Mets Have Plenty of Tasks on Their To-Do List NASHVILLE - The Mets made their way back to New York on Thursday with a host of unanswered questions surrounding them after a mostly quiet stay here for baseball's winter meetings. General Manager Sandy Alderson said he was happy with the work he and his staff did since arriving at the Opryland Hotel on Sunday night, even as a number of the team's issues remain unresolved. "It's always nice to see something tangible at the end of the meetings, but we feel that we've made solid progress on a number of different fronts," Alderson said. We'll go back to New York and pursue certain things, and go from there. Officially, the Mets made two transactions this week. They signed third baseman David Wright to an eight-year, $138 million contract, but that was agreed upon last week in New York. During the Rule 5 draft Thursday morning, the Mets selected the left-handed pitcher Kyle Lobstein from the Tampa Bay Rays but quickly dealt him to the Detroit Tigers in a prearranged trade for cash. So, back in New York, there will be much left to pursue. Among their other needs, the Mets are looking for a right-handed-hitting catcher to complement Josh Thole. Alderson acknowledged that he has been unimpressed with the options he has seen. "We've explored the trade market, and that doesn't look all that promising," Alderson said. But the free-agent market is also thin. Asked if the Mets would be comfortable starting the season fielding Thole and Anthony Recker, an October waiver claim who has a .152 average over 66 at-bats the previous two seasons, Alderson said, "Maybe." The Mets are also looking for at least one right-handed-hitting outfielder. The most visible candidate was Scott Hairston, who slugged 20 home runs for the Mets in 2012 before becoming a free agent. But Hairston has also been linked to several other teams looking for a capable bat off their bench, and Alderson tempered suggestions that they were close to a deal. "We're still talking with his agent, and expect that we'll talk with him again," Alderson said. But I wouldn't read anything into that. The largest question mark for the Mets remains R. A. Dickey, their Cy Young Award-winning knuckleballer. Three options - a contract extension, letting Dickey play out his option year and a trade - remain possible, and Alderson said he did not have a sense of when the situation might be resolved. Both the Mets and Dickey's agent, Bo McKinnis, acknowledged this week that the sides have been unable to compromise on a dollar figure. Alderson and McKinnis met on a number of occasions, with no tangible result. But Alderson said Dickey's situation was not hindering the team's ability to make other moves. "We can move on our other needs," he said. I don't think there's a direct correlation. Alderson also played down the notion that trade offers for Dickey would accelerate once the free agent Zack Greinke, the most appealing pitcher on the market, signed with a team, forcing the spurned clubs to look toward the Mets. But he circled back to the subject while discussing this off-season's seeming inertia. "Everybody would like to be able to obtain a player without giving up players, so that's the first priority," Alderson said. And once that free-agent market settles down - whether it's Greinke or someone else - then clubs turn to other means. But it's been pretty quiet. The winter meetings as a whole seemed quieter than those of previous years. But Alderson emphasized there was no rush to move and said he did not feel the need to place arbitrary deadlines on Dickey's situation or any others the Mets face. "One thing that will happen leaving these meetings is that clubs will sort of reassess the market and draw some conclusions about whether it's going to continue to be hot or whether it's going to soften," Alderson said. I think most clubs will go back to their organizations and try to determine that and then move forward, which is what we'll do. He added, "We're going to be patient."