Will Jose Reyes' deal be too rich for Mets?

Sandy Alderson reacted with obvious disdain last December when he learned that Jayson Werth had received a seven-year, $126-million contract from the Nationals on the very first day of baseball's winter meetings.

Before the end of that week, the Red Sox gave Carl Crawford a seven-year deal as well, but worth a stunning $142 million.

Despite the underwhelming start to both of those long-term contracts this past season, Alderson predicts that it will happen again this winter with at least one free agent. The question is who? Albert Pujols? Prince Fielder? Maybe even Jose Reyes?

"They're rare," Alderson said, "but I'd hesitate to say they're obsolete."

The free-agent bidding war officially kicked off at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, which served as the starter's gun for all teams to begin negotiations and extend offers to any available player on the market.

Having passed on his own period of exclusivity with Reyes, Alderson now intends to wait and see where the numbers go for the free-agent shortstop. Only then will the general manager know for sure if it is feasible to shoehorn Reyes into what he has estimated will be a payroll between $100 million and $110 million for 2012.

It won't be easy. The Brewers, Nationals, Angels, Giants and Phillies are all potential fits for Reyes, with the Marlins' interest contingent on Hanley Ramirez possibly moving to second or third base.

In talking about the free-agent market earlier this week, Alderson explained why he believed that teams would again push the envelope with seven-year deals. At the same time, the GM definitely gave the impression that the Mets would not be one of them, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

"You've got 30 different teams, and they all lie somewhere on a continuum," Alderson said. "At one end of the continuum is the desire to win, and be as a competitive as possible. And the other end of the spectrum is the desire to make money, or break even.

"What's interesting about the sports business is that there are dual motives. But for each club, how those combine and where they lie on that range is entirely different. Every year they change."

For the Mets, toeing that line has become increasingly difficult. As Alderson attempts to build a competitive major-league roster, and collect talent for the organization as a whole, the team's ownership is simultaneously trying to fend off a billion-dollar lawsuit and also sell shares of the franchise.

That's why principal owner Fred Wilpon said in June that he expected the payroll to drop to $100 million, with Alderson nudging it slightly upward from that. It doesn't leave much room for Reyes. The Mets currently have nine players accounting for roughly $76 million in 2012, and that's before going outside to sign a closer, make over the bullpen and rebuild the bench.

Even if the other 16 players earned only the minimum salary -- an impossibility -- that would raise the payroll to $84 million. With Reyes expected to get anywhere between $15 million and $20 million per year, that could be too rich for the Mets under their current financial limitations.

"I do think we ought to recognize that certain players are more important to a fan base than others," Alderson said. "I've acknowledged that in the past. It's a factor."

Alderson did make overtures to Reyes' agents in an attempt to see what it would take to take him off the market -- once in late June and again in early October. But the GM was rebuffed both times, which is usually the outcome when a player makes it this close to free agency.

Now that Reyes is finally there, and no longer a Met for the first time since he signed in 1999, both sides will see if the homegrown shortstop is gone for good.