We all know about the Manny Ramirez saga, probably too much. Well today at the trading deadline Boston general manager Theo Epstein and owners John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino all apparently have said enough is enough and traded the disgruntled slugger to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three way deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the deal, the Red Sox have acquired left fielder Jason Bay from the Pirates as part of the six-players and cash deal.
While Bay has toiled in Pittsburgh, many Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general really don’t know much about the man so we’re taking an opportunity to introduce you to the newest Bay in the City of Boston.
Bay, who won’t turn 30 until September 20th, was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 22nd round of the June 2000 MLB Draft after playing two years at Gonzaga University. A native Canadian, he never made the big leagues with Montreal playing two seasons of Single A ball in their system before being traded to the New York Mets during spring training 2002.
He played half of the season in the Mets system at both Single A Port St. Lucie and Double A Binghampton but was part of a trade deadline deal to the San Diego Padres that brough the Mets Steve Reed in return on July 31, 2002. He finished the 2002 season with the Padres Double A team the Mobile Bay Bears.
In 2003 he was promoted to Triple A Portland Beavers and was called up for his first taste of the big leagues on May 23, 2003. He played 3 big league games in his time with San Diego before he was sent back to Triple A Portland. He was hitting .303 with 20 HR and 59 RBI when he was once again sent packing, this time in a waiver wire deal to the Pittsburgh Pirates that brought San Diego outfielder Brian Giles.
He reported directly to Pittsburgh where he finished the season playing 27 games while hitting .291 with 3 HR and 12 but it was here Bay showed a knack for getting on base and hitting for power as he had a .423 OBP and a .506 SLG.
In 2004 Bay excelled in Pittsburgh as the Pirates everyday left fielder and was named the 2004 National League Rookie of the year beating out former fellow Padre farmhands Khalil Greene and Akinori Otsuka. Bay hit .282 with 26 HR and 82 RBI while garnering 25 of the 32 first place votes in winning the award
In 2005 Bay became noted as one of baseball’s premier younger players. Playing in all 162 games for the Bucs he hit .306 with 32 HR and 101 RBI accumulating a .402 OBP and .559 SLG and was named to the National League All-Star team but did not play in the game.
Bay followed that up in 2006 with a .286 BA 35 HR and 109 RBI while having a .396 OBP and .532 SLG. He was once again a National League All-Star, this time he was voted a starting outfielder by the fans.
Last season in Pittsburgh his production dipped and their were rumors that the Pirates were looking to trade Bay during the off season. He hit just .247 with 21 HR and 84 RBI he saw his OBP dip to a career low .327 and his SLG dropped to just .418.
This season Bay has turned it around and looks like the Jason Bay of his first 3 full seasons bringing his batting average up to .281 he has 22 HR and 64 RBI in 106 games with his OBP at .375 and a .519 SLG.
It is expected in a re-worked Boston line up Bay could hit anywhere between third and seventh but I would expect him to be in either the 3-4 or 5 spot for his new team.
Bay is also an above average outfielder and while it may take him a bit of time to learn left field in Fenway Park (expect Red Sox special advisor Jim Rice to work with him) he will provide a much better left field defense on the road, something Ramirez couldn’t do. In Bay’s 5th major league season he has 1162 chances with 34 outfield assists and just 18 errors and carries a .985 career fielding percentage.
In Bill James similarity scores he compares favorably to players like Hall of Famers Hack Wilson and Monte Irvin as well as current players Grady Sizemore, Jim Edmonds, new teammate JD Drew, Hideki Matsui and Justin Morneau.
Undoubtedly Bay has some rather large shoes to fill in replacing a sure fire first ballot Hall of Fame player. But there is a tremendous amount of upside in this young outfielder. Financially they control him through the 2009 season on a four year $18.25 million deal he signed prior to the 2006 season. Offensively Bay projects out as a near .300 hitter who will hit 30 HR with 100+ RBI while carrying an OBP around .375 and a .500 SLG.
Bay is expected to be playing left field Friday night for his new team at Fenway Park when the Red Sox face the Oakland A’s at 7p.
I’m glad to see that at least they got a good young player for Ramirez. For anyone to think that Jason Bay will be Manny Ramirez is foolish but with the talented hitters the Red Sox have this deal gives them a flexibility batting order wise as now they have several players who can hit anywhere from 3 to 7.
I’d like to see Bay in front of Ortiz. That way teams have to go after Bay and I think it will help him seeing more fastballs.
1. Pedroia, 2b
2. Youkilis, 1b
3. Bay,lf
4. Ortiz, dh
5. Lowell, 3b
6. Drew, rf
7. Lowrie, ss
8. Varitek, c
9. Ellsbury, cf
or
1. Ellsbury, cf
2. Pedroia, 2b
3. Bay, lf
4. Ortiz, dh
5. Lowell, 3b
6. Drew, rf
7. Youkilis, 1b
8. Varitek, c
9. Lowrie, ss
Let’s hope that this Canadian is better than the one we got last year.
lets not bring that up…..i just hope the team wakes up and starts wining some games because this could turn into a nightmare of a season if they don’t …
I think #7 is too low to have Youkilis hitting. I like the first option better.
aaron you could flop Youkilis and Drew I just put him there to go R/L/R/L/R.
Question….when they said a 7 million dollar buyout, is that a 7 million dollar check to Manny or to the Dodgers?
Manny is still owed about $7 million dollars this year so the Red Sox will pay Manny’s salary the rest of the season by giving the Dodgers the money.
Sean McAdam said tonight on Comcast that Ortiz willstay in the three hole, Lowell will most likely hit 4th and Bay 5th. So tomorrows line up looks like this (potentially)
1. Pedroia, 2b
2. Youkilis, 1b
3. Ortiz, dh
4. Lowell, 3b
5. Bay, lf
6. Drew, rf
7. Lowrie, ss
8. Ellsbury, cf
9. Cash, c
Ive seen somewhere and now I cant find it where someone in the media said Bay’s agent is Scott Boras. It is not. Bay’s agent is Joe Urbon. This is good because the Sox could possibly negotiate an extension for Bay beyond 2009 and he wouldn’t see free agency.
From Amalie Benjamin:
Got off the phone with Jason Bay not long ago.
He said he is getting on a plane tomorrow morning, and expects to be in Boston for tomorrow night’s game. When asked if he’d been told where he might be batting in the lineup, he said, “Anywhere in that lineup is going to be pretty good. You guys [the media] are going to find out tomorrow same time I am.”
And you should feel bad for his poor agent, Joe Urbon, who spent all day today flying from Boston to Seattle only to turn around tonight and hop on a redeye back to Boston. That’s a lot of time in the air.
As for a long-term extension, I think they definitely will be waiting on that to see what he can do first. I’m sure they will go after Teixeira in free agency.
McAdam said Boras was Bay’s agent but its Urbon. as for Teixeira where would he play?? He is a 1B/DH. Last I looked those slots are tied up.
I think Bay is going to be just fine in Boston. It’s a much better hitter’s Park than PNC is and he has that sweet right handed stroke much like Mike Lowell’s.
I read a scenario somewhere where Youk would move to third, Teixeira plays first and the Red Sox trade Lowell.
I can’t wait to see the bidding for Bay in my AL-only auction fantasy league. The guy who had Manny on his team is now having a fire sale despite being in third place.
Above average outfielder? I can’t remember the link but I had heard he was better than manny (duh) but only average or slightly lower.
“It’s a much better hitter’s Park than PNC is and he has that sweet right handed stroke much like Mike Lowell’s.”
I love lowell, but he has an ugly swing. Manny was known for his gorgeous swing. I’m going to miss it.
Love him or hate him, we are going to miss that swing and the 5 minute watch of a home run before it falls in for a double.