As Frankie Montas surveyed his options as a free agent, he gave his buddy and fellow free agent Sean Manaea a call.

He had questions about the Mets and Jeremy Hefner.

“How’s the pitching coach? How’s the training staff? How’s everybody?” Montas asked his former rotation mate with the A’s.

“[Manaea] had nothing but good things to say about Jeremy,” Montas said this weekend at “Amazin’ Day.”

The Mets are focusing on leveraging their unexpected success in reaching the NLCS last season to establish a strong foundation for continued achievements in the future. Central to this vision is the desire to cultivate a positive reputation within the baseball community.

Players are typically attracted to teams based on several key factors: financial compensation, prospects of winning, and opportunities for personal improvement. The Mets are well-equipped in this regard, especially with the backing of owner Steve Cohen, a promising performance last season, and a supportive environment for player development.

This last factor is crucial and arguably represents the largest leap taken by the Mets last season.

During the preceding offseason, the Mets made significant roster additions by signing Sean Manaea and Luis Severino. Manaea, coming off a decent season, inked a two-year contract with a maximum value of $28 million, including an opt-out clause. On the other hand, Severino, who had a subpar season, secured a one-year deal with a base salary of $13 million.

Halfway through a middling season, Manaea dropped his arm slot and began to look — and pitch — like Cy Young winner Chris Sale.

With help from Mets pitching minds, he carried the club to the NLCS and received Cy Young votes himself.

His decision to opt out was an easy one, and he cashed in by returning to Queens for three years and $75 million.

Severino, using a Mets-designed offseason plan that was more aggressive than had been adopted during his Yankees days, made 31 regular-season starts and three more in the playoffs.

He pitched well and, just about as importantly, he pitched a lot after totaling 40 regular-season starts in his previous five seasons combined.

He had signed a prove-it pact and proceeded to prove himself, enabling him to cash in on a three-year, $67 million contract with the A’s.

The Mets helped pitchers develop, which helped the team win and helped those pitchers earn more money.

Other pitchers, who want to grow, noticed this winter.

“They had Sevy and Sean Manaea, you saw what they were able to do,” said Clay Holmes, who said the Mets development system was important to him. “Those things weren’t by accident really. Those guys, they kind of knew what they’re doing, and they had success with it.

“So I think past success — obviously, talking with Jeremy Hefner, his experience and what he’s been able to do, and how we can just relate to each other has been good — but they obviously have a ton of resources here. I mean, I think they can stack up with anybody across the league as far as resources they provide.”

Part of the Mets’ improving reputation involves Hefner, a pitching coach who has survived in the role for five years through several regime changes and who now will be assisted by Desi Druschel, whom the club poached from the Yankees this offseason.

Part of the Mets’ improving reputation involves the other development-based personnel and technology that have taken steps in the past few seasons.

Eric Jagers, their vice president of pitching, leads the lab in Port St. Lucie.

The behind-the-scenes work sometimes becomes evident with guys like Manaea and Severino and sometimes with prospects such as Christian Scott, who showed promise before requiring elbow surgery.

The Mets did not pitch a perfect game last season — bringing in Adrian Houser did not work out — but the more success stories they can boast, the easier it would be to be seen as a destination for pitchers who think there is untapped potential within them.

Cohen’s money will help land pitchers such as Montas, coming off of a pedestrian season, and Holmes, who pitched in the Yankees bullpen.

But a growing reputation for becoming a place pitchers want to pitch can be a real recruiting tool.

“Combine the in-game experience and what [the Mets are] able to do and just the resources,” Holmes said, “I think their development, even here at the big league level, has kind of spoken for itself.”