The Sommer Frieze

After sitting on the offer for weeks, Jason Bay finally agreed to terms with the Mets. I wonder if it’s because he had to. There was word that outside of Boston and the Mets, that there were no other offers out there. Are some players pricing themselves too high?

Bay wanted a five-year deal. He gets four years at $66M with a vesting option for the fifth year. 

Bay and the Mets may not be a good match. Bay’s defense was questionable at Fenway with its short LF. How will it be in the more spacious Citi Field?    

From mlb.com:

In Bay, New York gets a right-handed power hitter who batted .267 with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs with the Red Sox in 2009. Bay most likely will play left field for New York.

Bay is best known for his years with the Pirates and is a three-time All-Star.

During his seven-year career in the big leagues, Bay has a .280 batting average with 185 home runs, 610 RBIs and .376 on-base percentage.

Bay’s 162 game average is .280-33-107, OPS+ 131. Excellent. But you wonder how he’ll adjust to Citi Field, which killed David Wright (10 HR) this year. Citi Field isn’t Fenway, that’s for sure.

The Mets only hit 95 HR as a team, and only Daniel Murphy (12) had more than 10 HR. Granted injuries took their toll. Carlos Beltran’s 10 HR came in 81 games. Sheffield’s 10 came in 100 games. Jeff Francoeur’s 10 came in 75 games as a Met.

The Mets did need a power bat, especially if Carlos Delgado is gone (despite Delgado missing all but 26 games in 2009). From last year’s stats, it seems like it would be difficult for others in the lineup to reach 30 HR, and maybe not even 25.

The question is, will Bay?

Another question is, will dominoes start falling now? Will Holliday now look at the Cardinals’ offer and think that’s as good as it gets? Has anyone made JD a serious offer?

As for the Yanks, you have the Reed Johnson talk…but sometimes I wonder if they’ll just bring back Hairston. The 33 year old hit a combined (Cin/NYY) .251-10-39 in 2009. OPS+ only 86. He can play 2b, ss, 3b and all three OF positions. He can platoon in LF with Gardner. The 162 game average is .259-8-46, 21 SB, OPS+ only 85…but hey, he and/or Gardner would be hitting 9th.

Hairston made $2M last year.   

If you missed it, check out Linda Stasi’s article on Charlie Sheen.The “Wild Thing”—in real life— gets chewed out for his she(e)nanagains, and rightfully so, by Stasi. What’s sad is that the public indulges the guy.   

Update: Keith Law has the plusses and minuses of Bay and ramifications at ESPN.com. He rightfully adds that the Mets need more than Bay. One interesting note that he adds is the question of Damon. Could Damon have nowhere else to go and, as Law puts it, “wind up coming back to the Yanks with his tail between his legs?” How much do the Yanks have left for JD? How low and how much of a cut would JD accept, since Bore-a$$ is his agent?

JD come say, January 31? 

Update II: According to ESPN, the Red Sox are still pursuing negotiations with Adrian Beltre on a deal, meaning that the Lowell deal with Texas (on hold because of Lowell’s injury) would apparently go through once Lowell is cleared.