Bay, Red Sox Put Extension Talks Aside

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 17, 2009 at 3:53pm CDT]

3:53pm: Adam Kilgore of the Globe says Theo Epstein characterized his offer as "aggressive," and has no hard feelings towards Bay. It looks like talks will resume after the season.

3:37pm: Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox and Jason Bay won't discuss a contract extension until after the season. The two sides had been talking since May, and the Red Sox made an offer about a week ago, but the talks will stop until the season ends, at which point the Red Sox have 15 days of exclusive negotiating rights with Bay.

9:18am: During the All-Star break Jason Bay's agent spoke with the Red Sox about extending his client's stay in Boston, but talks didn't develop significantly, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. However, the two sides would like to keep the free agent-to-be on the Red Sox.

Earlier in the year WEEI.com reported that Bay was seeking a three or four year deal worth about $14MM per season. The Red Sox, however, pointed to Adam Dunn's two-year $20MM deal as a point of reference for the discussions. The market for outfielders hasn't settled since then and that has contributed to the slow pace of the talks.

Bay, who will head this year's class of free agents with Matt Holliday, hasn't imposed any deadlines on the negotiations and appears to want to stay in Boston.
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