Jeff Wilpon phoned in to Mike Francesca’s WFAN program Monday to explain his (cough) vision for 2011, a future ESPN’s Rob Parker believes would be brighter were the Mets to jettison David Wright and Jose Reyes. Persons who’ve either a) watched this season or b) spend a bit of time on Planet Fucking Earth are aware that frequent injuries have reduced Reyes’ trade value dramatically — what purpose is there in ridding the club of Reyes besides a salary dump?   Warning that the Hardly-Amazins “are staring at another dark age, the likes of which they haven™t seen since the late ™70s-early ™80” unless wholesale changes are made, the Bergen Record’s Bob Klapisch considers the options for Omar Minaya’s replacement.

Several interesting names have been floated by the Mets as potential saviors. Some are absurd: Former Diamondbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr. has no business running a big-market franchise. Neither does White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn. But if the Mets are serious about, say, Sandy Alderson, then their fans have reason to believe change is coming.

The former A™s general manager “ pre-Billy Beane “ is exactly the man the Mets need. Alderson guided the A™s to four division titles, three pennants and a world championship in 1989, which means he has a winning pedigree.

Alderson works in the commissioner™s office, assigned to clean up the corruption within the Dominican Republic™s baseball community. He™s Ivy League-smart (Dartmouth) and more than tough enough for the job (a former Marine with combat experience in Vietnam). Alderson would have no trouble standing up to the Wilpons.

Question is, are the Wilpons willing to pay for a visionary the way they were willing to shower cash on Pedro and K-Rod and Beltran and all the others? Make no mistake “ the Mets™ pursuit of a GM is no less important than previous courtships of the must-have free agents.

The Mets need someone like Alderson to remind them of their precious roots: It was Frank Cashen who developed the 1986 team from the ground up. The Mets had a farm system to die for back then, with better scouts, better drafts than their rivals. Cashen’s  discipline and foresight made the Mets a powerhouse without having to overspend.

Klapisch’s campaign for Alderson comes a morning after Arizona tossed a promotion (of sorts) in the direction of interim GM Jerry DiPoto.