There’s “zero” chance the Mets will release Jason Bay or ask him to compete for a job next Spring Training, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Mets executives have already decided to stick with Bay, Puma reports. “He’s a part of this team,” a Mets person said.
The Mets aren’t likely to trade Bay or left-hander Johan Santana, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. Both players have no-trade clauses and tens of millions remaining on their current contracts. Bay will earn $16MM in 2013 and his contract includes a $3MM buyout for 2014. Santana, who's now on the disabled list with lower back inflammation, will earn $25.5MM in 2013 and his contract includes a $5.5MM buyout for 2014.
Rubin also surveys MLB rosters for bad contract swap candidates the Mets could consider. GM Sandy Alderson will likely be looking for a new center fielder this offseason and the team could also pursue a right fielder, Puma writes.
Santana still has value. Pre-no hitter and All-Star break he was back to his old self. Clearly the workload was too much for him. Well see how he fares next season but he can be a July trade candidate if Mets take on majority of his salary.
Bay on the other hand…..ugh. At least he plays a solid left field when hes out there. Other than that he is useless. But this just goes to show how awful the Mets alternative outfield options are.
Solid left field? He’s below average (going by FanGraphs UZR). Besides, it’s left field which is one of the easiest, if not the easiest, position to play. That’s no reason to keep him.
Santana is the least of the Mets worries this offseason to be honest its the other holes that need to be filled up (Catcher , OF , Bullpen).
I agree about Santana. He needs to really work on strength and conditioning this offseason. I don’t think he remembered what pitching a full season took.
Imagine the Twins remember (well) how bad they were robbed by over hyped Mets prospects, when they were demanding everything but the kitchen sink from both the NYY and Boston.. Gardner + Hughes from the Yankees and the funniest? Lester + Ellsbury from Boston and then took a sack of mushy potatoes from the mets.. Burned bad eh??
Carlos Gomez has been a productive major leaguer. Higher WAR than Santana the last two years. Also they weren’t overhyped prospects thats why it took so many. Philip Humber who was also part of that trade pitched the 21st perfect game in MLB history.
WIth the White Sox. And other than one perfect game, he’s had a pretty rough season.
No disagreement there. Twins got rid of many of the players they acquired in that trade.
Every team overhypes their prospects. Hughes was being called the Next Roger Clemens. Joba was considered untouchable in their negotiations for Santana. He’s just been a decent reliever who can’t stay healthy and Hughes is just average.
Tough to find a front office as silly as the Mets. Jason Bay would be replacement level in a beer league softball team, he’s a nice guy but no business being on a major league team at this point.
And what do you suggest they do then? Nobody will trade for Bay…even if he is free. The Mets internal options in the outfield are horrendous. Might as well keep him around
They should just release him. He can’t hit for anything and it’s just a waste of a roster spot for a team that’s not competing. It’s hilarious to see guys like him and Chone Figgins still with their teams after they’ve been given multiple chances to bounce back yet never improve.
If LF was there only hole, I would agree. Release him and fill it in. Problem is, they have a number of other vacancies to fill. So focus on those and live on a hope and a prayer that Bay steps it up next season. If not, that’s his last year and we’re done with it anyway and maybe next offseason LF *will* be our only hole to fill.
You might be able to get the Angels to flip you Wells for Bay.
Do they really not realize how bad Jason Bay is? His SLG would be a horrible OBP, he’s literally hitting worse than his weight, and he’s a lousy fielder. I’m glad I’ve become numb to how horrible this organization is run.
Doesn’t matter, really. It’ll be a ton of money off the books for 2014. Bay is a sunk cost at this point, as noone will trade for him anyway, above a garbage level player. At this point the question is: is Jason Bay worth the league minimum? Who knows but it’s the league minimum so who cares.
Personally I would’ve waived him this year but it really doesn’t matter much either way.
The real question is who’s going to play the outfield next year for the Mets? My guess is that they’re going to target high average, high OBP, but mediocre slugging type players. Seth Smith/DeJesus types basically, as these are the cheapest outfielders out there.
Agree with this. He’s got more value if they hang on to him and hope he runs into 10 or so homers next year in whatever playing time he ends up getting.
The money owed Bay is a sunk cost, but the at-bats he’d get next year are yet to be. Any fan who catches a foul ball in the stands would be an upgrade over Jason Bay.
agree with withpower’s quote right above yours
Honestly they need to go after a legit young OF to be honest someone like Shin Soo Choo or Peter Bourjos who could be in the OF for years to come I wanna see a young bat help the lineup already not guys who are past there prime and just fill ins.
Also I disagree with the idea that the Mets are a poorly run organization. In fact I think it’s pretty well run. True in hindsight they could’ve made some more trades during the offseason etc., but they made a lot of progress at the minor league level this year. Again maybe they could’ve gotten more for Reyes, etc., but overall its a pretty well run org, certainly better than under Minaya
I think by 2014 it will have a lot of major league ready talent and all the bad contracts will be off the books.
Look at the progress that’s been made since 2011 with a $140M payroll. Not great but certainly a step forward
Having a few prospects doesn’t make them a well-run organization. They have never had sustained success except for the mid-late 80’s. Even back in 2006-2008, they would operate as a faux large market team. They refused to give Chad Bradford 3 years, then ended up giving that same contract to Scott Schoeneweis (grossly overpaying him based off 16 innings he pitched for the Reds that year). Besides misguided signings, the Wilpons proved with the Madoff scandal that they are financially irresponsible. They refuse to take accountability for the product they’ve tried to pass as a major league team the last few years.
Well it appears you’re mixing apples and oranges. I am talking about the Alderson regime. Clearly the current administration can’t be responsible for ’06-08 or the 80’s or whatever because they weren’t there.
Are we talking about the Mets, or US Politics?
Different GM but the same ownership and that’s who I am criticizing. They had to approve his free agent signings.
>>>>>Do they really not realize how bad Jason Bay is? His SLG would be a horrible OBP, he’s literally hitting worse than his weight, and he’s a lousy fielder.
It’s not about not knowing how bad he is — what are they going to say? “Jason Bay sucks, and we are going to dump him at our earliest opportunity.” They’re just saying the right thing.
>>>>I’m glad I’ve become numb to how horrible this organization is run.
Because “how the organization is run” is determined by anonymous quotes in local sports articles.
Do you think that I thought the Mets were a well-run organization until I read this quote today?
J-Bay joins the legion of players who should never have left Fenway (Nomar, Fred Lynn, Mo Vaughn, etc.)
2013 will be another year of being bottomfeeders in the NL East for the Mets.
Likely to keep Bay? Hopefully on the bench…