Finally, everything’s finished. I can finally start relaxing thanks to the end of the
Christmas holidays! The family has gone home. The cooking and baking is done.
The shopping is over (including all the boxing-week shopping I plan on doing). The
house is quiet The decorations are put away.

Today also marks the end of a weekend without Internet access. It was a terribly
boring weekend without the pleasures of Twitter, MLBlogs, and the like. However, I
still had my BlackBerry (thankfully) to keep me remotely sane … Seems Windows 7
isn’t infallible after all. Drat. Hopefully I can find the time this week to catch up on
what I missed with all of you around here.

Lastly, if the rumors from MLB Trade
Rumors are accurate, today also marks the end of the Jason Bay fiasco:

1:13pm: WFAN’s Mike Francesa says the Mets will announce a Jason Bay
signing early next week, if his physical checks out.

1:20pm: SI’s Jon Heyman confirms that the Mets have an agreement with
Bay. MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone expects a four-year deal for about $66MM. If
that’s accurate, Bay left Boston for an additional $6MM. As compensation, the Red
Sox will receive the Mets’ second-round pick (currently #50) as well as a
supplemental pick.

1:42pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that Bay has a four-year,
$66MM agreement with an easy fifth-year vesting option. The 2014 vesting option
appears to be worth more than $14MM, as ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Bay’s
deal could be worth “slightly more than $80MM over five years.” Sherman cautions
that Bay’s physical “might not be a formality.”

Finally, the charade is over, and the rumors of Boston reuniting with Bay can finally
cease and desist. Not that I wouldn’t have loved to see Bay in LF in 2010,
even if it meant the potential of Buchholz and Ellsbury going to San Diego, but at
least we can move on and try to focus on other, more important things. Time to go
find a corner infielder. With Mark DeRosa going to San Francisco, and
Nick Johnson joining the Yankees, we’re running out of options.

Not that it’s a big deal. We could put Kotchman at First or keep Lowell at Third and
still survive.

…

Okay, so the sarcasm didn’t come through. We might be able to survive. We
just lost our biggest RBI man and slugger. That’s a big blow. Thankfully, he went to
the NL, but still, it is a big blow. I can’t help but wonder if Epstein offered a vesting
option of his own for a 5th year, or if the 4 years / $60MM was as far as he was
willing to go. If it was, perhaps an optional year and $6MM (plus a couple million for
the luxury tax) was the only thing keeping Bay away from us. A pity, really.

Furthermore, we only get a second round draft pick from the Mets (50th overall), as
their first-round draft pick is protected, thanks to their poor performance last year.
So, we lose our best slugger, AND we don’t even get our first round pick for it.

Good luck in New York, Jason. I wish you all the best. I may have spoken ill of you in
the past, but I see now that you just wanted that last year you felt you deserved.
Oftentimes the needs of a business don’t agree with the needs of the individual, and
I am deeply sorrowed that it didn’t work out for you. I always saw you as the man that
changed Boston’s view on great Canadian baseball players. After Eric Gagne’s
failure, I felt it was going to be hard for you to win over the Fenway faithful, but you
were a fan favorite immediately, while filling the biggest shoes possible, and even
when you were slumping in 2009, everyone loved you. I guess strike outs don’t
matter when you knock in over 100 runs and blast over 30 HR. Let me be the first to
say that we’ll all miss #44 in front of the monster, quite dearly. Thanks for all the
great memories! No hard feelings?

P.S. Can I get a farewell hug? Maybe a little peck on the cheek before you move
your life to Manhattan? No? Oh well … I guess dreams really don’t come true, after
all. Then again, mayeb Epstein will do with Bay what Cashman did with Teixeira did
last year. Now THAT would be a dream come true!