MLB

Alderson out for ‘difference maker’ if Mets deal Dickey

UP TO SANDY: If the Mets can secure players who can offer impact sooner than later in exchange for R.A. Dickey, there’s a decent chance GM Sandy Alderson will get it done, writes the Post’s Ken Davidoff. (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Meeting after meeting, offer after offer, a sound-bite-heavy news conference.

This is Sandy Alderson wheeling and dealing at the winter meetings, here at the garish Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Shopping R.A. Dickey around the game while leaving all of his options open.

This is, in short, a baseball operations show. In the Mets’ universe, it represents a significant contrast to the ownership-fueled efforts that will have David Wright here today to announce his long-term commitment.

“It has to be a difference maker,” Alderson said yesterday, in discussing the necessary trade package in a potential Dickey deal, “because R.A. is a difference maker.”

An official from one of Dickey’s suitors said it was his sense the Mets were inclined to trade Dickey.

The Mets convened with “seven or eight” teams to discuss Dickey, a person in the loop told the Post’s Mike Puma, and the Mets for sure are aiming high in their asks; ESPN Boston reported the Mets requested two of the Red Sox’s top prospects. Why shouldn’t they? We’re talking about the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner who is signed for next year at an ultra-reasonable $5 million.

The Rangers and Blue Jays are also believed to be interested in Dickey, and the Brewers think highly of him, as well. The Royals have checked in on Dickey, but they aren’t engaged in serious talks, an industry source said.

The model for this trade clearly will be the Mets’ 2011 swap of Carlos Beltran to San Francisco for Zack Wheeler. Alderson and his lieutenants opted for quality over quantity there, and the right-handed Wheeler is on track to join the Mets sometime during the 2013 regular season.

With four straight losing seasons in the books and attendance decreasing each of those four campaigns, the Mets badly want to field a competitive team. Which is why Alderson’s desired “difference makers” can’t be too far from the majors.

“If we do something, we want whatever comes back to us to have an impact on us as soon as possible,” Alderson said.

It makes sense after the Mets gave $138 million to Wright over eight years, so hanging on to Dickey, even if the two sides can’t agree on an extension, has to be a viable option. Might as well try to win while Wright is still at the peak of his game.

If Alderson had been charged with making the call on Wright, he very well might have put the third baseman through the same sort of wringer, possibly concluding with a trade. That would have sent the Mets down a dramatically different path.

But that isn’t the way it went down, and it wouldn’t go down that way with virtually every team when you’re talking about someone with the service time and good will Wright has created with the Mets.

Ownership, desirous of creating more confidence with Mets fans after so much adversity in the past five years, took the lead on the Wright call, working diligently to retain him. While the final figure emanated as much from Johan Santana’s $137.5 million contract as any baseball valuation, most industry folks regarded the Wright deal as fair for both sides.

With one popular player in the fold, ownership has let Alderson do his thing on Dickey, who is older than Wright and has a shorter history. You can argue it makes great sense to sell high on Dickey, or you can make the case it’s worth committing long-term to a 38-year-old knuckleballer. The Mets are seriously considering both options, and neither outcome would be a surprise.

When Wright agreed to his contract, Mets manager Terry Collins called him and said, “Congratulations, and thanks for sticking around.” Shortly, Collins will learn if he can make the same call to Dickey.

The bet right now is Dickey stays. But if he goes, it’ll be for the sort of package that won’t make Collins miss the right-hander too much.