Finally, Jason Bay decided that the Mets were his only chance to sign a lucrative deal. With the Red Sox recent signing of Mike Cameron, the Giants signing Mark DeRosa and the Yankees signing Nick Johnson and probably Johnny Damon, Bay's choices were very limited.
What remains to be seen is how Bay hits in New York 's Citifield, an extreme pitchers park. Just ask David Wright how tough it is to hit a home run in the new ballpark. I heard this morning on XM Radio that Wright would love a trade out of New York. Time will tell.
Here is what ESPN's KeitH Law had to say about the signing:
The New York Mets needed another impact bat to replace Carlos Delgado, whose 2008 second-half surge was a big part of why the Mets had a lead to blow in the NL East that fall. Jason Bay should be that guy with his plate discipline, power and 200-plus games of experience in the toughest division in the game. Citi Field is a pretty good fit for Bay, as it's a good park for right-handed power hitters (plus-10 percent versus a neutral NL park, according to this year's Bill James Handbook).
That's interesting as Wright had all sorts of difficulty in the new ballpark. But what is without question is Bay's consistency. His worst year was 2007 where he went 21-84-.247, yet he has averaged 30-100-.280-.376-.519-.896 in his career.
Bill James projects Bay to go 32-103-11-.268-.374-.504-.878 in 2010. Bay hit in some pretty poor lineups in Pittsburgh, and some very good lineups in Boston, and will hit in a pretty good lineup next year. I am not sure he can hit 30 bombs in 2010, but Bay should be a good RBI guy with a healthy Wright, Reyes and Beltran hitting in front of him.
I am interested to see how high Bay will be auctioned for in the UBA league-a 12 team NL-only 4x4 league. Last year David Wright went for $49 before everyone knew how Citifield would play. I am curious if Bay will hit the $40 mark this year, as there are a few Mets fans in the league.