With the Mets signing of Jason Bay, the Mets have finally added a player who is assured of NOT being on their minor league roster. The Mets needed a leftfielder (amongst other things) and they got one. Sure, they had to wait and wait and wait for him but in the end Bay was theirs for a mere 16 million a year for the next four or perhaps five years.
This is a deal the Mets sorely needed to make. The Mets were last in the majors in homeruns last year. (In fact, at some point Pujos was ahead of the entire Mets team.) Bay gives them some pop. Over his career he’s averaged 33 homeruns, 107 RBI, with an OBP of .376 and an OPS of .895. All nice numbers. In the field he’s not leftfield’s version of Keith Hernandez but he gets the job done. At 31 years of age, Bay should be battering between Wright and Beltran for half a decade now. Bay still needs to pass his physical but he’s averaged 154 games a year since 2005 so he seems to be able to stay in the lineup. Which after last year is a plus for the Mets.
Of course now the Mets need to add a few more pieces to the team. They need a catcher. I would still be happy with Bengie Molina for two years. They need to decide is Murphy is the answer at first. A lot may depend on how Carlos Delgado hits in winter ball. They still need a starting pitcher or two. Jon Garland can eat some innings. I would like to see the Mets make a run a Chapman, he has the potential to be Dwight Gooden special. Of course like they say, potential just means you haven’t done anything yet.
Yesterday was a good day for the Mets. Hopefully there will be more before opening day.
