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CHICAGO — In the daily game of “Fred Wilpon said what?,” it was general manager Sandy Alderson’s turn yesterday to defuse another potential Mets controversy.
Wilpon hinted in a Sports Illustrated interview that his team’s payroll may be slashed dramatically next season, to roughly $100 million, but Alderson said the cuts won’t be that extreme.
“From my standpoint, [$100 million] is not a number we’ve discussed,” Alderson said before the Mets’ 7-4, rain-shortened win over the Cubs. “I would expect our payroll to be somewhat above that number and somewhat below where we are now [$136.3 million].”
Alderson was asked if $120 million probably more accurately reflects where the payroll might land next season.
“Within that range, I think that’s a fair statement and something you could rely on,” Alderson said. “But there’s a potential minority investor that may come on board and it may depend on how we end up this season, so there are a lot of other factors in play.”
The Mets could have $65 million coming off the books this year, with expiring contracts on Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and potentially Francisco Rodriguez. But Rodriguez has an option for 2012 worth $17.5 million that will trigger if he finishes 55 games this year. If Rodriguez’s option doesn’t kick in, he is owed only a $3.5 million buyout.
If the Mets were to retain Rodriguez, they would have about $93 million in guaranteed contracts for next year, leaving Alderson with limited wiggle room. Re-signing Reyes, who could command $20 million a year on the open market, might be an impossibility considering the Mets may also have holes to fill in the rotation and outfield.
But if the Mets aren’t on the hook for Rodriguez’s salary, the complexion changes dramatically. Rodriguez has a limited no-trade clause, which consists of 10 teams the Mets cannot deal him to without his approval. But Rodriguez yesterday indicated he would consider waiving that limited no-trade and his option for next year, if another team will give him a multiyear contract.
Since becoming the team’s general manager last offseason, Alderson has preached the need for the Mets to maintain payroll flexibility. It was at the winter meetings in Orlando last November that Alderson first made it clear he didn’t expect the team’s payroll to stay near $140 million next year.
The Mets’ current payroll, according to baseball-reference.com, is the fifth highest in baseball. If it drops to $120 million, it would be seventh — assuming other teams keep their current payrolls. If it drops to $100 million, it would still be the 12th highest out of 30 teams.
In the Sports Illustrated article, Wilpon said the Mets could lose $70 million this year, but Alderson said he isn’t alarmed.
“I’ve said the financial situation is somewhat more challenging than I originally anticipated,” Alderson said. “But I didn’t expect this to be an easy task, and I’ve said a number of times, none of these financial issues have affected the decisions we’ve made. Whether that effect will occur down the road, we’ll see.”
Wilpon’s Sports Illustrated comments come in the aftermath of his quotes in a feature in the New Yorker, in which he took shots at Reyes, Beltran and David Wright. Wilpon issued apologies to the players on Monday.
“If the world had ended on Saturday, like it was supposed to,” Alderson said, “we wouldn’t have to deal with these things.”
mpuma@nypost.com