25
2012
Puma: Jason Bay Will Not Be Cut This Winter Or In Spring Training
An article by 
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets will not cut slumped outfielder Jason Bay in neither the offseason or this spring said a team source. Puma’s source went as far to say there is “zero” chance that the organization will release him or be asked to compete for a job in Spring Training.
The source said many decisions regarding the makeup of next year’s roster still have not been determined, but team brass has already resolved to stick with Bay.
“He’s a part of this team,” the source said.
Before last night’s 6-2 win over the Pirates, Bay, who didn’t play, said he had no knowledge of the organization’s plans for him. However, he didn’t seem to think competing for a job in spring training would be a fruitful exercise.
“I don’t think there’s a role they are going to put me in that they haven’t already seen, is there?” Bay said. “You’re talking about Oliver Perez shows up, they try to make him a lefty specialist. I’ve played every day. I’ve not played every day. I don’t know. I’ll do whatever I can.”
What is working in Bay’s favor is the uncertainty surrounding the outfield in 2013. When I asked Collins about that very subject, he mentioned two people in particular that he hopes to work extensively this Spring Training with: Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Jason Bay. He expressed the need for Bay to get back on track and return to form in 2013. Is that hoping for a lot? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Also, a trade involving Bay isn’t feasible unless they were to take on a bad contract in return, and given the fact that he is entering the final stretch of a four-year $66 million deal, I would say it is best for them to wait out his deal rather than take on more years of someone else’s problem simply for the sake of change.
Looks like Bay watch will be in Flushing come 2013 afterall.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 23 | .410 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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VERY expensive 4th outfielder.
I bought my wife a nice Cadillac and it was literally in the shop more than on the road BUT I owed more on it than I could ever get out of it on a trade. Once the warranty was gone and I had to start paying the repair bills myself I sucked it up and one Saturday it actually started. I drove it right to the dealer and bought a Ford. I lost a bundle but in life sometimes s..t happens and YOU SUCK IT UP REGARDLESS OF COST AND MOVE ON! Jason Bay is not a lemon of a car but a lemon of a ballplayer. Time for the Mets to suck it up and move on. That’s life. He is a nice guy who for whatever reason, concussions maybe, whose career is not going to revive in NY or maybe never. (PS: never buy GM cars-they suck big time!)
Honestly, think about this: what else are they supposed to say? If they say that they’re going to cut him if they can’t find a trade partner, than why would any other team make a trade with the Mets when they can just sign him later on? Until he’s either traded or released, they have to say that they’re going to keep him. And until he breaks north with the team next year, nobody should accept that as the absolute truth.
Exactly. Going around and telling people you are chomping at the bit to cut him does no one any good. It hurts your chances at trading him, it hurts your relationship with your players, and it gets the fans in even more of a frenzy.
The sad fact is, they have no one who is significantly better in house right now. Maybe you can move Duda over there as part of a platoon. But then you still have to fill a hole in RF.
Hopefully, they can acquire 1 or 2 legit OFs in the offseason and ship Bay off somehow.
Agreed, that’s why I laugh when so many people get on GM’s and Owners for being criptive or not telling the truth. They have one goal in mind and telling the fans the truth isn’t one of them.
I don’t get this. If Sandy brings back Hairston which he should try to do and 2 new OFers in trade or modest FA which he should also try to do, just how many OFers can you carry on your 40 man roster? Bay right now is just a needless piece of deadwood. Hitting a couple of HRs against a soft tossing lefty doesn’t change the big picture.
Well Sach play it out….
What does the fact that Bay is staying tell you about their hope of signing Hairston?
I think this story says as much about what they think Hairston is going to get in FA than anything to do with thier belief in Bay being able to return to form.
Listen, people don’t seem to want to listen to this because Bay has been nothing but a bust here and people are sick of him…but the Mets FO, especially this year, have completely mismanaged the Bay situation and made a bad situation worse.
Bay’s first year wasn’t great, but it wasn’t as horrible as people remember. I think the hitting philosophy in Bay’s first year was completely wrong for him and with the size of CityField, he got completely screwed up. If Bay played the entire season, his HR numbers would have been way down, but his BA and RBI totals would be OK.
Last year was a mess…dude was screwed up completely…no other way to put it. The constant adjusting is never the way to go.
People say I’m crazy because you look at Bays numbers this year, they are dreadful, but Bay to me looked set for a rebound season. He started off slow, but was making better contact and he started to show some power, his timing just looked a little off…then he got hurt…he got rushed back and had to get his timing back, he started to drive the ball better, but then got hurt again…this is when the Mets FO really screwed up…
Knowing the Bay has struggled, knowing that his timing has been off, knowing that these problems are in his head, knowing that the fans have given up on him…they rushed him back from his 2nd injury with almost no time in the minors…not only did they rush him back, but they put him in the middle of the most important stretch of the season…the team was on a long WC trip, the pen was struggling and the offence went cold. Knowing all these problems…they still brought Bay in and gave him two weeks to find his timing and help save the Mets season…I’m sorry, but that was an impossible situation for Bay to succeed.
I’m not saying that Bay could have a good season, but if you look at his HR totals and projected them through out a full season, he would have solid numbers. But now he failed once he came up and only gets spot starts and even if he has a good game, he’s back on the bench.
Isn’t the job of a manager and FO to put players in the best situations to succeed? Well the Mets have completely failed in doing that.
It’d be a perfect time for the FO to do something for the fans. start with this POs and cut him. biggest bust in NY since Foster, and at least Foster hit some HR’s, this guy can’t even do that. Worthless, Useless, nothing to see here, cut him and move on. but again, these are the NEW YORK METS and his name is jason bay so, look up at the history and judge for yourself
Recent history shows both Castillo and Perez being cut in ST with one more year each on their contracts – and Perez’s wasn’t chump change.
I have no idea what’s wrong with Bay but I don’t think anyone saw this coming.
I guess it just depends on Jason Bay himself. If he is comfortable in being a 5th OF then you might can keep him. However, adjusting to that role isn’t easy. The difference in Bay and others is so far he is not an attitude problem and has by all accounts been a model citizen while sucking it up. That goes a long way in staying around. Ultimately I think they cast him off and he never plays another game for the Mets after next ST.
Of course he won’t be comfortable with it…
But he so far has not exhibited the whining, complaining and attitude that both Castillo and to a much larger extent Perez showed when they were benched.
Metsie, that’s a good point. However, on the other side of the coin, Hairston this year earned just 1.2MM. And even with the year Hairston had, I still think most teams in MLB view Hairston as just a credible part time split OFer ( .229BA vs RHP, ..295 BA vs LHP) not as an everyday OFer. And what is that going to fetch in FA? And Scott has already said he would like to stay with the Mets although its possible some team like the Giants overpay for Scott.
I would imagine something along the lines of 2/8-10M is expected.
That sounds about right.
Well do’t make the mistake most fans make with FA predictions and assume ‘THE LEAGUE VALUE” actually equates to what he will get.
Sure most of the league will think that way and that only means that he won’t find himself in the middle of a bidding war.
But while the league in general may have one value for him there is usually one team who thinks more of him and will pay more because he is much more valuable to them than he might be to some other team.
As an example I’ll use Pelfrey….
He is not worth what he will get in Arbitration from us. But he could easily get that type of Money from Colorado or some other Pitching starved team.
Across the league he is probably not worth 5+Mil but to the right team he could be!
Thats the funny thing about the Market, While the league value may keep his money low it only takes one team to set the Market value of a player.
Look at Werth…No one thought he was worth that.
And who can say he wasn’t worth that deal to the Nats considering where they are right now?
Lets be clear about one point here…Bay is not the same as Perez in one key regard.
Perez also had an attitude problem to go with his worthlessness.
Bay has been worthless but he has been a good soldier, never complained, never denied an order and never looked to give up the way Perez did.
That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be cut, All I’m trying to get accross here is that we should at least give him some credit for being a good soldier and not put him into the same Trick bag as Perez.
Both are similar only in regards to the fact they were bad contracts to sign that didn’t perform.
After that Bay and Perez are like Night and Day!
Guillen will be back at least Loria said so. Bell and Guillen are oil and water. If the Marlins pick up the salary of Bell’s extra year and the Mets throw in a lowly rated prospect the deal for Bay: i.e. Bell and Buck (the killer (“B”ees) can be done. Miami is the one who proposed the deal. I rather have Bell than FF who could have a lesser role or be traded in a separate deal.
Well you could work something out for Bell for FFF and Bay?
Bell signed thru 2014 9M owed with a team option while Bayi s thru 2013 providing no vesting option. Marlins would have to make sure Bay’s option does not vest. Therefore Bell has an extra year without any options from both contracts. However Mets have Frank Francisco has a two year deal at 6M per year which ends after 2013 season. Therefore the Bay deal would not fit with FF in it. Bay for Bell and Buck fits pretty close to thee 16M owed Bay. Buck three year contract at 18 M ends 2013. So we have Bell 9M ends 2014, Buck 6 M ends 2013 and Bay 16 M ends 2013. Some way the Mets and Marlins have to agree how to split Bell’s extra 2014 year.
After the comments Bell made on a radio show yesterday regarding Ozzie, I think he’ll be the first one shipped out of town, providing they can find a trade partner.
Just like with Ollie Perez, they have nothing to lose by cutting Bay. If he stays, they pay him and he sucks. If they cut him they pay him and have someone better. There’s no reason to hesitate. It won’t cost that much more to have some replace him. Look at the low paid bums out there now.
If you look at it from the perspective of “What is the Bigger Waste?”
1 – 16 Mil
2 – 16 Mil and a Wasted Roster Spot that could be used for a productive player….
The Answer is quite easy isn’t it?
I think we shouldn’t but so much weight on what a “source” says on September 25, 2102 regarding a season that doesn’t start until April of 2013.
“Jason Bay Will Not Be Cut This Winter Or In Spring Training”
Of course he won’t….because he’ll probably be traded in the winter. They better get back on the phone with Miami.
just smoke blowing.
and in some ways, isn’t this like the dreaded “vote of confidence” for an embattled manager (that is usually fired shortly afterwards?)