By KEVIN KERNAN

What’s next, Mets? What’s next, Yankees?

I’m sitting here contemplating the combined average of New York third basemen in elimination series this October and is not a pretty sight. Alex Rodriguez hit .071. David Wright batted .160. Together they managed a .128 average in the two series their respective teams were eliminated. A-Rod was

1-for-14 against the Tigers. Wright was 4-for-25 against the Cardinals.

Wright will be better the next time around. Rodriguez is running out of second chances, although that Tigers staff can chew through any lineup.

Before we move on, one more point on why Derek Jeter is so good, so unique and can never be taken for granted. He is a lifetime .370 hitter in the Division Series. This October he batted .500.

The burden of losing is not solely on the two third basemen, that’s for sure, but this does go to show you that you can make all the plans in the world, sign all the free agents out there, develop a young third baseman like Wright, who appears to be bred for New York, and it can all go wrong in a week.

That’s baseball. If Carlos Beltran gets one more big hit against the Cardinals, Wright probably would have had a strong World Series. Getting past the LCS is one of the most difficult tasks in baseball, especially the first time. All the pressure is on that series. If you make it to the World Series, there is a feeling of accomplishment that relaxes you. In the LCS, the weight of the world can crush you.

The post-season is never about one individual, it is about the team. It is baseball in its purest form because winning is all that matters. Nothing else counts.

Earlier this year I wrote about the Mets not playing well against good competition and I got a barrage of emails from Mets fans saying I didn’t know what I was talking about.

Granted, there are many times that happens, but it was disconcerting to me that the Mets – despite their great record – did not seem like a team that could take care of business against the better teams.

They’re not there yet. Getting past the Dodgers was no big deal because the Dodgers were a flawed team that made basic and incredible mistakes, like getting two runners thrown out at home.

The Mets still have some huge holes to fill, beginning in the corner outfield spots and at second base. This is why I maintain if they have a chance this winter to grab Manny Ramirez, go for it. Ramirez, for all his baggage, is the kind of bat the Mets need in October.

Barry Zito will help the pitching staff and if he comes to the National League he will be more effective than staying home in the AL, although if I’m Zito, I sign with the Angels.

The big lesson from all this is that teams have to develop their own pitching and then fill from the outside. That’s why Philip Hughes will be a major plus for the Yankees next season. I’ve watched Hughes closely in the minors this year and he is the real deal and could have helped the Yankees at the end of the season. They should have called him up.

The Mets need Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey to make the jump, too. They also must re-sign pitching coach Rick Peterson to a long-term deal. The post-season development of John Maine and Oliver Perez were two more Peterson success stories.

The Tigers have a homegrown backbone of Justin Verlander, Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. The Cardinals have that no-name bullpen, a bullpen that has brought back the beauty of the breaking ball. The Cardinals weren’t counting on these pitchers when Jason Isringhausen was healthy but then they had to throw them into battle. Crisis creates opportunity.

In the scouting report I wrote before the series, I mentioned how the Mets have to make adjustments to Adam Wainwright’s breaking ball. They didn’t. They were frozen by it. Cliff Floyd and Beltran didn’t have a chance in the ninth inning, 3-1 loss in Game 7.

The Tigers pitching staff ran through the Yankees. The Tigers will get better this off-season, adding another big bat – Alfonso Soriano, perhaps.

Both the Yankees and Mets should win their divisions again next year.

Only October matters here, though, and both teams did not get the job done at third base or anywhere else.

Nothing is promised in October.