The Mets And Jason Bay Part Ways

The Mets announced today that they have negotiated an early expiration of Jason Bay's contract. The agreement gives Bay unrestricted free agency, and according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, he will receive his 2013 salary. 

WHAT?!?

I never thought I'd see the day, but this is the best for everyone. Bay played his heart out day in and day out, but found little success in New York. 

I always hoped Bay would finally find success again, but it wasn't meant to be. 

I wish him the best. Good luck, Jay Bay. 

ICYMI: The Week In Review

Ronny Cedeno was activated from the disabled list. Elvin Ramirez was demoted.

Tim Byrdak is looking for a home...for his chicken. Byrdak bought a chicken before Friday's game against the Yankees after Frank Francisco called the team, "chickens."

Tony LaRussa told Fox Sports that he is definitely considering R.A. Dickey to start next months' All-Star game.

Johan Santana received a key to the city from Mayor Bloomberg on Friday for throwing the Mets first no-hitter.

The Mets announced the top Mets players in franchise history Thursday night, and it wasn't without drama. In response to Darryl Strawberry saying he would love to have a chance to hit off Tom Seaver, Seaver responded with, "You don't have any handcuffs on your hands, do you?" Whatever Seaver was trying to say there, it made for an awkward moment.

Here is the complete list of the top Mets:
Mike Piazza, C
Keith Hernandez, 1b
Edgardo Alfonzo, 2b
David Wright, 3b
Jose Reyes, SS
Cleon Jones, LF
Carlos Beltran, CF
Darryl Strawberry, RF
Tom Seaver, RHS
Jerry Koosman, LHS
Roger McDowell, RHR
Tug McGraw, LHR
Davey Johnson, Manager 

Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores were picked to participate in the Futures Game as part of the All-Star festivities in Kansas City.

After striking out a career-high 13 batters and beating the Orioles 5-0 on Monday, R.A. Dickey became the first major league player in 24 years to throw back-to-back no-hitters.   

On the injury front...

Frank Francisco had to sit out of Friday night's game against the Yankees with stiffness in his left oblique.

Sandy Alderson told reporters he expects Ruben Tejada to return from the disabled list next week.

Jason Bay claims to be symptom free a little over a week after suffering a concussion. He has yet to begin any physical activity.

ICYMI: The Week In Review

After getting swept by the Yankees last weekend in the Bronx, the Mets moved on to St. Petersburg where they swept the Rays in a three-game series.

Chris Young recorded his first win with the Mets since his return. His last win as a Met? April 5, 2011.

Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen mixed things up in the bullpen earlier in the week. With the exception of Frank Francisco as closer and Tim Byrdak as the lefty specialist, all other bullpen roles have been done away with. Essentially, if you want to be the eighth inning setup man, you're going to have to earn it.  

R.A. Dickey threw a one-hitter on Wednesday night. The Mets appealed to have that one-hitter changed to a no-hitter, arguing that David Wright should have been charged with an error after attempting to field a hit by B.J. Upton. They lost the appeal.

National League All-Star manager Tony LaRussa selected Terry Collins to join his staff for this year's All-Star game.

Ike Davis is starting to heat up at the plate. He has a seven game hitting streak and his average is now up to .192.

The Mets have signed 15 of this year's draft picks. For the complete list, visit ESPN.

On the injury front...

Jayson Bay was placed on the 7-Day disabled list with a concussion after crashing into the left field wall Friday night.

Justin Turner was activated from the disabled list following Bay's injury.

Ronny Cedeno, who has been on the disabled list since May 27 with a calf strain, is expected to return some time this week. In Triple-A Buffalo Saturday, Cedeno played all nine innings at shortstop and went 0-3.

The Mets are hopeful that Ruben Tejada will begin a rehab assignment on Monday. According to Terry Collins, Tejada ran in a straight line on Friday.

Observations From Friday Night's Game

On Friday night, the Mets were nice enough to allow other bloggers and myself to attend the evening's festivities.

Here are a few things that stood out.

It's a good thing David Wright is not a doctor.

Shake it up a little more, David. 

After crashing, head first, into the left field wall, Jason Bay left the game with what the team described as a possible concussion.

Now, any normal person would say things like, "Feel better, Jason," or, "I hope you're okay." Not David. No, he decides to get in there and shake Bay's head around even more.

I was pretty embarrassed to be a Mets fan when Bay exited the game. If you were listening to the game on the radio or watching it on t.v., you may have noticed that Bay left the field to boos. Yes, an alarmingly large number of Mets fans were booing their own team's player after being injured. Scott Hairston practically got a standing ovation when he entered to take Bay's spot out in left. This isn't Philadelphia. Knock it off.

Finally...

Will anyone ever put a stop to the wave? I don't know if 34,000 people were just extremely bored, but at one point the wave went around the stadium at least 6-7 times in a row. I would be impressed that such a large group of people would be committed to completing the wave that many consecutive times, but I hate the wave.

Mets Morning News 2-26-12

The Mets released this image of the patch yesterday. 

The Mets announced Saturday that the team will wear a patch on their uniforms to honor the late Gary Carter. The patch features a home plate with "The Kid" and the No. 8 in the middle.

Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger did a Q & A with Jason Bay to find out more about his friendship with Eddie Vedder.

"I was a huge Pearl Jam fan … Eddie’s a huge baseball fan. Huge Cubs fan. There’s a lot of guys who have met him. Sean Casey, who’s a diehard Pearl Jam fan, he’s hung out with Eddie numerous times. When I got traded to Boston, we played a game and that night Eddie was playing somewhere in Boston on his solo tour. And he signed this poster, 'Hey, Jason, welcome to the Red Sox.' And then Casey gave me his number. So we text back and forth."

"I’ve never met him. I’ve never actually technically met him. And that’s the funny part. Casey was like, 'Hey, here’s his number, he said text him.' So he was like 'Hey, sounds good, man. If I’m ever up in Seattle recording …' He’s never up there. He’s got a lot going on. I’m probably the last person (on his mind). 'Oh, I’ve got to call Jason Bay!'"

Pitching prospect Matt Harvey threw his first live batting practice Saturday. According to David Lennon, Harvey is expected to begin the season with Double-A Binghamton, but he writes, "plans are subject to change."

"Obviously, that's a pretty impressive-looking pitcher," manager Terry Collins said. "When you stand behind there, he's got a feel for it all. He's got tremendous rotation on his breaking ball, got a good slider, knows how to sink it. We all know he can throw hard. Now it's a matter of dealing with the process, and that's getting better command and more consistency. I truly believe in the process."

Andrew Keh of the New York Times profiles prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis who discussed past injuries and his future.

"There’s no doubt this is an important spring for him because of the situation we’re looking at, with us in desperate need of guys who can play outfield," ManagerTerry Collins said of Nieuwenhuis. "We’re going to give him a lot of playing time. He’s going to get plenty of chances to prove himself."

Mike Pelfrey did not do well last season. We know it, and he knows it. David Wright is standing up for Pelfrey though, telling Mike Kerwick of The Record:

"He was coming off a good year," Wright said, "and then all of a sudden just because he's named the opening day starter … a lot of times he got matched up with [Roy] Halladay and Josh Johnson."

He deserved better, Wright said.

"There was numerous times where he pitched well and should have gotten a win," Wright said. "There were a couple times where we blew leads for him late. There were a couple times where he just had some bad luck because he's going up against other team's No. 1."

Bay Sees 30 Homers In His Future - Let's Hope They're All In 2012

Photo by Flickr User: slgckgc

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News was able to get Jason Bay to open up about his struggles since joining the Mets, and  how he believes he can have a resurgence at the plate in 2012.

Bay believes he can hit 30 home runs this season. Do I believe that? I don't think it's likely. He's only hit a combined 18 home runs in the two years he's been in New York. Do I hope that he can? Absolutely.

With Bay, I feel his struggles have been more mental than physical. Perhaps one of the better things to happen to Bay this offseason was hearing that the walls at Citi Field were being moved in. Maybe this will provide him the little confidence boost he needs to get off on the right foot in April.

Despite appearing calm, cool, and collect at all times the past few seasons, David Wright told Martino:

"I have seen him snap. When no one is looking, and when there are no cameras around, and the younger players can’t see him, he will let it out."

It's okay, Bay. Let it out. After watching some of your plate appearances the past few seasons, I've wanted to rage, Paul O'Neal-style, as well.

No matter how bad he has struggled at the plate, I have always rooted for Bay. He's just a likable guy.

I attribute that to his work ethic.

"I would hate to be running down the line, and that one time you dog it, all of a sudden a guy throws it away," Bay told the Daily News. "I don’t want to be that guy who doesn’t run hard. I don’t want to be that guy — desperately...I would just hate to have a mark on me for my effort. It would irk me to no end if someone said, ‘yeah he was decent, but he was lazy.’ Or ‘he didn’t respect the game.’ Because I can control that."

No matter how bad he was at the plate, Bay never carried those struggles over to the outfield. Throughout the season, he made some spectacular plays in left field. He works hard, and I respect that.

It's that hard work that has saved Bay from feeling the wrath of many Mets fans. I don't know how much longer this will last if he doesn't get off to a good start this season.

While my expectations for Bay are not incredibly high, I will continue to root for him and wish him the best in 2012.

Mets Finish Up Road Trip; Beat Padres 7-3

• Dillon Gee was the first Mets starter to give up one run or less since early July. Thanks to an early three run home run by David Wright, Gee was able to pitch to contact, striking out five along the way. He became the first Mets rookie since Doc and Darling in 1984 to win 11 games.


• Gee earned this win, but Manny Acosta really saved it for him. In the seventh inning, it was a 4 – 1 game and the Padres had loaded the bases. Acosta came in and struck out Jason Bartlett and promptly ended the threat.


• In the fourth inning, Wright made a spectacular defensive play. Not only did he make a diving stop to save a double, but he faked a throw to first, and caught Cameron Maybin rounding third base trying to score and tagged him out. It really was an incredible, heads up play by the veteran Wright.


• Jason Bay has reverted back to form from earlier in the season. He finished up the trip on hit-less in his last 20 at bats, dropping his average to .239

The Mets have an off day tomorrow. Friday they return to Citi Field to face the Central Leading Milwaukee Brewers for a three game series.

They're Outta Here!

Yes, he was right.  Yes, everyone overreacted to what he said.  But if Mike Pelfrey hadn't pitched himself out of New York already, he certainly talked himself out the door this weekend.  The former ninth overall pick has been a top prospect, a struggling young pitcher, a potential staff ace and finally, a malcontent.  He has pitched extremely well and extremely poorly.  He was supposed to be the ideal pitcher for the expansive CitiField, and for a year it looked like he might be.  Now it looks like he'll be pitching somewhere else next year.  But he won't be the only Met leaving town.

Jason Bay And The Worst Mets Trades Of The Last 15 Years

Earlier this week, I broke down the Mets worst free agent signings of the last decade, highlighted by the disastrous Jason Bay signing last year. Of course, the Bay signing was a double edged sword - the Mets get the bad Bay now, and missed out on the terrific Bay nearly a decade ago.

They traded Bay, along with Bobby Jones and Josh Reynolds to the Padres for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed in 2002. Bay would bash 181 homers over the next seven years, production the Mets were hoping for when they signed Bay last year. If only they'd held on to him back then, those homers would have been at Shea!

Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and the Mets have traded plenty of guys who turned into stars later on (Nolan Ryan anyone?). This list strikes a healthy balance between those guys who came out of no where to become stars, plus trades that looked bad at the time and got worse as time went on.  Get ready for some All-Stars lost, outstanding seasons missed and an awful lot of valuable arms traded away for nothing. (All trade info from the indispensable UltimateMets.com)

Jason Bay and the Worst Mets Free Agents of the Last Decade

Jason Bay clubbed his eighth double of the season this weekend, that's right, 8. As in, less than 10. As in, not even half of the 20 he smacked last year in only 95 games. He already has the same six homers he managed in 2010, but he is slugging a paltry .333 and hitting a limp .238 overall. With just two months left in the regular season and Bay's tenure as a Met not even halfway finished, it is fair to say that the Bay signing has been an outright disaster.

It is not just Bay's performance in a Met uniform that has been so distressing. Rather, it's the track record he established for Pittsburgh and Boston and how his talent seemingly dried up the moment he stepped to the plate on Opening Day 2010. Take his home run numbers since his first full year in 2004: 26, 32, 35, 21, 31, 36. In two years and 175-plus games with the Mets, Bay has managed just 12 home runs. He has hit .249 with the Mets, with an OPS of just .700, all for the low, low price of $32,000,000 so far.

He will almost certainly be put on waivers this month, the real question is whether anyone will claim him, even for free. One of the premiere power hitters since 2004 could not have a lower value right now, and the Mets are stuck footing the bill for at least two more seasons.

Is he one of the worst Met free agent signings in recent memory? Absolutely, but there are some worthy contenders for the title of worst in the last decade.

Dillon Gee Shuts Down Nationals

Mets beat the Nationals 1-0, and are just one game under .500.

• Dillon Gee went 7.2 great innings, giving up just two hits, striking out three and walking three. Gee had a no-hitter going through the first 5.2 innings before Livan Hernandez broke it up in the sixth inning.

• Justin Turner continued to be productive at the plate, driving in the team's lone run in the fourth inning.

• Even Jason Bay had a good day, going 3-4.

• Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 14th straight save of the season, and has not allowed a run in 18 innings pitched.

Next up: The Yankees head cross town to take on the Yankees for a weekend series. The Mets will send R.A. Dickey to the mound in the series opening Friday night.