Mets Increase Offer to R.A. Dickey; Still Not Enough

The Mets have reportedly increased their contract offer to R.A. Dickey, but it appears there is still a gap between the two sides.

The Daily News reports that the Mets increased their offer to two years, $20 million, on top of the $5 million Dickey is owed for 2013. This is what everyone thought the Mets offered last week, but apparently the initial offer was lower. Dickey is asking for $13 million per year. That is only a $6 million difference, which should be able to be bridged with compromises on both sides.

However, speaking at the team’s annual Christmas party for kids on Tuesday, Dickey sounded like a man who has already made his compromise.

“In the context of the market, you want what you think is fair,” Dickey said, according to ESPNNewYork.com. “I feel like we’re asking for less than what’s fair because that’s how it’s been for me. There is a surprise sometimes when things don’t get done quickly and you already think you’re extending the olive branch. At the same time, they have a budget they have to adhere to. I don’t know those numbers. And I try not to take it personally.”

If the Mets can’t reach an agreement or get enough back in a trade, Dickey would still be a member of the team in 2013. But that would likely be his last season in Flushing.

“If that’s the decision they feel like is best for the club, and that’s the decision that they make, I feel like it would be unfortunate, because it probably is going to mean I’m not going to be back (in 2014),” Dickey said.

In his usual fashion, Sandy Alderson used a lot of words to say nothing about the R.A. Dickey talks.

“Things are ongoing,” Alderson said. “We continue to talk to R.A., and specifically his agent, and there’s some progress being made there. Obviously, at the same time, we’ll talk to some other clubs and keep R.A. to some extent apprised of those conversations. We’re in a similar place today to where we were last week. But the surrounding circumstances have changed somewhat. So I hope we’ll have more clarity in a few days. In the meantime, we’re more or less status quo.”