JUPITER, Fla. — On Thursday morning, before the world had learned where Bryce Harper would be playing for a while, I asked Brodie Van Wagenen if he preferred the slugger go West to the Dodgers or Giants rather than end up a Phillie.

The Mets GM insisted he was “solely focused” on his team, pledging that if it performed as he expects and stays unified, “There’s nobody we can’t beat. We are not concerned about what others do.”

When it was revealed late in the day exactly what another would do — the Phillies agreeing to pay Harper $330 million over the next 13 seasons — I texted to ask Van Wagenen if this changed anything. One word back: “Nope.”

This is what the leader of a team should do — not overreact while showing confidence in his group. But the rest of us can be pragmatic. Every forecast system had the four main NL East contenders separated by eyelashes. So putting a prime-aged slugger on one of those clubs impacts the ecosystem. Van Wagenen rightly likes his pitching staff. Still, why have it deal with Harper 19 games and 100-ish plate appearances annually rather than one home-and-home series had Harper taken his talents west?

This exacerbates an issue that has loomed over these Mets. Yes, they have upgraded their roster for 2019. But they did not do that in a vacuum. The Braves added Josh Donaldson, have Ronald Acuna for a full season and have the best farm system in the division to keep improving.

The Nationals lost Harper, but gained Patrick Corbin, upgraded their catching and deepened their pen.

The Phillies already had obtained Andrew McCutchen, J.T. Realmuto, David Robertson and Jean Segura before they finally got to the “stupid money” portion of the program promised by owner John Middleton by having Harper jump Giancarlo Stanton ($325 million) for the largest contract ever.

Plus, they could still take on Dallas Keuchel and/or Craig Kimbrel.

In case you forgot, the Mets finished fourth last year. They could be much improved and finish fourth again, such is the divisional dynamic.

The bookmaker William Hill’s over-under totals for the NL East had the Nationals at 88 wins, the Phillies at 87 and the Braves and Mets at 86¹/₂ before the Harper signing. Philadelphia jumped to 89¹/₂ with Harper.

These are projections, but they are mirrored pretty much by anyone doing this work.

The Mets could emerge from this Van Wyck at rush hour jam. But their rotation will have to stay at least as healthy as last year, the manager will have to be far better as a sophomore than he was as a freshman and early injuries to Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie cannot be a bellwether about having age on the roster.

And even if it all goes well, the job got a little tougher with Harper staying in their NL East life — unless you believe he is a cancerous clubhouse presence and/or he is about to overburden himself into a poor season by trying to justify the contract.

Jeff Wilpon declined comment when asked about Harper enlisting with the Phillies. But it is clear 10-plus years and $300 million-plus is beyond their tolerance level, though it should be noted the Mets now have Robinson Cano through age 40 while the Phillies are committed to Harper through 38.

The Mets’ current plans do not include a counter-strike, particularly with a lefty starter. They have not found common financial valuation with Keuchel, and they thought competing against Gio Gonzalez last year that his stuff came down a level.

“We will always be looking for ways to get better and improve our team, but we don’t intend to make moves reactively,” Van Wagenen said.

Scott Boras insisted in a phone call that his client also did not act rashly.

“We had average values of $45 million offered on shorter-term deals. We had a full buffet,’’ Boras said.

Instead, the agent said Harper wanted a contract that would take him the rest of his career and had to exchange a lower annual value to get there. He said Middleton’s two face-to-face meetings with the Harper family in Las Vegas in which he expressed a plan to be a top-five payroll club into the foreseeable future were instrumental, as was a hitter-friendly ballpark — as opposed to bigger yards in San Francisco and L.A. — where Harper’s historic desires could be chased.

No dollars were deferred. No opt-outs were included. A no-trade clause was bestowed. That doesn’t mean Harper will never be moved. For now, though, he remains in the NL East. In his prime. In a ballpark that plays to his strengths. For an owner willing to throw his wallet at problems.

Sure, it could go wrong. But that it could go very, very right is reason enough that the Mets would have been better served had Harper — like the Dodgers and Giants once did — gone west.