NEW YORK -- Sandy Alderson acknowledged Tuesday that any further additions to the bullpen very likely will be on minor league deals, as ESPNNewYork.com has reported.

The Mets are looking for a second left-hander to complement Josh Edgin.

They have re-signed Scott Rice, selected Sean Gilmartin in the Rule 5 draft and have minor leaguers such as Darin Gorski, Dario Alvarez and Jack Leathersich. If one of those candidates -- or someone else added this winter on a minor-league deal -- doesn't emerge, the Mets simply will go with Edgin and six righties in the bullpen, according to the GM.

The bullpen is expected to include Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black, Carlos Torres, Edgin, a placeholder for Bobby Parnell such as Rafael Montero, and the second left-hander.

"Right now, it's sign a guy to a major league deal and eliminate all the competition, or sign some minor league deals and create some competition together with what we already have," Alderson said. "We took a Rule 5 selection, Gilmartin. We've got Alvarez. We've got Leathersich, whom we just added to the roster. So I think we've got quite a bit of depth.

"The question is whether we're prepared to make a commitment to somebody on a major league deal. I'd say it's unlikely we do that right now. I'd rather see the competition for that second lefty. And if it doesn't work out, we'll go with six righties in the pen. We've got some quality right-handed pitchers, too, that could potentially be very effective against left-handed pitching."