Dickey says Mets' final offer was two years, $20M
R.A. Dickey isn't sorry for his frustration regarding his contract negotiations with the New York Mets. He just regrets the forum he used to express them.
On a conference with New York reporters, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner apologized for speaking out last week during a team holiday party at Citi Field for schoolchildren affected by Hurricane Sandy. The knuckleballer has since been dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays.
"At the Christmas party, I must admit to you, that I was unprepared for that informal press conference, if you will," Dickey told reporters. "I wasn't aware I was going to be put in that position. So I didn't have a conversation with anybody about what was going to happen. ... I feel badly about using a time such as that to become emotional, and I want to apologize for that. That wasn't the venue necessarily to do that in. Now, I think my emotions and my feelings were warranted. At the same time, that was the wrong place to do that."
Dickey confirmed during the call that the Mets' final extension offer was two years and $20 million, above the $5 million he was already due in 2013. He later signed a two-year, $25 million extension with Toronto, completing a deal that netted the Mets a package of prospects that included catcher Travis d'Arnaud.
Dickey believes the Mets purposely dragged out the talks until top free-agent pitchers like Zack Greinke signed, thus increasing New York's leverage on the trade market.
"I think, just as a logical person, it made sense that they were going slowly to try to see what was out there," Dickey told reporters. "And I can certainly understand that. It may not have not lined up with my timing, which is perfectly OK."
