Fan favorite pitcher, RA Dickey, is fresh off the heels of a Cy Young winning season. But his happiness has proven to be short-lived as contract negotiations with the Mets have taken an ugly turn.
Yesterday at a Christmas charity event at Citi Field with displaced Hurricane Sandy victims, Dickey came clean about his frustrations with the team nickle and diming him. Dickey is in the final year of his contract, and has asked the Mets for the sum of $26 million for a two year extension, to which the Mets refuse to come to terms with.
Dickey was all too candid with the media there even directly expressing that if a deal hasn’t been reached that he would most likely be leaving as a free agent after the 2013 season. ESPN New York reports:
“In the context of the market, you want what you think is fair,” Dickey said. “I feel like we’re asking for less than what’s fair because that’s how it’s been for me. There is a surprise sometimes when things don’t get done quickly and you already think you’re extending the olive branch. At the same time, they have a budget they have to adhere to. I don’t know those numbers. And I try not to take it personally.”
Dickey has already expressed that he will not be negotiating his contract in-season, so the Mets are scurrying to get a deal done as soon as possible. Mets are offering Dickey a 3 year, $25 million contract, still $6 million less than the guaranteed $31 million he’d make if the Mets come to his terms.
Dickey proved his worth in the 2012 season with a 20-6 record and 2.73 ERA with the deadly knuckleball, that he perfected. But his age, 38, and the fact the Mets still lack other key pieces and are tight with payroll could spell an uncerimonious end to the RA Dickey area in Queens.