Jason Bay just finished his long anticipated press conference, and in doing so he wiped away all the mud and filth that sports bloggers and journalists had been flinging since the Mets made him an offer after the Winter Meetings.

Last week I warned against all these baseless accusations and innuendo that were casting Jason Bay in a bad light. It’s a wacky world where bloggers think they’re reporters, and reporters would rather make news than report it accurately.

For all the sources guys like Rosenthal, Heyman, Gammons and Sherman have, they were all worth their weight in dog dung where Jason Bay was concerned.

From raising the alarm and waving red flags about a secret shoulder injury to raising the specter that he’d rather play in Beirut than Flushing, these baseless rumors did more damage to some already soiled reputations than it did to the Mets or Jason Bay.

Why do so many feel the need to be so negative and obtuse?

Yesterday, Jon Heyman tried to perpetuate some more baseless rumors when he re-tweeted via Twitter:

Can’t get anyone to give a straight answer why I heard Bay ask “Aren’t you going to look at my knees and shoulders?” today.

His source was FakeFredWilpon who was simply being funny and sarcastic, something which he does so well. However, what Heyman did was post what was supposed to be an attempt at humor, and legitimize it as fact to over 27,000 of his followers. I can assure you that neither Jon Heyman or FakeFredWilpon were in the waiting room while Bay underwent his physical.

I find it laughable that Jason Bay had already agreed to a deal with the Mets before Christmas, and meanwhile all the so-called baseball insiders had no knowledge of that fact as they spewed article after article of why Bay had no interest in coming to the Mets.

The quality of good old fashioned sports reporting continues to sink to sludge filled depths.

I’m proud to say that MMO did not repeat or report any of those baseless rumors and instead cautioned everyone to wait until the real facts came out.

That’s the way we roll…

Here is what Jason Bay had to say:

Why It Took So Long – “We already had an agreement before Christmas. I was in Canada and we had to wait out the holiday so we could actually all get together. It may look like it took longer than it did, but in reality it was pretty quick.”

On Playing In Beirut – “That couldn’t be further from the truth. The Mets were always on my short list. I wouldn’t have signed the contract if I didn’t want to be here. This is the biggest day in my life, and I am very excited to be a New York Met.”

On His Fielding – “I know that I’m no Torii Hunter, but I can play a solid defense. I’m not worried about the spacious CitiField, Pittsburgh was just as spacious.”

The Secret Shoulder Injury – “I never hurt my shoulder. I read all those rumors and had no idea where they were coming from. It took on a life of it’s own. My shoulder is 100% and is not even a concern now or ever.”

Welcome to the Big Apple!

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing that homerun apple a lot more in 2010. LGM