Well I certainly didn’t see that one coming. The Mets parted ways with Jason Bay a full year ahead of schedule with a Buyout that included his obscene 2013 salary of 16M, the 3M buyout needed to void 2014, and 2M still due on his signing bonus.
But Jason Bay did manage to join the Mets all-time list while he was here in NY as he now owns the title of “Best relationship with fans ever for Mega-free agent bust”.
Think about it, there have been some doozies as far as free agent busts go and the fans will ALWAYS turn on them. Bonilla, Alomar, Kaz Matsui are the 11st 3 that leap to mind but it never ends well for flame out free agents.
But Bay never felt the full wrath of Met fans. Maybe it’s because he always looked like he busted his ass, and always looked like he was mad at himself. Or whatever the reason he was treated better than any other bust in franchise history.
The total haul of the buyout is 21M. From my understanding the Mets don’t safe a penny here, but they get to deter a portion over a handful of years.
The Mets gain “some” payroll flexability for 2013 and Bay is free to hook on with another team. I’m sure someone will give him a shot to regain his stroke especially since he’ll come dirt cheap.
I gotta assume Bay will sign a heavily incentive laden deal that will cost a team virtually nothing to ink him but will low him to make millions if he suddenly becomes Boston Bay again. And if that happens he just might clock in around 26-30M next season. Imagine that.
As for the Mets my instincts tell me they were able to fee up between 5-7M in flexibility for winter dealings which I’ll gladly take.
will always remain a riddle here in Met land. Not only did his bat mysteriously fail to ever show up in NY but his relationship with the fans