A few items of note:

Alderson asks for Bradley and Bogaerts: Sandy Alderson produced a lot of Internet LOLs and incredulity when he asked the Red Sox for prospects Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley, Jr. in a trade for R.A. Dickey. But if you’re going by what Dave Cameron reasoned through yesterday, that is exactly what Alderson should be requesting for Dickey. Per Jonathan Mayo, Boegarts and Bradley are the Sox’ No.1 and 3 prospects, respectively. Asking for that much at the beginning of negotiations hardly implies any sort of dark Mets conspiracy to keep Dickey drawing fans to Flushing in 2012. Alderson’s merely setting the bar high, as he absolutely should. If the Sox ultimately counter-offer with one of those two guys and a couple of slightly lesser (but closer to Major League ready) prospects, maybe there’s a deal to be made.

Wil Myers deemed “flavor of the moment:” This isn’t to target Andy Martino, merely the lines of thought expressed in his Tweet that seem somewhat common among Mets fans and media. Thing is, sometimes the flavor of the moment is really good. Has anyone had the seasonal Coffee and Doughnuts custard at Shake Shack? Outstanding.

More importantly, I don’t know that the Royals’ apparent willingness to move Myers should necessarily imply anything about his prospects. For one thing, the Royals are the team that signed Jeff Francoeur to a three-year contract, so it’s difficult to attribute much logical thinking to their front office. For another, if they’re really dangling him for pitching, they’re only doing the same thing a lot of us want the Mets to do: Trying to deal from an organizational strength to address an organizational weakness. If the Mets are taking calls on Dickey and Jon Niese, does that mean they’re down on Dickey and Niese? Sure doesn’t seem that way.

Scott Hairston deems his return to Mets “probable:” Good. Hairston’s return seemed unlikely as recently as a few weeks ago, when the Yankees were supposedly hot and heavy for the outfielder. But Hairston fits the Mets’ needs as well as anyone, and if he could be had on a reasonable deal, he should have no trouble finding the at-bats and playing time he’s looking for at Citi Field. Hairston was the Mets’ second best hitter last year, and he seems to hit awesome home runs at the awesomest times.

Nats sign Dan Haren for one year, $13 million: Oof. Seems like a strong move for the already pitching-rich Nationals. There are some red flags surrounding Haren — his struggles and diminished fastball velocity in 2012 first among them. But Haren was one of the best pitchers in the Majors just a couple years ago, and he still pitched like a quality back-of-the-rotation starter this season — which is all the Nats really need him to be. The deal’s not unlike the one Edwin Jackson signed last offseason, benefiting the team as the pitcher tries to prove he’s worth a multi-year contract the next year. Haren’s got more upside than Jackson, though, and a rotation of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler and Haren makes the Nats appear the early favorites to repeat in the N.L. East.

Everyone wants Dickey: Jon Heyman reports that at least eight teams have contacted the Mets about R.A. Dickey. Of them, it’s hard to find great fits beyond the ones we most frequently talk about — the Royals, Red Sox and Blue Jays. But there might be something to be done with the Dodgers, who have a whole slew of moderately interesting players at positions the Mets need who crushed the ball in Triple-A last year. None of them is terribly young, though, and the Dodgers’ Triple-A home in Albuquerque might be the best hitting environment in affiliated baseball.

Me talking about all this stuff: I’m calling in to MetsBlog Radio at 12:15 p.m. ET to talk Winter Meetings and whatever else comes up. Check it out.