So Mets fans are you happy now? We all wanted to be rid of Jason Bay and his unproductive bat and Debbie Downer body language and the Mets have granted us that request. The club sat down with Bay and worked out a deal where Bay gets the full $21 mil he’s owed on his contract. It looks like the club and Bay have structured a deal where some of the $21 mil is deferred, how much that helps the team this off season remains to be seen.
I think by now it’s clear that Sandy Alderson does not deal in emotions when it comes to this team. We saw it last off season when after approaching Jose Reyes’ agent during the season to talk contract extension and was told that Reyes would rather test the free agent waters. When the season was over Reyes’ handlers wanted the Mets to make an offer and were told by Alderson that he was not about to set the market price and it would be in Reyes’ best interest to get an offer and get back to him. They did with the only offer out there from the Marlins of 6 years and $106 mil, to which Alderson said, “enjoy South Beach”. It was the right move.
As we have seen with Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez and D.J. Carrasco, Alderson has no problem approaching the Skill Sets with the recommendation of eating salary. Even with all the red ink flooding Citi Field, the move was still made to eat Bay’s remaining contract however it is structured is a positive move.