Yesterday manager Terry Collins revealed that Jason Bay will no longer be an everyday player for the Mets, which led reporters to ask general manager Sandy Alderson if the team was considering simply eating the remainder of his contract while parting ways.
Alderson shot that down, telling Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York:
This is the third season of a four-year, $66 million deal, so the Mets owe Bay about $5 million for the rest of this season, $16 million next season, and $17 million or a $3 million buyout for 2014. In other words, releasing Bay right now would involve eating $24 million, which is why the Mets will hope that he can provide some sort of value as a part-time player first.
Bay joined the Mets in 2010 as a 31-year-old with a career .280 batting average and .896 OPS, but since then he’s hit just .238 with a .695 OPS in 259 games, including .157 this year.
