Mets “Part Ways” With Jason Bay

by
November 7, 2012

For the Mets, three years of Jason Bay was enough. This afternoon, they announced that they have agreed to part ways with Jason Bay, meaning he’s being released from his contract. Joel Sherman has the details.

The Mets don’t get any financial relief in terms of actual payouts, but by deferring some portion of the money he was set to be paid in 2013, they can reduce the actual value of those payouts and create a little extra flexibility for this off-season. Because the Player’s Association has fought hard for guaranteed contracts, players are unlikely to accept contract buyouts, but this is probably the best result for both parties.

Now, Bay gets to pick his own landing spot for 2013, and he should pick an AL team that can give him some at-bats at DH in hopes of a rebound season. Bay was terrible last year, but he was an average-ish hitter as recently as 2011, and it wouldn’t take a large bounce back to make him a decent enough platoon DH for a team that already had a part-time left-handed bat in their starting DH spot.

At age 34, it’s also quite possible that Bay is just done, but at least now he gets a chance to save his career and get a fresh start in a new organization. And now Mets fans don’t have to watch him play anymore. Win-win, as they say.





 

Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.

35 Comments
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Paul
11 years ago

So if Bay finds a roster spot in 2013 it would mean that Bay somehow is paid twice in 2013 no?

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Arquimedes Bozo
11 years ago
Reply to  Paul

The guy that’s so nice, he’ll get paid twice!

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Jaack
11 years ago
Reply to  Paul

I think that the team that signs him (almost certainly at the league minimum) pays that portion of his contract, while the Mets pay the rest. So if someone signs him, the Mets get salary relief equal to the league minimum salary, but Bay gets nothing more.

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JayT
11 years ago
Reply to  Jaack

I’m pretty sure that’s only the case if the Mets dropped him. From what I understand, that’s not what happened here. He’s a free agent, not a waiver claim, so if he gets a contract for 2013, it will be for whatever he can negotiate, and the Mets will be unaffected by whatever he signs for.

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wrong em
11 years ago
Reply to  Paul

…or is it the case that the team who picks him up pays whatever amount they agree to with Bay, and the Mets are off the hook for that portion of his contract?

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Portlander
11 years ago
Reply to  wrong em

From what little we know it seems like this is a buy out so he should be able to sign a new deal somewhere else and get paid. It is likely though that he will only get the league minimum. We tend to forget that deferring the money is not an insignificant decrease in value and therefore Bay has probably given up a significant amount of money for free agency. While he will likely get a NRI if he makes a team I bet he will get an incentive laden contract. What value would incentives have if it just meant that the Met’s pay him less?

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