Sandy Alderson told Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal that he has not yet spoken with ownership regarding what the Mets’ 2013 payroll will be.

When approached by reporters at Citi Field over the weekend, principal owner Fred Wilpon referred all questions to general manager Sandy Alderson. But in an interview Tuesday, Alderson said he isn’t sure how much money he’ll have to invest in talent this winter.

“I haven’t had any conversations with ownership about it,” Alderson said. “I’m still focused on 2012, as is the rest of the front office. Over the next several weeks, that focus will shift, but it really hasn’t yet.”

The Mets have lowered payroll to about $93 million this season, down from $143 million in 2011 when the Mets reportedly lost $70 million. When asked by Costa if the Mets were able to stop the bleeding, he responded, “I don’t know the answer to that question.”

With several areas that need to be addressed this offseason; including a third straight bullpen overhaul, an outfield that remains unsettled and unproductive, and lingering concerns about keeping the team’s most popular players David Wright and R.A. Dickey beyond 2013, it’s hard to see how the Mets will approach things.

Then there’s the question of whether or not they let Terry Collins go into next season as a lame duck manager.

Unlike the last two hot stove seasons, there’s a bounty of solid free agent players that will be available this time around, and even more young stars that are rumored to be on the block as well.

But it looks like the Mets won’t be players again this offseason, especially with attendance still in decline – a side effect to having a roster stacked with poor performers and yet another losing season for this front office.

With no players bought in to bolster the club when the team competed for the wild card, the team went into a deep tailspin. I think the front office is also in the throws of their own tailspin as improvement is not happening fast enough – a fact pointed out by David Wright on Sunday when he referred to these last two years of progress under Alderson as a “baby step”.

Better tuck yourselves in for a long winters nap.