It looks like the Mets Hot Stove season has come to an official end. Yesterday during the press conference introducing Chin-Lung Hu to the media and fans, Sandy Alderson commented on the offseason moves and confirmed that the Mets were done making moves and they had accomplished all of their goals.

“Actually, I feel pretty good about it,” Alderson said. “We’ve been able to address all of our needs. Hopefully, we’ve addressed those needs well. We’re going to find out in spring training and early in the season. But given what latitude we had, I’m actually happy with what we have. I think we’ve maximized our resources and are happy with what we have going into spring training.”

Alderson also repeated what manager Terry Collins said yesterday about having a smaller sized group than usual in camp next month, saying that he doesn’t want to have more than 60 players overall.

“We’re pretty much there, I think,” Alderson said of the off-season acquisitions. “It’s possible something will pop up. Right now, we’re at about 55, 56 players in camp. We certainly don’t want to get beyond 60. I would say we’re just about at our max. I think we’re about ready to go. Again, something could pop up. But I don’t expect anything to happen.”

Alderson did warn that he’s cautiously optimistic regarding many of his signings especially rehab projects like Capuano, Buchholz and Young.

After you do all the math, the Mets ended up spending a tiny bit under $8 million dollars in total for their entire offseason haul. That number could rise depending on if some players hit their incentive clauses or win a spot on the All Star team.

Alderson again repeated what he’s been saying since he became the general manager, that although he sees this is as a year of transition he still expects the Mets to be competitive and says not to count the Mets out n 2011.

Ron Darling disagrees.

In an article in the Hartford Courant, Ron Darling told gatherers at an event the following:

“They’re a year away,” Darling said. “I know that’s not what a lot of fans want to hear. [New GM] Sandy Alderson is one of the smartest guys in the game, and they’ve begun to turn around. A team should spend half its resources on its minor league system, then you have players ready to come up and help; you have players who can be traded.”

Darling went on to say that the Mets were paying for some bad decisions that were made in the past and then brought up the signing of Jason Bay. He believes that if the Mets had simply exercised some patience and diligence and foresight, they could have kept away from Bay and waited for Carl Crawford who was better suited for the team and the ballpark.

I can’t argue with that.