Jason Bay’s injury-laden Mets career took another downward swing on Tuesday, when he was placed on the 15-day DL with a nondisplaced fracture in a rib on his left side. This news courtesy of the MLB Twitter account.
Bay has been extremely disappointing since signing a four year, $66 million contract prior to the 2010 season. Bay played in just 95 games in 2010, and had a .749 OPS and a career low six homers. He rebounded in 2011 to play in 123 games, but only had a .703 OPS on the season. This year, he’s played in 15 games for New York, OPSing .776 and homering three times.
The career of Jason Bay in New York has been an unmitigated disaster, as he’s accumulated less than three wins total in two plus years with the Mets. He’ll likely be replaced in left field by a combination of Mike Baxter and Scott Hairston, both of whom have received minor pinch hitting duty this year. The Mets are already without Opening Day center fielder Andres Torres, and with the strong play of Kirk Niewenhuis, who is starting for Torres in center, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to get his starting job back. Adding Bay to the injured list won’t help the Mets recoup any of his salary, but it will at least let them get a look at another youngster in Baxter, largely a career minor leaguer who had an .899 OPS for AAA Tucson (Padres) in 2010.
