Baseball’s offseason is upon us, and with it various outlines for how the Mets should revamp their roster.

This is an annual tradition, of course, and a fun way to kill time between the end of one season and the start of another. Sam Page turned in a particularly good plan for Amazin’ Avenue last week, but as Matt Cerrone points out — and Sam admits in the post itself — it’s entirely unlikely to happen.

But that’s not really my issue.

My concern about “plans” is that they might be a drop too similar to what Omar Minaya himself scripts out at the beginning of each offseason, and it’s a habit that often gets him into a lot of trouble.

Take last offseason, for example. On Jan. 13, Minaya said: “Right now, we’re not in the position player market. We’re in the pitcher market.”

I responded with this article, one of my all-time favorites, and one that got me thoroughly trashed around the Internet. Minaya’s metaphor, I maintained — and still do — was a faulty one. The position-player market and pitcher market are the same market.

The market is all available baseball players. The general manager enters the market with a certain amount of resources — in money and players — and must work to get the most value he can in return for what he spends. Obviously a team’s needs are an important factor in determining that value; a good third baseman is worthless to a team that already has a great one.

Last year, when the Mets had a decided need in the starting rotation but also some big-time question marks in the lineup, Minaya determined that he wanted a starting pitcher and went out and spent big on the “best” one available — a certain Oliver Perez.

So to extend this metaphor, think about it this way: I’m really in the mood for steak. When I get to the store, though, I find that there has been a run on steak, and the last remaining piece of steak has been marked up, plus isn’t all that appealing anyway. Meanwhile, perhaps because everyone suddenly wants steak, chicken is on sale. I could buy the chicken and a bunch of delicious seasonings and side dishes to make that chicken taste better, or I could buy the steak.

I would buy the chicken. Minaya, last year at least, bought the steak. That’s the problem with adhering to the grocery list.

The general manager’s job is to put together the best possible baseball team. It doesn’t matter really matter what kind of players he needs to get there — whether his team is power-laden or pitching-heavy or defensively apt — so long as they can win ballgames.

So when he approaches the offseason, his job should be to read the market and use the resources at his disposal to put together the best team. That’s all. Setting a plan at the offseason’s outset would be to imply that there’s no need to adapt to the whims of the market. It’s writing a grocery list and stubbornly sticking to it, ignoring what’s in stock and what’s on sale.