Francessa just announced the Mets will sign Bay, to be announced next week unless he fails a physical.

I know Bay is one of the bigger names in this FA crop, but he's a horrible fit in that ballpark. IMO, the Mets should really build that team around guys who provide athleticism and speed. Especially in the outfield. Bay provides neither.

I think this is going to blow up in their face.. but what Met moves don't?

I really hope for Met fans sakes that they are not thinking about going to war with that pitching staff as currently constructed because it just might be the worst in the league after Johan. Mets really dropped the ball not going after Lackey who would have been a top pitcher in the NL for years...just unreal

Absolutely. And Bay is a good hitter, but his weaknesses will be more exposed without the dimensions of Fenway Park to help him out. I'm honestly a tad surprised he would sign with the Mets. They would have been better off trying to get Nady.

lol bay fails. mets fails. and the sox fail without enough bats in the lineup. Sounds like a triple win for you guys.

Bay used to hit to all fields but Fenway made him a dead-pull hitter. The Mets believe the ball carries well to left field so we will see how that fits. Unfortunately, the Mets went for name recognition instead of making deals that would really help their team.

I'm reading there are "physical issues" with Bay and the physical might not be a formality...

It doesn't appear that he had any other options. The Mets offer seems to have been on the table for the better part of two weeks. He clearly doesn't want to play in Queens but I think he's cutting his losses at this point.

Man, did agents grossly overestimate the market this offseason or what?

It looks like it's 4 years, $66 million guaranteed with a vesting fifth-year option for about $14 million.

So excluding the option, which obviously is good for him, Bay traded Boston for the Mets and $6 million. Wow.

Dude. You got Cameron.

The sentiment seems to be that Bay did not mind playing for the Mets, but was simply holding out for other offers that were closer to what he was seeking.

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Martinez C
Ortiz DH
Drew RF
Cameron LF
Scutaro SS
Kotchman 1B


lol

Nah Lowell at third, Youkilis still at first.

ehh if the trade didn't go, I doubt he's ready to go by the start of the season.And even if Lowell does start at 3rd, it just replaces one shit player(Kotchman) with an old injured washed up one who is a huge injury liability. There offense is still worse than it was last year.

This post has been edited by #2#42=Champs: Dec 29 2009, 06:03 PM

Only like 6-8 weeks for recovery, but regardless that's not a team built on offense, that's for sure.

They'll be very good because of their defense and pitching.

yep, probably the deepest staff in the majors. still though, even though our staff is slightly worse than theirs, our lineup is a million times better than theirs. we should be a much better team than them, assuming health isnt a factor.

If they don't sign Beltre, I think you'd be more likely to see Youkilis at third, Martinez at first, Varitek catching, if Lowell gets traded or misses a lot of time (or is so shot he can't play the field). Kotchman at first when you want to give someone a day off.

And yeah, Boston will still be very good. I think they've got the second best team in the AL after the Yankees. Pitching staff is potentially best in the majors top to bottom (Yankees would be the other option...other teams have better top two's than either team, like Seattle, but the rest of the pitching staff isn't as good), solid bullpen. The offense isn't very good but it's not horrible, they do have some good players in there. It's not the Giants lineup or the Royals lineup here. I don't think they're a better team than the Yankees, who combine one of the best pitching staffs with one of the best offenses, but I think Boston is an easy pick for the Wild Card.

As for Bay, I don't really buy into the "He didn't want to play for the Mets!" thing. It might be true, but it's just as likely he was simply trying to get a 5th year and/or a higher per year salary. And if the option is easy to reach, then he might have done just that. People make assumptions just because a guy doesn't sign immediately. Same thing with CC, remember how it was definite that he hated New York because he didn't run out and accept the Yankee offer two seconds after it was made? That would have been dumb. You try to get them to up the offer or see if someone offers more. People who expect these guys to take the offers immediately are being stupid. Do you think Holliday hates St Louis? He seemed to like it fine last year, yet he must hate it, right? And Johnny Damon really must have hated the Yankees, he didn't immediately take the offer they originally gave. It's nonsensical. He MIGHT hate the Mets, and I wouldn't blame him for being reluctant to play at Citifield, but it's an assumption that people were making.

I dunno about slightly worse. I think they're very comparable and who has the better staff will rely solely on who does better out of the #5 spot, Hughes/Joba or Wakefield/Matsuzaka. I think Boston has the slightly better top 3 (I'd put CC as the best of all six guys, then Lester, then Beckett, then tie between Lackey and Burnett who put up comparable numbers, then Pettitte, so slight edge to Boston), but I think Vazquez is better than Buchholz, so I'd say it evens out. But I wouldn't argue it too much, both teams have really good starting rotations, and like you said, the Yankee offense is a lot better.