On Sunday evening, members of the Mets' front office are expected to arrive in Dallas for their second round of Winter Meetings under general manager Sandy Alderson. They need a closer. They want to re-sign their shortstop, Jose Reyes, but only if the price is right. You know this much already.

Alderson held a conference call this afternoon. He revealed little. But we can share this much:

1. Alderson said “there have not been any discussions in recent days” with Reyes’ agents. Reyes has visited the Miami Marlins and their new stadium. Alderson said he has not acquired a better understanding of the market for Reyes. For Alderson, all he knows if of Miami’s reported offer (six years and $75M to $90M).

Besides that, Reyes is a mystery man. The Philadelphia Daily News spotted him at a restaurant there this week, but that was considered non-baseball business. Last night, the Palm Beach Post reported “rumblings” that Reyes would be back in Florida today, but nothing has been confirmed. So it goes.

2. Alderson shot down a report that said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada had inquired with the Mets about playing for them this season. Alderson backed up what Posada's agent, Seth Levinson, has said earlier today: "That didn't happen." He termed it "unlikely" that Posada would become a Met. The team is interested in a backup catcher, but they desire defense. Posada does not provide that.

Here’s the full transcript:

When looking to acquire a reliever, do you think you will work more in trade market or free-agent market to do so?

Good question. I don’t have a good feel for the trade market, because I don’t think that we will know much about that market until we get to Dallas. In spite of the fact that there was a GM and an owners’ meetings. I don’t think that the trade market is well-developed at this point.

I mean, we’re aware of some opportunities in the trade market for closers slash relievers, for example. But I really believe that the trade market and the free-agent market are connected in many ways. I think whatever value is reflected in the free-agent market is to some extent going to be reflected in the trade market as well.

The reliever market right now is a little bit hard to predict. The signings that have taken place so far I think have emboldened agents, to this point. On the other hand, I think there are plenty of relievers out there. And it’s not clear to me that there are plenty of landing spots, certainly not plenty of landing spots for the big-ticket relievers who may be looking to close.

So I think the two markets are related. Will continue to be related. I think that we’ll know more about the free-agent market soon, but that will have a direct impact on the trade market as well. But there are players available in both.

In a perfect world, how many players do you expect to sign next week?

Very hard to predict. You recall last year, I said ‘we will definitely be leaving with new players, even if we have to make a couple Rule 5 selections.’ And to a certain point in the Winter Meetings, that’s all we had. And we made a lot of acquisitions subsequent to the Winter Meetings.

So we could come back with none, although again I’d be surprised if we’d didn’t take someone in the Rule 5 draft. Just hard to predict. I wouldn’t want to put a number out there that is unrealistic.

Besides the bullpen, are there any other glaring areas you hope to shore up?

I don’t think there’s any area that’s glaring enough that we have to quote ‘shore up.’ Lots of areas for improvement. We need to be sure we’re happy with our catching situation. We need to make sure that, depending on what happens, we’re comfortable at second base. We need to make sure that we’re happy with a bench that is — I wouldn’t say it’s nonexistent at this point, but a number of bench players that we had last year have become free agents. So we have a number of sports wide open there.

A lot of positions to fill. But I don’t know that there’s anything that’s as glaring as our bullpen issue that we faced at the end of last year, and continue to address.

Have any schedule with Reyes' representatives for next week?

Well, I certainly would hope that we’ll have conversations, certainly by the time we get to Dallas, or at Dallas. But there have not been any discussions in recent days. But yes I do to expect to have them over the next handful of days.

Can you settle the Posada situation? Did he contact the team? Does he fit the profile of what the team wants in a backup catcher?

I can only corroborate what the agent said, and that is that that didn’t happen. But I’ve had no communication with the agent. I’d said that eventuality is unlikely.

With Reyes and the rest of the big-name players, does the lack of public activity seem different or surprising?

A little unusual. I think that some people have attributed the slow free-agent market to the new CBA and the fact that it had not been negotiated and finalized until recently. And the compensation for free-agent signings wasn’t clear. I think that probably had something to do with it. But I think also there’s just a genuine uncertainty about the marketplace, and where the values are.

Do the Werth/Crawford contracts still [get] obtained? Are they going to be exceeded? Are they not going to be approached?

It may have something to do with the top free agents not having moved, Pujols and Fielder and Jose Reyes. It may just be the tension — not the tension, but the dynamic between clubs and free agents. The free agents would like to think that a certain market exists. And the clubs, at this point, are holding out some hope that that market doesn’t exist.

But it can all change in three days in Dallas.

Have you gotten any more clarity on the market for Reyes?

As far as the market for Jose is concerned, I only know what I read in the paper, OK? There haven’t been additional reports that I’ve heard about other offers. So I’m not sure there’s much more clarity than we had when the first time the Miami visit/proposal was reported. So I guess the answer is “No.”

For more Mets coverage, follow Andy McCullough on Twitter at twitter.com/Ledger_NYMets

Andy McCullough: amccullough@starledger.com

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