On Thursday afternoon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic intensified the trade rumors swirling around New York Mets right-hander, Noah Syndergaard.

Rosenthal noted that the team is “exploring” trade scenarios for Syndergaard and contemplating signing right-hander Zack Wheeler to a contract extension.

“[New York] would benefit from a return for Syndergaard,” Rosenthal tweeted. “While keeping Wheeler, a quality starting pitcher who would otherwise depart in free agency.

The San Diego Padres have already been mentioned as possible suitors for Syndergaard’services, and they have the type of prospects to make a general manager blush, so that’s intriguing news.

In recent weeks, Wheeler, 29, has emerged as the Mets’ most likely trade candidate, with Noah’s name continuing to pop up in rumors, as well.

Set to hit the open market this offseason, one would assume a contending club would jump at the opportunity to add a pitcher of Wheeler’s caliber, regardless of his bloated 4.69 ERA and recent trip to the 10-day injured list (right shoulder impingement).

His 9.83 strikeouts per nine innings would be a career-high and his 3.66 FIP is more than respectable, so there’s certainly some leverage for Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to use to his advantage.

According to reports, the Mets had high-ranking front office personnel scouting the Braves’ high-end farm system on Thursday night.

Atlanta setting their sights on Wheeler, a Smyrna, GA native, for a postseason run makes a ton of sense. Plus, trading within the division will surely add a considerable bump in value to the Mets’ return.

Apparently, in addition to testing those waters, the Mets are also entertaining the idea of buying into Zack Wheeler’s future, and that’s fine. But not at the expense of Syndergaard.

A short time later, Buster Olney of ESPN doubled-down on Rosenthal’s report, and did so with gusto.

“Rival evaluators say they believe the Mets are fully intent on dealing [Syndergaard] before the trade deadline,” Olney tweeted. “‘It’s beyond listening,’ said one. ‘They want to move him.'”

Well, that escalated quickly.

Whether this is posturing or not, this is quite the development. This team is not all that far away. Trading Syndergaard would signify a foundational shift in the direction of this organization.

If this franchise is ready to send off one of their cornerstones — with years of team control, to boot — there’s a decent chance that anyone not named Jacob deGrom, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, or Pete Alonso could be had, as well.

Bolstering a mediocre farm system through a good, old-fashioned fire sale is one thing. But tearing down a team that’s reasonably close to contention with no discernable reason besides cutting cost is another one altogether.

If Van Wagenen and his superiors are going for a total rebuild, as odd as it seems on the surface considering the amount of talent already in place long-term, it is what it is.

Just don’t half-*** it and trade one big chip for a few solid prospects.

If blowing it up is the route this organization is going to take — which is what they’d be doing if they moved Thor — at least make it worth it and go full-bore.

Trade Amed Rosario while he’s red hot. Maximize your returns by moving Dominic Smith while he’s still on the upswing.

Wilson Ramos, Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, and even Robinson Cano (good luck) can all be moved with the right mixture of salesmanship, determination, and willingness to take pennies on the dollar in Cano’s case.

This current core has championship potential. I truly believe that.

This organization either has to keep it mostly intact, add to it this offseason and attempt to contend, or bite the bullet, sell, sell, sell this week, and rebuild around it with the future in mind.

If that means trading Syndergaard and Wheeler, as well as a handful of the team’s most valuable commodities outside of that aforementioned core, so be it.

Naturally, keeping Syndergaard and staying on this course is also a valid option. But it feels like anything outside of those two scenarios would be the equivalent of this franchise spinning their wheels. We’ve seen enough of that.