You can mock him or praise him.

Belittle him or commend him.

But you sure as heck can’t ignore the man.

New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen woke up this sleepy trade deadline with a thunderbolt Sunday afternoon, acquiring Toronto Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman for the Mets’ top two pitching prospects.

He celebrated his ninth month on the job Monday, and he already has traded three first-round draft picks and a second-round pick, the latest being Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson — their fourth- and sixth-ranked prospects, according to MLB.com.

Initial reaction: Love it.

MLB TRADE DEADLINE:Six teams with most urgency to get a move done

SURPRISING DEAL:But for Mets, it makes sense

As one National League executive said: “What a steal by the Mets. Unreal!’’

The Mets just acquired a guy who has the fifth-best ERA in the American League (2.96) despite pitching in the AL East, and is yielding just 0.7 homers per nine innings in a year where they are using superballs instead of baseballs.

And all it cost was their fourth- and sixth-best prospects in a farm system that’s considered among the worst in baseball.

Sure, maybe one of them turns out to be a front-line pitcher in the major leagues and a perennial All-Star. Maybe they live up to their hype after being top draft picks. Then again, maybe neither ever have an impact and they’re shipped out to other teams in the next few years.

In a study by Baseball America, just 20.1% of the prospects traded at the July 31 deadline since 2003 ever played at least two years in the major leagues and had a positive career Wins Above Replacement.

Yet, these days, most teams are terrified of trading prospects and the scrutiny it brings. They don’t want to take the gamble. They’re afraid of trading future All-Star Gleyber Torres to the New York Yankees even though Aroldis Chapman brought a World Series to the Chicago Cubs. And yes, Cubs president Theo Epstein would do it again in a heartbeat.

Really, when you think about it, the move is a stroke of genius.

The Mets have cornered the market on starting pitching, letting teams know that if they want Noah Syndergaard, or pending free agent Zack Wheeler, they have to pay the price.

If no one is willing to give them the haul they want, the Mets will simply keep them all, let it play out over the winter, or even hang onto everyone until next year’s trade deadline.

The Mets not only have the best starters available now, but also this winter. The free-agent market is painfully thin after Gerrit Cole, Madison Bumgarner and Wheeler.

While it makes much more sense for the Mets to unload Wheeler now since he’s a free agent in November, several rival teams believe the Mets' front office and ownership no longer want Syndergaard around, saying there’s a tone of desperation in their trade talks. The Mets deny the urgency. Privately, they say it’s 50-50 whether Syndergaard is dealt.

They’ve had extensive trade talks with the San Diego Padres about their position players, but the Padres privately say the Mets’ demands are far too exorbitant, and they are becoming pessimistic about a potential deal. The Mets have had cursory talks with the Minnesota Twins that went nowhere, and they’re still having dialogue with the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.

It’ll be fascinating to see what the Mets pull off by the 4 p.m. ET July 31 deadline, but after this trade, it would be easier to predict Trevor Bauer’s next act than Van Wagenen’s next move.

Follow Nightengale on Twitter and Facebook: @Bnightengale