INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — To trade or not to trade?
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson continues to seriously consider that question regarding R.A. Dickey as the two sides try to hammer out a contract extension.
After initially putting Dickey on equal footing with David Wright as a "core" player the Mets want to retain beyond next season, Alderson yesterday softened his tone on the 38-year-old knuckleballer.
"We'd love to retain [Dickey], but the situations are a little bit different," Alderson said when asked about Wright and Dickey. "The ages are a little bit different, so they're not identical situations, but we're still engaged there as well."
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
CITI FAREWELL? R.A. Dickey tips his hat to the fans as he walks off the field during his 20th victory of the season against the Pirates on Sept. 27. The potential Cy Young Award winner may be on the move, however, as general manager Sandy Alderson said a trade is something the Mets "have to entertain."
With the General Managers Meetings continuing here yesterday, two of Alderson's top lieutenants, Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi, remained active gauging teams' potential interest in Dickey, who is a strong candidate to win the NL Cy Young award next week.
Alderson said in his mind, Dickey, who last season went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA, has already won the award.
"It would be a little unusual to trade a Cy Young winner, but I can remember a time we traded for the leading hitter in the National League at the time, so it happens," Alderson said, referring to his 1990 trade as Oakland's GM for Willie McGee.
The Mets have glaring holes in the outfield and at catcher, and Dickey — who will earn only $5 million next season — could be used as a trade chip.
Alderson said conversations are ongoing with Wright's agents about a long-term contract extension, but declined to provide specifics. The GM said he met with the third baseman last month in Virginia and offered to meet with Dickey in Nashville, but the knuckleballer didn't consider a meeting necessary.
Alderson tried to downplay the idea the Mets might trade Dickey, but acknowledged starting pitching was the team's primary area of strength and perhaps the best route to obtaining new players.
"I definitely would hate to give up an R.A. Dickey or Jon Niese or Dillon Gee, but it is our strength and probably something we have to entertain," Alderson said. "But at the same time we're not looking to go out of our way. If there is a place to have a strength, in terms of where we are and where we want to be, starting pitching is a place to have that strength."
How does Alderson plan to fill the holes in the Mets' outfield?
"What outfield?" Alderson quipped, before adding, "We're going to bring the fences in another 150 feet."
Alderson also said he probably wasn't realistic in thinking new deals could be completed quickly with Wright and Dickey. The Mets deemed it "conceivable" earlier in the offseason that both players could be signed by the World Series.
Last year the Mets showed little sense of urgency trying to re-sign Jose Reyes, who ultimately left for the Marlins.
"I think it was important for me to emphasize we were going to get going early [with Wright and Dickey] in order to avoid any speculation about a Jose Reyes type approach to this," Alderson said. "So in that sense it was pretty a good idea to emphasize the speed, but unrealistic to believe this was all going to be concluded quickly."
mpuma@nypost.com
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