Alderson Would Gladly Rip Up Dickey's $5MM Option In Favor Of Bigger Deal?

Mets beat reporter Anthony DiComo answered some fans’ questions in his latest mailbag feature at Mets.com. The following question regarding R.A. Dickey’s future this offseason was one of many nice exchanges.

What are the chances the Mets sign R.A. Dickey to a longer deal in the offseason, despite the young arms coming up through the system?

The chances are quite high, with both sides expressing a willingness to talk. Just last month, general manager Sandy Alderson said he fully expects that Dickey, along with third baseman David Wright, “will be here not only next year, but long term.”

Alderson also said that he does not intend to rely on Dickey’s no-brainer $5 million team option, intimating that he will gladly rip that up in favor of a bigger deal.

Check out DiComo’s complete post where he also fields questions about Jordany Valdespin, Kelly Shoppach, Steven Matz and Josh Thole.

Let me just cut to the chase here…

There’s an old saying that goes:

“I may have been born, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”

Is there anyone among you that really believes Sandy Alderson would “gladly rip up” that $5 million dollar option?

Surely, nobody out there really believes that, right?

Can you even imagine Alderson ripping up that option just so he could replace it with – and I’m being very conservative here – a 3 year, $45 million dollar contract?

If Alderson were to do that, then he essentially would be spending $10 million of his $20 million or so budget for this offseason, just to keep Dickey.

Let me some of you a quick jolt of reality just in case you are the type of Met fans who takes anything Alderson’s says to heart…

That $5 million dollar option is the only leverage Sandy Alderson has!!!

The LAST thing on his mind right now is ripping up that option just so he could pay $15 million dollars for Dickey in 2013, instead of $5 million.