BALTIMORE — Buck Showalter was back at Camden Yards on Friday, the site of his last managerial stint that was derailed by a midseason dismantling.

In 2018, the Orioles traded away Manny Machado Zack Britton, Kevin Gausman and Jonathan Schoop as part of a fire sale that resulted in a 115-loss season just two years after they had made the postseason under Showalter for a third time in five seasons.

And it wasn’t until this year that the Orioles finally righted themselves.

They entered their series against the Mets in first place in the AL East, with their eyes on getting back to the postseason for the first time since Showalter’s 2016 team.

Asked if he saw any “similarities” between what happened to that 2018 Orioles team and the one he’s managing this year in Queens, which just traded away Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson, Tommy Pham and Mark Canha, Showalter said he did.

“It does have some similarities,” Showalter said before the Mets’ ugly 10-3 loss to the Orioles. “But I haven’t really thought about it a lot.”

While the Mets, with owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets and willingness to spend, don’t figure to go into a similar tailspin as Baltimore did from 2018 through last year, under Peter Angelos, there are sure to be road bumps in the rebuilding at Citi Field.

They’ve gotten positive reviews on the return they got in the trades, so the Mets’ top prospect list is now filled with recently acquired talent.

That, however, doesn’t always translate into major league success.

“You just take each day and grind the heck out of it,” Showalter said of his mindset, both in 2018 and now. “I’m always a little dubious when I hear someone say they’ve got a four-year or five or seven-year plan. It usually kind of correlates to their contract length.”

But he also noted “things can happen quicker than they perceive [and] sometimes take a little longer. You’re dealing with human beings and things can change quickly. Baseball isn’t played on a stat sheet.”

The Mets hope they aren’t down for long, but they likely will be picking higher in the 2024 amateur draft than they had anticipated.

The Orioles are reaping some of the benefits of having taken advantage of drafting at or near the top of several drafts.

That’s not a given.

“People want you to draft high, but you’ve still got to draft the right players,” Showalter said. “A lot of people draft high and don’t pick the right players.”

Showalter managed current Baltimore standouts, such as Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander, and was with the organization when Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn, among others, were drafted.

“I’m not taking credit for it, believe me,” Showalter said, with a laugh, of their development.

It will take time before we learn how much of a return the Mets actually got at the trade deadline, but Showalter saw firsthand on Friday that a franchise can get out of a rut, regardless of how ugly it is.