If the first two days of the Winter Meetings have shown Mets fans anything, it’s that the inferno is raging and Sandy Alderson has stuck to his word of not jumping in.

Tuesday saw Bryan Shaw, a pitcher New York thought would be a slam dunk in landing all offseason, instead choose hitter-friendly Colorado as his preferred destination.

Tommy Hunter, a name that has been connected to the Mets in the last 48 hours, took his talents to Philadelphia. The Phillies have now bolstered their bullpen in a big way, also adding Pat Neshek Monday.

“In both cases, other teams were more financially aggressive than the Mets, even though they have long identified bullpen help as their most pressing priority this offseason,” said Mets beat writer Marc Carig on Twitter.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke with reporters on Tuesday and said he expects the team to have a healthy payroll next season, regardless of the inactivity so far.

“I would spend a little less time thinking about our payroll,” he said. “We’re trying to put the best team on the field that we possibly can. We want to fill a number of different roles.”

He also alluded to Michael Conforto‘s availability at the beginning of the season just as important of a factor as any for 2018.

Alderson didn’t necessarily agree that a larger payroll directly correlates to success on the field.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say, ‘hey, if we do well, then we invest more,’” he said. “That’s not an equation that I’ve been given. Or that we necessarily even recognize or consider.”

There are still quality options to be had on the open market, such as former Met Addison Reed, who was falsely reported to be heading to Philadelphia before the team ultimately snatched up Hunter.

Beyond that, Juan Nicasio has been a name tied to New York in recent days, as well as former Marlins closer Steve Cishek. Some other appealing names the team should keep tabs on are Matt Albers, Brandon Kintzler, Seung hwan-Oh, Anthony Swarzak and Joe Smith.

However, with some notable relievers already coming off the board, things are moving quickly and are about to explode, if they haven’t already.

If the Mets in fact want to leave the Winter Meetings with a reliever, they’re going to have to suck it up and dive into the inferno.