On Thursday agent Jeff Moorad referred to Steve Phillips as his “new best friend” since the two spent so much quality time together on the phone during the Mo Vaughn negotiations.

After a quiet weekend, the phone pals were back at it again yesterday, discussing free agent Juan Gonzalez’ future. It is expected to be a couple days before the Gonzalez’ negotiations come to a head so there are still plenty of phone calls for Moorad and Phillips to make to one another as they ring in the New Year.

Right now the only other team officially courting Gonzalez is the Orioles and Baltimore has yet to make a formal offer to the slugger. It is believed the Orioles will offer two years in the $24 million range for Gonzalez, if they can get their act together.

That is a big if because Baltimore is a classic case of a Lost Franchise. The Orioles have done so poorly in the free-agent market in recent years, signing losers like Albert Belle, that the team is running scared on making big moves.

Look at how the Orioles let Mike Mussina get away last year to the Yankees, their biggest rival. That is the kind of mistake that will haunt that franchise for years.

At this point, the Mets don’t want to bid against themselves so it is imperative that Phillips, who did not return calls to The Post yesterday, properly read the Gonzalez market.

At the same time, Phillips cannot afford to let Gonzalez get away. He is the final offensive piece to a brilliant puzzle that Phillips and the Mets have put together this winter. Plus, players like Vaughn and Robby Alomar are already counting on Gonzalez to be a Met. Anticipation cannot turn into disappointment. The Mets simply cannot afford to let Gonzalez and his 397 career homers walk away from them now.

The Braves still have all that great pitching. The Mets pitching doesn’t measure up to that staff so the Mets are going to have to slug their way past Atlanta in 2002, and that means having Gonzalez in the middle of their lineup.