Jason Bay is a good player.

"Here the New York Mets go again, throwing money at a big-name free agent whom they misguidedly convince themselves will solve their troubles."

???

I'm rooting against the Mets and take some delight in their misery.

But their biggest problems in 2009 were (a) the Phillies and (b) injuries.

Jason Bay doesn't solve their problems if Santana, Reyes, and Beltran are injured -- nobody said he did.

I don't think anybody expects 36/119 with the bigger home ballpark and the inferior lineup. But he's a good player and good players are a key ingredient of good baseball teams.


"All of this highlights an endemic problem with the Mets that they try to cover with their payrolls, which provided among the highest cost per win in baseball this past decade: Their player-development system is a mess, and not the kind of mess a toddler makes at dinner. It is whole-cafeteria-food-fight bad, and in that respect, the coupling of Minaya and the Mets seems perfectly matrimonious."

That's probably true. But Bay is a second-tier player who just signed for third-tier prices -- I fail to see how this signing severely strains the Mets' finances.


"Together, they have spent hundreds of millions to go backward. There was the ill-fated Pedro Martinez deal. And the on-deathbed-ill-fated contract for Oliver Perez. They blew money ($25 million on Luis Castillo). They lavished it ($37 million in a closer-loaded market for Francisco Rodriguez, with an easily attainable $17.5 million option). They spent themselves out of all the good will engendered by the tremendously club-friendly contracts for David Wright and Jose Reyes."

Pedro? Bad deal because he was too old.

Oliver Perez? Very bad deal because he's bad.

Luis Castillo, K-Rod, Wright, and Reyes are all good players.


"Wright and Reyes represent the only worthwhile thing the Mets can call their own. Since 1985, the Mets have signed and developed five players who later wore their uniforms in an All-Star game. Five. Wright, Reyes, Todd Hundley, Edgardo Alfonzo and Bobby Jones. Even Kansas City can say it has passed eight homegrown All-Stars through its system."

Which is why you sign Jason Bay rather than waiting for Lastings Millege.


"Still, it speaks to the team’s recognition that baseball trades in a new currency – youth – and that the Mets always arrive late to the party of the latest trend."

I don't really think baseball trades in a new currency called youth.

But, even if it did, Bay is relatively young and relatively cheap.

It's not like the two-year Julio Franco deal.

The Mets will be fine. They just need to swap DLs with Philly.