronto,” acknowledged Elias, who pointed to the Indians — whom Atkins, as well as his current boss Mark Shapiro, helped build into a perennial contender — as a club for the Orioles to emulate.

“I think being in the AL East only heightens the need to have your farm system providing a significant portion of the talent,” Atkins said.

Can you get sustainability without at least a little pain? Even the Yankees missed the playoffs three times from 2013 through 2016 as they ramped up their farm system.

“It happens to franchises from time to time,” Elias said. “I’m very hopeful that this one will never have to do this again once we do it.”

Can the Mets outrun their lack of organizational depth? The odds don’t favor them. On the bright side, it makes the game more fun when not everyone follows the same strategy, even if that strategy looks pretty sturdy.