IT’S time. It’s time for the Mets to make their move.

It’s time for Carlos Beltran to start playing like the superstar he was advertised to be when the Mets made him the $119 Million Man last winter.

The wild card, if not the NL East, is there for the taking. But it has to be taken now. The Mets cannot afford to slip any further back. They entered last night’s game against the Brewers at Shea seven games behind the Braves in the loss column in the division.

But you can be sure the Braves have some rough times ahead. Chipper Jones is out again with a shoulder injury. The Braves are being held together by rookies and Bobby Cox.

The Marlins can’t seem to get out of their own way. They can’t consistently put runs on the board, and their talented players appear to be too laid-back to take the division.

The Phillies, as always, remain a mystery, and the city’s attention already has shifted to Terrell Owens and the Eagles.

The Nationals were the feel-good story of the first half of the season, but reality has set in. They’re just not good enough to win the division.

Which leads us back to the Mets and Beltran.

After going 0-for-6 in the dramatic, 9-8, 11-inning victory over the Brewers on Tuesday night, Beltran was hit with another round of boos. He responded with these words: “If they want to continue to [boo], they can do it. I’ll be here for seven years.”

Mets fans will boo for seven years if Beltran continues to hit the way he is hitting. The switch-hitter has become so overanxious at the plate he has no chance to be the player he was last October.

The first thing Beltran has to do is relax, stop thinking, and start reacting to the pitch. The biggest mistake he is making is that he is not allowing the ball to travel in on him in the batter’s box; that’s why he is fouling off so many fastballs as he overswings.

He is pressing, big time.

Beltran knows what he is doing wrong and he should be able to fix it. One hot streak can turn it all around for Beltran and the Mets.

Beltran knows how to get hot. Look what he did last season with the Astros, when his manager, Phil Garner, said, “He’s everything. He can do it all. He’s as good as any player I’ve ever seen.”

Mets fans don’t believe that right now, but it all can change with one hot streak. Pedro Martinez was on the mound last night against the Brewers, and Beltran had done most of his big hitting with Martinez pitching.

David Wright is 22 but mature beyond his years, and he has been closely watching Beltran try too hard to succeed.

“He has such high expectations for himself, he might be trying to do a little too much,” Wright said last night. “He wants to go out and hit a home run every time out instead of just getting that base hit and doing things like that.”

Wright, like Willie Randolph repeatedly said last night, said, “Carlos will be fine. When he gets hot, he gets ridiculously hot.”

Wright was expecting the Mets to get hot. They went into last night winners of two straight and had won seven of their previous eight home games.

“Winning that game [Tuesday] night, coming back the way we did, I’m a firm believer that kind of win can jump-start a team,” Wright said. “We need to pull together over the next couple weeks and get something going. We could have folded after they scored three in the first inning and then three in the second inning, but we didn’t. We showed the kind of character we have.”

The Mets have to show more than character now. They have to show they can play well over the long haul, something they haven’t done in years.

It’s time.