Cy Young winner Dickey, Mets still negotiating

NEW YORK (AP) - R.A. Dickey and Mets general manager Sandy Alderson can agree on one thing - they would prefer to have closure before opening day.

The Cy Young Award winner can become a free agent after the 2013 season and says he won't negotiate once it starts, so the Mets probably have to sign him to an extension or trade him to get the best return.

Dickey says it "would be disappointing'' if he simply played out his option year and became a free agent. If that occurred, he said he thinks he wouldn't return to the Mets, a team with which he says he has "a real connection.''

At a team event Tuesday for children displaced from their schools by Superstorm Sandy, Dickey and Alderson said the sides were still apart.