Update: 2:35pm
#Mets say wouldn’t have done Bay buyout if didn’t give ability to spend more in ’13, would just have tried again with Bay if that were case
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 7, 2012
Update: 2:19pm
bay has agreed to defer some of the $21. so that is the mets’ end of the deal. #mets satisfied it was right way to go tho.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 7, 2012
Update: 2:05pm
sources: Bay will receive his full salary from mets as part of deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 7, 2012
Update: 1:58pm
The agreement provides Bay his unconditional free agency while the Mets gain roster flexibility. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
— New York Mets (@Mets) November 7, 2012
Original Post: 1:53pm
According to Adam Rubin via twitter:
Jason Bay and Mets have settled/terminated contract.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) November 7, 2012
No word yet on the financial agreement.
57 comments
oleosmirf
11/7/2012-1:58pm at 1:58 pm (UTC -4)
Don’t think I’ve made a post since the summer, but talk about fantastic news.
The team is still going to suck, but at least they become a tiny bit more watchable now…
Prismo
11/7/2012-1:58pm at 1:58 pm (UTC -4)
See, stick and I knew what we were talking about. No more of TRS making up silly trades.
Stick
11/7/2012-4:20pm at 4:20 pm (UTC -4)
oh, he can keep making them up. gives us something to pick on! just have to find another patsy to include.
Santana for ???
SaltyGary
11/7/2012-2:01pm at 2:01 pm (UTC -4)
What a great day for America!
TX
11/7/2012-2:03pm at 2:03 pm (UTC -4)
Whoa… Fantastic news!
SaltyGary
11/7/2012-2:09pm at 2:09 pm (UTC -4)
Oooh did Mr. North put a little spit and polish on my post? How do I get the twitter boxes on there buddy?
wanny
11/7/2012-2:14pm at 2:14 pm (UTC -4)
nice deal for bay.
TX
11/7/2012-2:15pm at 2:15 pm (UTC -4)
Getting his full salary… Does that mean all this year, or he gets it all over the course of multiple years?
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-2:16pm at 2:16 pm (UTC -4)
Well one thing that immediately comes to mind is that the Mets who already lack OF depth to begin with now by releasing Bay they lack it even more so you would believe that this is stage 1 and they either already have their choice for a LF in 2013 in Duda or Kirk or have a player outside the org targeted for LF.
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:16pm at 2:16 pm (UTC -4)
Well holy shit.
I want details!!! Is this a Bobby Bo move where they pay him 1M for the rest of his natural life and thus freeing up 18M for this year? Please!!!!
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
http://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/266257006694920192
Bay has agreed to defer part of the salary for a 2M bonus.
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
Bay gets an extra $2MM, but presumably a significant portion of his contract is being DEFERRED (yes, a la Bonilla, though less money). That means, the Mets may have more money to play with this offseason.
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:22pm at 2:22 pm (UTC -4)
Well this certainly did make my miserable day much better!
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:24pm at 2:24 pm (UTC -4)
Romney promised to get rid of Obamacare on Day 1.
Obama got rid of Jason Bay on Day 1.
We chose the right man for the job.
TX
11/7/2012-2:27pm at 2:27 pm (UTC -4)
So now we all have to help cover Bay’s doctor visits? dang…
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:29pm at 2:29 pm (UTC -4)
LOL
gategem
11/7/2012-3:54pm at 3:54 pm (UTC -4)
No, his mistresses just get free contraceptives for life.
gategem
11/7/2012-3:58pm at 3:58 pm (UTC -4)
Obama is a WhiteSox fan and as long as they don’t sign Bay he couldn’t care less (unless he confuses it with the San Francisco Bay and Otis Redding).
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:23pm at 2:23 pm (UTC -4)
For those of you who didn’t like my use of present/future value and discounting the other day…
I can PROMISE you that Bay’s agent used that formula to calculate the present value of his new deferred contract, and figured that the Mets would have to add a $2MM bonus to get it back to the value of the original deal. SO THIS STUFF IS REAL.
wanny
11/7/2012-2:29pm at 2:29 pm (UTC -4)
i missed all of that but can ensure anyone that present value calculations are for real and are utilized all the time in my world.
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:30pm at 2:30 pm (UTC -4)
Oh I agree but sometimes they just throw them a bone to make them go away too.
gategem
11/7/2012-4:05pm at 4:05 pm (UTC -4)
Of course the mathematics is real (as so many of my Professors explained to me during my college days but I was too hung over to care) yet Economists from both sides of the aisle use it to justify their decisions and/or projections.
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-2:24pm at 2:24 pm (UTC -4)
If SRT was able to comment I think all she would say to the news is, “This”.
SaltyGary
11/7/2012-2:38pm at 2:38 pm (UTC -4)
^^^ This
Stick
11/7/2012-4:38pm at 4:38 pm (UTC -4)
sad to think that she may not even know about this yet.
someone needs to saddle up and drive to her house to make sure she gets the news.
Daniel Stein-Sayles
11/7/2012-2:25pm at 2:25 pm (UTC -4)
8 beautiful words, I thought I would never hear.
darknova306
11/7/2012-2:27pm at 2:27 pm (UTC -4)
That’s… wow… what…?
wanny
11/7/2012-2:27pm at 2:27 pm (UTC -4)
according to fatcessa (via heyman) bay will be deferring his salary. i couldnt tell from fatcessa’s inarticulate explanation whether it includes his buyout and money still owed from his signing bonus.
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:31pm at 2:31 pm (UTC -4)
The total given to Bay will be 21M now but I have no idea what the deferment is.
wanny
11/7/2012-2:52pm at 2:52 pm (UTC -4)
whatever it is, sherman tweeted that he was told the mets wouldn’t have done this deal if it didn’t free up money to spend in ’13.
TX
11/7/2012-2:38pm at 2:38 pm (UTC -4)
I guess we can delete that whole Vernon Wells post, eh?
Honestly, this does the same thing. Deferring money for flexibility this year.
Here Upton Upton Upton… Come here Upton….
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:40pm at 2:40 pm (UTC -4)
Kate?
Uhh Sandy…let me negotiate with her please.
TRS86
11/7/2012-2:59pm at 2:59 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed, the Wells post can now just change to Johan… LOL.
That being said, you are right, this does EXACTLY what the trade proposal was designed to do. Free up more money this year and pay for it when they have more money.
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:39pm at 2:39 pm (UTC -4)
Guys I love you all so I made a little doohickey in Excel to see what the new deal could be.
Mets could do something like:
8-5-3-2-1-1-1
And that would ~equal the value of the original deal.
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
Would give the Mets $8MM more to spend this offseason. That’s kind of huge.
darknova306
11/7/2012-2:49pm at 2:49 pm (UTC -4)
So it’s time to: Give Wright and Dickey blank checks, sign the biggest name possible this offseason, and relive those glorious Omar years! Yeah!
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:54pm at 2:54 pm (UTC -4)
Or I could be way off and that $2MM is part of his signing bonus. (apparently it is…)
Now I’m confused. Why would the union let him agree to reducing his contract?
Stick
11/7/2012-4:25pm at 4:25 pm (UTC -4)
he gets the same amount. I don’t think the union gets that hung up on ST deferrals like this, since he still gets all his money.
but basically, the reason is it gets him out now as a full fledged FA, on the market, instead of dead man walking in ST and cut just before the season.
so basically, he gave up a small amount of PV to buy his immediate freedom. and that, to me, sounds like a win-win
TRS86
11/7/2012-3:01pm at 3:01 pm (UTC -4)
OK use that fancy knot-knot thingamijig and see what it would be if we only paid him 5M this year… LOL.
Prismo
11/7/2012-3:08pm at 3:08 pm (UTC -4)
Doesn’t matter if the $2MM bonus is just part of his signing bonus, and not a new incentive. :/
Any way you slice it, he’s making less money with a deferral.
darknova306
11/7/2012-2:55pm at 2:55 pm (UTC -4)
Really curious to know specific details on how the deferment will be paid out. We actually know less now about the upcoming payroll than we did before until we get those details.
Prismo
11/7/2012-2:57pm at 2:57 pm (UTC -4)
“Sherman says that Bay will lose some present day value through the deferral, but now he can sign with a new team for more than the league minimum (all Twitter links). The union doesn’t allow players to reduce the guaranteed portion of their contracts unless they get something equal in greater in return.”
I don’t understand. They reduced the value, but they can’t reduce the value. o_O Whatever, Bay’s gone. And I’m commenting way too much.
TRS86
11/7/2012-3:00pm at 3:00 pm (UTC -4)
” guaranteed portion of their contracts unless they get something equal in greater in return”
Hmmm, I wonder if how much they pay is dependent on his next deal somehow?
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-3:05pm at 3:05 pm (UTC -4)
Fast Forward to Nov. 7, 2013.
I can see Rusty’s post already. “This date in Mets Infamy” Mets agree to part ways with Jason Bay as Mo Vaugh moved over and said see if you can squeeze in next to me.
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-3:08pm at 3:08 pm (UTC -4)
@DPLennon
This Bay domino might have been the one #Mets needed in order to finalize Wright deal. Would explain the delay anyway.
https://twitter.com/DPLennon/status/266270340391514112
Stick
11/7/2012-4:27pm at 4:27 pm (UTC -4)
well, way to rain on the feel good parade there buddy.
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-3:36pm at 3:36 pm (UTC -4)
Just saw DiComo tweet the Alderson quote from back in August where he said,
“Jason Bay is not going anywhere, nor is his contract.”
It is a reminder that sometimes one just can’t read too much into these quotes. Why would a team trying to move Bay for salary relief say they are willing to eat Bay’s contract before they have to?
Thinking of SRT I believe she was one that believed Bay would not be on the roster come Opening Day. Turns out she was correct.
SRT on the brain. Hope your well wherever you are 4D.
gategem
11/7/2012-4:13pm at 4:13 pm (UTC -4)
The Mets and Bay part ways. The world really will end on December 21st.
Stick
11/7/2012-4:19pm at 4:19 pm (UTC -4)
Well, I did guarantee that thee was no chance bay was on the OD roster. the only questions was when and how, and now we know.
Just goes to show how much a given it was he had zero trade value, since they did not even bother to hang onto him for a while hoping to get lucky.
though it makes sense that this resolution had to come early, since Bay obviously wanted to be a FA, and this is what he needed to do in order to make that happen now (beginning of the shopping season) instead of late in ST when latching on (or having choices) is much harder.
kingman 26
11/7/2012-5:44pm at 5:44 pm (UTC -4)
As I posted on another site, this may NOT be such good news–
IF the contract now will be paid off over many years–the Wilpon financial situation could be so dire that they might have needed some relief for 2013 to even be able to have a payroll near $100 million.
This should absolutely not be ignored as a possibility.
They might be paying Bay MORE deferred over time to be out from under the huge commitment to him for the 2013 contract and 2014 buyout.
There’s nothing here to celebrate.
Kirk and Den Dekker and Baxter are all very possibly not much better than Bay.
Prismo
11/7/2012-5:59pm at 5:59 pm (UTC -4)
They said they’re only paying Bay the 21 mill they still owe him. This is a good thing. It’s ok to say the Mets did something right.
kingman 26
11/7/2012-7:30pm at 7:30 pm (UTC -4)
You are missing my point.
If–and I DO NOT know if this occurred–they approached Bay to defer his money in order to afford 2013, then it is another sign of financial desperation.
Regardless, cutting this useless player after he took infinite playing time from possible future players is something they should be congratulated for?
Valdy should have been playing for him most of last year to see if he indeed is a major leaguer.
Mr North Jersey
11/7/2012-7:47pm at 7:47 pm (UTC -4)
Here is what we know.
The Mets worked out an agreement to the satisfaction of all sides (Bay the players union and the Mets) where he is no longer a Met a roster spot is freed up and some of the remaining $21M is deferred. How much and for how long remains unknown other than it seems not a lot of the money is deferred and it also doesn’t seem to be over many years like Bonilla.
The Bay era is over fans have been clamoring for this for quite sometime now and it finally happened.
The Mets were unable to find anyone willing to take any of that contract and they are eating $21M.
It is unrealistic to expect the Mets to simply bench Bay for Spin when they were paying him the sum they were. They had to at least try to get some type of return on him and they tried to do so.
I am expecting more details to come out on the particulars surrounding this move and maybe something will come out that this was indeed not good news but there is nothing to suggest that yet other than the fact that they still have to pay him $21M.
kingman 26
11/7/2012-8:06pm at 8:06 pm (UTC -4)
Fair enough Mr. N, and as I said, I am purely speculating here.
But, as the Mets have in the last year or two fired a dozen or so office workers and eliminated a low minor league team, saving even $2-3 million could have been huge for them.
Trs86
11/7/2012-9:04pm at 9:04 pm (UTC -4)
We can only go by what they say and the comments coming out say they wouldn’t have done it unless it gave them more payroll flexibility for 2013.
That being said flexibility can be a tricky word.
SaltyGary
11/7/2012-7:11pm at 7:11 pm (UTC -4)
If it’s spread across something like 5 years I think it is a good thing seeing how hamstrung they are. If it doesn’t expire until 2030 like Bonilla and Saberhagan then it’s way bad news.
Stick
11/7/2012-8:29pm at 8:29 pm (UTC -4)
somehow, I don’t think 1.5 mill/year for the next 17 years (or whatever that ended up being!) is going to prevent the team from moving forward!