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Jason Bay

Cafardo’s Latest: Red Sox, Upton, Minaya, Saito

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After extending Adrian Gonzalez this week, the Red Sox have guaranteed nearly $300MM to their two big offseason acquisitions, Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. However, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, some baseball people feel that Jayson Werth would have made more sense for the Sox than Crawford. One AL GM says he's "not sure that many of us are unhappy they chose Crawford over Werth," adding that Werth seemed to be a better fit for Boston's lefty-heavy lineup. Here are the rest of the highlights from Cafardo's Sunday Notes:

  • The Red Sox may not have even been in on Crawford or Werth this winter if they had re-signed Jason Bay a year earlier. A National League GM calls Bay leaving Boston "one of the worst decisions both by a team and by the player," suggesting that both sides miss each other.
  • According to Cafardo, Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers was willing to deal Justin Upton to the Red Sox in the offseason, but only if he got the Adrian Gonzalez package or Clay Buchholz in return.
  • Several teams have spoken to Omar Minaya about potential job openings. Minaya, who dubs himself a "free agent," says he's still sorting through everything and searching for the best fit, but he could make a decision soon.
  • Cafardo points out that spending time on the disabled list could cost Takashi Saito a good chunk of money this season. Currently on the shelf with a hamstring injury, Saito can earn up to five $100K bonuses based on time spent on the active roster.

Mets Notes: Alderson, Reyes, Dickey, Dessens

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The Mets have settled with all of their arbitration-eligible players but that isn't the only news out of Citi Field today.  The latest…

  • ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin has the transcript of GM Sandy Alderson's conference call with media today.  The Mets' payroll will be between $140-$150MM next season, a total Alderson said "is significantly higher than we'd like to be on an annual basis."
  • Alderson said he isn't troubled about the recent news that the Wilpons want to sell a minority share of the club: "I'm not surprised by this development just because the Madoff situation was a backdrop to the Mets, and well-known backdrop. My enthusiasm and energy for this position and my confidence in the future of the Mets is undiminished."
  • Along those same lines, Alderson said "perhaps naively," he doesn't think the ownership situation will impact negotiations with Jose Reyes on a contract extension.  Fangraphs' Paul Swydan figures the trade market for Reyes will be very busy this summer if the Mets decide to deal the shortstop rather than re-sign him.
  • R.A. Dickey will earn $2.25MM in 2011, $4.25MM in 2012 and received a $1MM signing bonus for his extension, reports Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link).  The contract also includes a club option for 2013 worth $5MM.
  • Elmer Dessens wants to pitch next season but it apparently won't be for the Mets, reports Adam Rubin.  The Mets told Dessens they're "going in another direction."  The right-hander told the team he was willing to sign a minor league deal to return, a reversal of his stance from earlier this winter when Dessens implied he would retire unless he got a Major League contract.
  • Jason Bay talks to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick about his disappointing 2010 season and how he's looking to rebound next year.

Mets Notes: Collins, Wright, Davis, Bay, K-Rod

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The Mets formally introduced Terry Collins as their new manager today. Here's the latest on Collins and the team he'll take over (all links go to Twitter):

Mets Notes: Myers, Bay, Tatis, Francoeur

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Some notes from the Big Apple's NL representative…

  • Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets that Brett Myers is one of the pitchers that the Mets "are considering" in trade options.  As MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith noted in his look at the trade market for starters, Myers' solid numbers and reasonable contract will draw the eyes of several teams, but he must particularly intrigue New York due to his experience pitching in the NL East.  Myers has an $8MM mutual option for next season that can be bought out for $2MM.
  • Jason Bay talks about his underwhelming season with Steve Popper of The Bergen Record.
  • Popper also tweeted that Fernando Tatis' shoulder surgery on Wednesday might hasten the end of Tatis' career. The veteran utilityman has a career .265/.344/.442 line and his versatility has helped the Mets given their multitude of injuries over the last few seasons.
  • ESPN The Magazine's Matt Meyers thinks New York should give up on Jeff Francoeur.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hoffman, Bay, Markakis

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On this date back in 2004, Alex Rodriguez returned to Texas to play the Rangers for the first time since being traded (along with $71MM) to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias. He was booed loudly just like every other road game of his career, though he silenced the home crowd – at least temporarily – with a two-run homer in the first inning. 

 Here are a few links from around the baseball blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Are Lackey, Bay Cause For Worry?

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Leave it to some who follow the Red Sox and Mets to worry prematurely about their big acquisitions, John Lackey and Jason Bay.

In the case of Lackey, he probably quieted some of the criticism with his seven innings against the Angels Wednesday night, allowing just one run. Meanwhile, Bay's struggles haven't yet abated.  Should either fan base be worried? Did the Red Sox waste $82.5MM on Lackey, and the Mets blow $66MM on Bay?  There's certainly not enough evidence to think so, and the guess here is that in the short-term, neither team will be sorry.

Let's start with Lackey. In his first 37 innings, he's pitched to a decent 3.89 ERA, and really, that reflects one poor start. Take that start out, and he has five quality starts in five outings, with a 2.14 ERA. He's gone seven innings in each of his last three starts.  The only thing that could cause concern is that he's struck out just 21 in those 37 innings. That is a rate of just 5.1 per nine innings, well off of his pace from last season, when he fanned 7.1 per nine.  But take a look at Lackey's first six starts from 2009. He posted a 6.61 ERA, and even his strikeout rate was just 5.2 per nine. It then jumped to a robust 7.5 per nine over his final 21 starts, along with a 3.23 ERA in those contests.

So it is entirely too soon to worry about Lackey. But what about Bay?

The numbers have been pretty ugly so far. Bay is hitting just .238/.345/.376 in his first 119 plate appearances as a Met. And it isn't like he's been particularly hit-unlucky, with a .338 batting average on balls in play in 2010, above his career BABIP of .327.  He's walking and striking out about as much as he did in 2009, and is actually hitting more line drives this year than last year.  So is it simply that Bay lost all of his power? Unlikely. It simply appears this streaky hitter is in a slump.

It went less noticed last year because of his strong start, but Bay had a remarkably similar period in his 2009 season. From June 3 to July 31, 2009, Bay hit .214/.349/.341, with just four home runs in 212 plate appearances over that time.  However, he balanced that out with 222 plate appearances from the start of the season to June 2 hitting .286/.410/.632, and finished the season from August 1 on with 204 plate appearances of .301/.392/.631 hitting.

Most likely, Mets fans will feel awfully silly about Bay fretting once he goes on this type of extended tear. And fortunately for the Mets, the concerns about his defense have largely proven to be unfounded so far, with Bay hovering right around average in left field.

In short, there are things for both the Red Sox and Mets to worry about. But John Lackey and Jason Bay aren't it.

Odds & Ends: Rosario, Red Sox, Bernazard, Storen

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Links for Tuesday….

Revisiting The Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay Trade

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It's been nearly 20 months since the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Pirates completed the three-team blockbuster that sent Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles, Jason Bay to Boston, and four prospects to Pittsburgh. Alex Speier of WEEI.com spoke to Pirates' GM Neal Huntington about the trade, who noted that the book is still out on their end of the deal. 

Here are the highlights, but the whole article is well worth the read…

  • Huntington suggests the Pirates now believe that they had a better offer on the table for Bay than the one they ultimately accepted, though it's not fair to look back using hindsight. The Marlins and Rays were both rumored to be interested at the time. 
  • He also recognizes that he might have received a better package if he waited until the offseason to deal Bay.
  • If the deal had not been made, the Red Sox were unsure about how to proceed with Manny's $20MM club option for 2009, and it was unclear if they would have been willing to risk offering him arbitration to recoup draft pick compensation.
  • They were, however, confident in offering Jason Bay arbitration at the time of the trade.
  • Meanwhile, the two players Pittsburgh received from Boston haven't delivered as expected. Brandon Moss is out of options, and might be put through waivers after hitting .232/.300/.381 since the trade, while Craig Hansen apparently went unclaimed after being designated for assignment. Both players have dealt with injuries.
  • Huntington says that if Andy LaRoche's power comes on, it would be a good trade for them since they acquired six years of him for a year and a half of Bay. If Bryan Morris develops into a middle of the rotation starter, he would consider it a great deal.

Execs Name Best, Worst Moves Of The Offseason

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Recently MLBTR spoke to several MLB executives to gather their nominations for the best and worst moves of the offseason.

Free agent signings that received mention for the best moves: Felipe Lopez, Adrian Beltre, Adam LaRoche, Chone Figgins, Hideki Matsui, and Aroldis Chapman.  Said one exec on Chapman: "He might truly live up to the hype."  It's hard not to praise the Cards for getting Lopez on a one-year, $1MM deal.

Three trades came up as choices for the best moves of the offseason: the Mariners' acquisition of Cliff Lee, the Royals' trade of Mark Teahen, and the Rangers' trade of Kevin Millwood.  One exec noted that the Mariners "didn't trade anyone that can hurt them in the next couple of years" for Lee, while another believed that "trading Lee and Kyle Drabek in the Roy Halladay deal will hurt [the Phillies] in the long run."  The Royals received props for "getting some value for Teahen," while the Rangers' increased payroll flexibility from the Millwood deal was noted.

Nominated for the worst moves: free agent deals for Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Brandon Lyon, Jason Kendall, Aubrey Huff, Jason Marquis, Randy Wolf, and Garrett Atkins.  All the execs polled mentioned Holliday's seven year, $120MM deal when choosing their worst deals of the winter.  Said one: "The fear that he would sign a one-year deal elsewhere and take his chances a year from now — that just doesn't make sense to me."

Aside from Kendall and Huff, there was a vibe of "like the player, hate the contract" with the panned free agent signings.  One exec felt the Royals downgraded behind the plate with Kendall.  Huff was nominated as a small-scale misstep, in that the exec felt that "Hank Blalock is better and he couldn't get half that salary on a non-roster deal."

Odds & Ends: Weeks, Castro, Roberts, Piniella

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Lots of rainouts in Florida, so here are some links to get you through the day…

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