The Mets may get nothing — and like it.
Team COO Jeff Wilpon Tuesday said his preference in the absence of contract extensions for David Wright and R.A. Dickey this offseason would be to let both players return for 2013, potentially putting the Mets in position to lose them in free agency next winter.
“[Signing them] is the preference,” Wilpon said after helping distribute hot meals to Far Rockaway residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.
“The second preference is probably to keep them and have them play out the season. Probably the third preference would be to trade them. They’re both very important to the franchise and they’re both fan favorites and we would like to keep it that way.”
The Mets faced a similar scenario with Jose Reyes in 2011, electing to keep the shortstop in his walk year. Reyes ultimately signed with the Marlins last winter, leaving the Mets with only draft-pick compensation.
But Wilpon wasn’t about to start comparing the situations.
“We’re dealing with hypothetical now, so I don’t want to go there,” Wilpon said. “Right now the process is ongoing and we want to get something done.”
The Mets have discussed a two-year extension with Dickey, but continue to gauge other teams’ interest in the NL Cy Young Award winner. Negotiations have also continued between Wright’s agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, and general manager Sandy Alderson. Recently, a source with knowledge of the negotiations put the odds of Wright signing a contract extension with the Mets this offseason at 50-50.
“It’s a good process right now,” Wilpon said. “We hope to have a resolution, and part of that resolution might be that we get deals done with both of them or one of them,” Wilpon said. “Part of that might be that they both come back and play for us next year [without extensions].
“This is not a free-agent situation, this is not an arbitration situation. They are both under contract. We have all the flexibility in the world with that. Sandy could decide that we trade one or both of them. That’s not where we’re at, though.”
Wilpon said he’s more optimistic than he was at the end of the season about the situation.
“There’s conversations going back and forth,” Wilpon said. “So when you look at it from the end of the season when you really didn’t know if they were going to accept or look at how we were positioning things or they were positioning things, I think there’s more optimism.”
* The Mets added right-handed pitchers Zack Wheeler, Hansel Robles, Gonzalez Germen and Greg Burke, left-handed pitcher Darin Gorski and infielder Wilfredo Tovar to the 40-man roster, which now is at 39.