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R.A. Dickey Wants to Stay With Mets Despite Possibility Team Could Trade Him This Offseason

The Mets are willing to deal R.A. Dickey.

Last week, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson opened up Pandora’s Box by expressing a willingness to deal the National League Cy Young Award finalist if the right opportunity came about.

Speaking at a banquet over the weekend –– where he received the Branch Rickey Award –– Dickey expressed a desire to stay in New York and continue to help the Mets climb up the NL East standings.

“I don’t want to go, let’s put it that way,” Dickey told MLB.com. “I like being a Met.

“That being said, I understand the business that I’m in. I’ve always understood it’s a possibility and there would be no acrimony. It’s not an acrimonious situation. Sandy is doing his due diligence because that’s what he’s paid to do for the New York Mets. I can hold it the way it’s supposed to be held. I don’t take it personally.”

This offseason, the Mets picked up Dickey’s 2013 option that would pay the knuckleballer $5 million, and there’s still a chance the 38-year-old could sign an extension with the organization. Regardless of what uniform he’s wearing in 2013, Dickey is optimistic about his pitching future.

“It used to be ‘this way or the highway,’ so this scenario is much different,” Dickey said. “It’s all good news in my mind. It becomes small semantics, because it’s all good news. But my preference is [to stay] with the Mets. I love the fan base. My family loves it there. It’s a two-hour, direct flight from Nashville. It’s beautiful.”

Dickey went 20-6 in 2012 while becoming one of the league’s more inspiring stories.