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Mets Release Jason Bay

In what can be considered a surprise development, the Mets have released Jason Bay, despite Sandy Alderson’s past statements that he will not eat the remaining year on Bay’s contract.

jason bay
We’ve seen the last of the befuddled looks from Jason Bay,

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman broke the news on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, saying the Mets “have parted ways with Jason Bay by mutual agreement.” Sources say Bay will receive his full salary — $18.125 million plus a $3 million buyout for 2014, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Heyman said Bay has agreed to defer some of the money, which will give the Mets a little more flexibility with the payroll, so that is the Mets benefit of doing this.

In a statement to Mets Blog, Alderson said:

“Jason has a tremendous work ethic. There was never any question about it. Unfortunately, the results weren’t there and we are in a results-oriented business.  We thank Jason for his efforts and wish him well.”

Bay said in the statement:

“I still feel I have plenty to give to this game and that I can play baseball at a high level. But after serious consideration, both sides agree that we would benefit from a fresh start I’m grateful we were able to reach an agreement to allow that to happen.  I’m excited to keep playing and have no intention of just walking away.  I enjoyed my time in New York.  I have no regrets in signing with the Mets, other than that I wasn’t able to play to the level that the team, the fans and I all expected and that we weren’t able to win more games. I move on with nothing but an appreciation for the organization and its fans and best wishes to all my teammates there.”

So the Jason Bay era ends in Flushing with these sterling statistics — just 288 games played over three years, 26 home runs, 124 RBIs, a .234 batting average and two concussions, all for $66 million.

This is the right move for the Mets. Bay could not be the starting left fielder, so despite the fact that he is apparently a solid teammate,  Bay’s presence on the bench would be nothing more than a distraction.

So we’ve seen that Alderson is good at jettisoning poor players —  now if he could only acquire a few good ones…


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