I think it’s safe to say that Jason Bay’s first year as a New York Met was a bust after be signed to a 4 year deal worth 66 million dollars. Coming into the 2010 season Jason Bay was supposed to provide much needed power for the Mets. Unfortunately things did not go as planned as Bay’s power was nowhere to be found last season. Besides his offensive numbers taking a huge nosedive last year Bay’s season was ended when he suffered a concussion and was not to be seen in a Mets lineup for the rest of the season.

Bay much like David Wright suffered a loss of power in his first year playing in the ridiculously big ballpark that is Citi Field. It’s important to note though that Bay’s numbers at home were better than his numbers on the road:

Split PA 2B 3B HR BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP OPS+
Home 186 12 4 3 .277 .371 .459 .830 .333 121
Away 215 8 2 3 .243 .326 .354 .680 .326 94

Those splits are courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Now there’s no denying that Bay numbers at Citi were better across the board except for home-runs.

Now if Bay can’t adjust to Citi Field and has another year in which he hits less than 30 home-runs something needs to be done about the ridiculous dimensions of Citi Field. Making the park smaller would not only help Jason Bay in 2012 it will help the New York Mets in the future. Players who make their livings based on their power numbers have to be hesitant to play 81 games in Citi Field after seeing how Wright and Bay have struggled. It’s hard enough these days attracting free agents to the Mets, their ballpark shouldn’t be another obstacle.

There was 1 at bat last year that Jason Bay had that has been stuck in my head. Bay hit a ball pretty hard, it looked like it was going to be a home run but instead it was only a very long double. Bay’s face as he went to second told the story; he couldn’t believe that ball didn’t leave the park. I believe that the park was indeed in Bay’s head and he altered his swing to accommodate for the size, which hurt his power.

Hopefully Bay will rebound this year but if he doesn’t and the power is still nowhere to be found he might be the one player who decides the future of Citi Field