To no one's surprise, Jason Bay has decided to see what the 29 other teams in the big leagues have to offer before deciding whether or not he wants to return to the Red Sox. Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that Bay turned down a four-year contract offer worth approximately $60 million just before free agency officially kicks off a minute past midnight on Friday morning. It would have been quite a surprise if Bay had decided to skip the free agency process, something that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein admitted to Heyman.
"It's not a surprise that a player that's gone this far wants to see what's out there."Bay, who hit 36 home runs and posted a 921 OPS in 2009, figures to draw a lot of interest on the open market. The Red Sox offer was decent, but the paucity of other strong bats on the free agent landscape would suggest that he could get either more years or more money once several bidders are in the mix.
Bay's decision should also impact Matt Holliday. The Red Sox may now be in play for his services, which could pit them against the Yankees, Mets, Cardinals and others in a heated battle for the slugger. That kind of talk is music to agent Scott Boras's ears as the more big-money teams get involved with Holliday the more likely it becomes that he'll land a contract that will help put another wing on Boras' house.
It's hard to think that there would be many teams who would prefer Bay to Holliday, which probably means Bay will have to let Holliday talks play out for awhile before finding his home for 2010 and beyond. That makes him a consolation prize, albeit one who can console himself by drying his eyes on many stacks of $100 bills.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
In this economy, your telling me that Jason Bey thinks fifteen million a year is chicken feed. What a joke when we can't pay teachers one one huindredth of what they are worth...and you can see how the public edication has suffered as a direct result thereof.
Maybe we should all tell our kids to grow up to be greedy MLB baseball plays...unfortuneatly there ar eonly som amny MLB jobs out there...what a pity.
I really feel sory for Jason Bey and hope he gets a lot less in free agency...sor tof what happened to Varitek!! Maybe I won't pay for my MLB package this year because I am getting sick of the greed. Take that Bud Selig...you Pig.
With the decline in our student education system, teachers should need to take a paycut aswell. I think teachers should be payed based on performance, if you can't inspire your class to do well then you get paid a minimum salery, if you are a spectacular teacher and inspire your students to do well then you get to negotiate your price. Teachers in this country for the most part treat teaching like its just another job where performance doesnt matter.
Jason Bay however has performed well above what they expected of him and has earned the right to see if he can get more money in a weak free agent market. It may not be a move that you approve of but it is a smart business decision for Jason to do it.. The Red Sox stink anyway
psu74dl, I agree and disagree with some of the things you have written. First of all teachers are underpaid for the job that they already do. It is a tragedy when a head custodian can make more a year than a teacher (90k+). Secondly teachers are not equipped with the necessary materials to teach the class effectively that is why they have began giving parents a list of items that they need to buy for their child at the beginning of the school year (which is so ridiculous). Third, the classrooms are so overcrowded that even if you do have 30 students that are all angels and eager to learn, it is impossible to devote enough time to each one classes need to be no larger than 17 students). A third of the students today are so pumped up full of drugs that they take for various emotional and physical problems that it becomes impossible at times to keep them focused. This is the part that I agree with you on that "Teachers in this country for the most part treat teaching like its just another job where performance doesnt matter". The reason for this is because, the Education Department has recruited people from various professions that are not really teachers. They have instilled programs such as teaching fellows which allows anyone with a BA degree to go and get a Masters in education and teach. Teaching is not a job, it is a calling that requires a very special person to be able to work with individual children and pull out the knowledge that is already in them. You say that Jason Bay has performed well above what was expected of him and I agree has, but what about all the players who has performed well one year and then have a considerable drop off the next should they have to give that money back for not meeting or remaining at the same performance level. Jason Bay is payed handsomely to PLAY A GAME that is for entertainment and has no bearing on life. And you cannot blame teachers entirely on the decline of the education system, this has been a problem for years tha has been inherited and now made magnified by the results in our test scores across the world.
close psu teachers starting salary is NOW 51K and they work about 220 days, however there is more to teaching than the seven hours that they put into the classroom and you didn't mention the 1 hour that the teachers HAVE TO spend either in the morning or afterschool (depending on the school) for enrichment of those students that are at risk and need extra help. Teachers then go home and create lesson plans, make schedules to meet with the principal, grade coordinator, grade and correct papers. Ask any good teacher the amount of time they spend preparing to teach in the classroom and the total hours will go from 7 to about 12 hours a day and that is not at time and a half. I didn't even metnion PTA meetings and parent teacher meetings and having to deal with augumentive parents or wether or not to report suspected child abuse. I really don't see why anyone would want to become a teacher, its probably because they love what they are doing. And by the way I am a die hard Yankee fan since 1982 when they had the great STEVE BALBONI on the team. You guys remember him. lol
HELLOOOOOOOO this is baseball were talking about NOTTTTTTTTTT Teachers!!!!! Stay on topic. Everyone else is regualar jobs are under paid. Cant compare it to sports. GROW UP!
yankee yankee yankee what a joke your team is without question Jason Bay going to NY along with Roy Halladay.You win number 28 way to go next year you get Cliff lee for 29 also.What a joke this league is.MLB sucks without a salary cap the rich will always get richer.ftheyanks
I love it, hate on the Yankees because they have owners that care about winning and your teams owner cares about the number of fancy cars he can fit in his garage. They will never have a salery cap in baseball so why even discuss it. The Rays made it last season to the World Series and had a salery of 68 million. The Rockies are very competitive and they are in the 70s and their are a few other teams that can make it with a lower salery team. The Yankees won it this year but their last win was in 2000. It doesn't matter what you pay it matters that you put a team that can win out there. The Yankees cut their payroll by over 15 million dollars in 2009 from their 2008 level and will cut it again this season knocking it under 200 million. If the Yankees are fortunate enough to win it all next season that would be great but large saleries do not assure you that the players will perform up to their potential and that they will not get injured.
Also I highly doubt that the Yankees want to add a sixth outfielder to their line-up...
Teachers work 180 days a year average income is $58,000 that is $322 a day in a 7 hour day which is $46 an hour sounds pretty fair to me...
Forrest Freedman needs to learn how to spell
The Red Sox do not stink, their record stands for itself. I think Bay is going to find out he's made a big mistake because I dont see him getting $15 million per anywhere else. He isnt worth that much. But then again neither is Matt Holiday. I bet someone overpays him, just hope it's not Boston.
If I was the Yankees I'd concentrate on starting pitching first as they will be ok even if they dont pick up a big bat. CC is the only one they really can count on. AJ is too inconsistent and no telling how much longer Andy P is going to last. Even so they could still win with what they do have.
The Sox need a bat or two and one starting pitcher as well.
A salary cap would totally ruin the game as the cheap owners still are not going to pay, and why should the rich owners keep the money to themselves? If they make it they should spend it as they see fit. Better to have some great teams like NY and Boston then teams like the Pirates and Royals.
Besides look a team like the Mets. They have a high payroll but they suck, while a team like the Twins continue to have success so management has a lot to do with it also.
You dont see Walmart having to pay Kmart a "fee" because they outperform them in sales.....baseball is a business and shouldnt be any different then the rest of the real world.
Jason Bay learned just how fast your future can change when he left Pittsburgh for Boston. Last year's stats are skewwd though. When the team played well, so did Bay with plenty of protection and RBI oportunities. But when late July and August rolled around, Bay's performance swooned along with the team. Even in the playoff run and the short series against the Angels, Bay played well...but did not carry the team like a superstar should. Perhaps that's why the fifteen million/year deal isn't that bad. Bay plays well in a small left field like Fenway Park, but the Sox only play half their games there. Jason...If you want a Manny type salary...deliver a Manny type (I'll carry the team myself) performance. allstateslegalhelp.com
PSU74dl.......do us all a favor and shut up. Your comments are not worth putting on here. When they name the bridge after Jeter, pull over and jump. I'm still waiting for your comment about The Gators....as we know your Nittany Lions aren't worth crap.
I love it you can't argue your point and can't deal with facts so you try to slam one of the most respected programs in the country when it comes to putting education first.
Really Stupid Behavior but I guess you couldn't expect more from a GAYtor fan.
The difference between myself who is proud to have played for the great Nittany Lions and Joe Paterno. And most any Florida player is that I was fortunate enough to go to Penn State and Florida's players usually end up in the State Pen.
is that good enough for you rook...
It's not Selig's fault for the high price babies in the game. Lets start where it all began. Steinbrenner and the CR-Yankees buying players and pennants. Jason Bay isn't worth what the Boston had to offer, come on a .260 hitter getting 15 million a yr Bay is over rated he only became valable because he came to Boston after they dumped the baby Manny. If Bay was that good he should have hit over .320 in Boston. He will be a nobody in about 3-5 yrs. Good luck to all those Baseball and other sports babies. It's always PRICELSS to see the greedy athletes go poor.
Hey Mark,
I agree with you that Bay may not get 15 mill any place else. Even Carlos Boozer was smart enough not to opt out of his contract because he knew that no other team was going to pay him the ammount of money he was looking for. Now if this was a couple of years ago Bay would easily get 15 mill plus. Although I am die hard Yank, if the sox starting rotation comes back healthy next year they will win no less than 95 games. Just look at that line up with Buck, Lester, Becket, Dice K and Wakefield. Any one of those pitchers have the potential of winning 20 games. I think the Sox achilles heal will be their catching and if they can't get Bay back in the fold. As for the Yankees, Burnett means that Jorge will not be in the field; Wang may be done, Pettite has found a nasty pitch that has rejuvenated him. I think we definately need one more ace type of pitcher to go along with CC. I for one would like to see the yankees pick up some more speed so their hitters wont be so vulnerable to off speed pitchers wich they proved that they can not hit
Remember Latrell couldn't feed his family on what was it something like 8 or 10 million dollars and now look where he is at
Remember Latrell, thought that he couldn't feed his family off of what was it 8 or 10 million dollars. Where is he now?
Bay's not worth $10 mil a year, let alone more than $15 mil a year. He fell on his face after the All-Star break and strikes out a ton. I'm not thrilled with Holliday either. And I wouldn't ask Boras for a drink of water in the desert. Theo should have learned his lesson with Boras by now.
The fact is that Boston thought that Bay was worth $15 million. So maybe Theo isn't exactly that smart afterall.
This is a weak free agent market and that makes all of the players worth more money if you have some decent numbers. I think bay will land 8 years $136 million somewhere probly in Chicago or Washington DC. He will get it because they both need someone and they have the money to do it. And there are no other players of his talent level out there
hey psu when do your yanks get Halladay.can't wait to comment.ftheyanks
I think the Yankees are not going to go after too much this year in free agency. Halladay is a good pitcher but Toronto wants too much for him. Also the Yankees will more than likely secure their rotation with re-signing Pettite and with Wang coming back healthy next season they have their 4-man and also Gaudin would make it a 5-man if they so choose. The Yankees will be chopping atleast another $15 million off of their payroll this season. Damon will have to take a paycut and Matsui is not going to get another contract from the Yanks and also Molina will be gone with Cervelli as the next catcher in waiting ready to back up Posada. Right now the Yankees are in a great position and just need to trim a little bit of the fat and #28 will be in their hands next season.