NO ONE’S SAFE: General Manager Sandy Alderson said it’s unlikely the Mets will trade Ike Davis, but he wouldn’t rule it out if the deal were right. (Anthony J. Causi)
DALLAS — For the right price, just about any player on the Mets roster is available. Just give general manager Sandy Alderson a call.
But just because Alderson floated Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell to opposing general managers during the Winter Meetings, which ended yesterday, doesn’t mean any of those players are necessarily leaving.
The one untouchable appears to be David Wright in the aftermath of Jose Reyes’ departure, but the Mets will listen on all others.
“It doesn’t make sense to trade [Davis],” a Mets official said. “But you listen. What if the Marlins decide they really want a first baseman because they aren’t getting [Albert] Pujols? We could say, ‘OK, give us Mike Stanton to play right field,’ and we could then move [Lucas] Duda to first base.”
That trade isn’t happening — and hasn’t been proposed — but it provides an example of a circumstance under which the Mets would be willing to part with young, cheap, talent.
Alderson said the Mets have been busy discussing different names in potential trades.
“We have over the last several days considered trades that would make us better in some cases the short term and in some cases long term,” Alderson said. “We continue to balance the short term with the long term.
“We might make more than one trade. One might be focused on long term, one might be focused on short term so we’re not conceding 2012. And it’s very possible we won’t make another trade.”
The general manager said he might have as much as $10 million remaining to spend this winter, spread over several positions. Some of that money also could be absorbed in a trade in which the Mets were adding salary.
Alderson’s trade at the Winter Meetings sent Angel Pagan to the Giants for outfielder Andres Torres and reliever Ramon Ramirez. The team also landed free-agent relievers Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, but those deals probably won’t become official until early next week.
The next step could be searching for available veteran backups in the same mold as Willie Harris and Scott Hairston to give the Mets a bench. Alderson likely will wait until next month before searching for available starting pitching.
If nothing else, the Mets appear set in the bullpen heading to spring training.
“I feel a lot better about the bullpen,” Alderson said. “In terms of quality and quantity we feel we’re in a much better position.”