The Mets are headed toward an overhaul at the highest level.

In a bombshell Wednesday, the Sterling Partners — headed by Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz — announced they are in negotiations to sell a majority stake in the team to minority owner Steve Cohen. As part of the agreement, Wilpon will remain as control person and CEO for five years. Team COO Jeff Wilpon (who is Fred’s son) will also continue in his role for five years.

After that period — or perhaps sooner — it’s expected, according to a source, that both Wilpons will be removed from the daily operations of the team. Fred Wilpon and Katz have held full control of the Mets since 2002, when they bought out co-owner Nelson Doubleday.

A person with knowledge of the impending team sale to Cohen indicated it’s likely the Sterling Partners will continue to control SNY, the regional sports network that has become a cash cow for the owners.

Fred Wilpon turned 83 last month, and the majority sale is fueled by a desire to plan his estate, according to a source. Cohen, a hedge-fund investor whose firm pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013, has an estimated net worth of $13.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Multiple sources indicated a rift between Katz — who is Fred Wilpon’s brother-in-law — and Jeff Wilpon left the family uncomfortable with the idea of the younger Wilpon assuming control of the club once Fred Wilpon is no longer involved.

Among the possibilities that were discussed, the source said, was turning over the club to Fred Wilpon’s wife, Judy, before it was decided to negotiate with the 63-year-old Cohen, a Mets fan who grew up on Long Island. Bloomberg reported Cohen’s stake in the club could be as much as 80 percent, with a club valuation at a baseball-record $2.6 billion.

A friend of Cohen’s said the billionaire’s passion for the team is augmented by his wife and father-in-law, both of whom are hardcore fans of the Mets. And the friend indicated Cohen won’t hesitate to spend money on players.

“He would play the game at the highest level, without a doubt,” Cohen’s friend said. “It would be good for the Mets fan.”

But it’s unclear whether Cohen’s cash infusion would come immediately or whether he would wait until he’s officially in control of the club. It’s also possible there could be a gradual infusion of dollars by Cohen.

In recent years, the Mets’ spending has been constrained, following Bernie Madoff’s arrest in December 2008 for running a Ponzi scheme. At the time of the arrest, Wilpon and Katz had about $500 million invested with Madoff. The Mets owners also settled a claw back lawsuit, based on previous gains from Madoff, forfeiting another $162 million.

The fallout meant slashing nearly in half a payroll that spiked around $140 million when former general manager Sandy Alderson arrived, before the 2011 season.

Last season, the Mets’ payroll was about $160 million — a number that is expected to rise slightly in 2020, following raises to arbitration-eligible players and possible offseason additions. But that level of spending has hardly placed the Mets in the same stratosphere as the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox among major market clubs.

Fred Wilpon has been involved with the Mets since 1980, when he bought a 1 percent share of the team. He gradually increased that stake, and in 2002 bought out Doubleday in a contentious battle. Doubleday had argued that an independent appraiser selected by commissioner Bud Selig valued the club too low. Subtracting debt, Doubleday ultimately received about $135 million for his half of team.