The Mets have signed 31-year old LF Jason Bay to a 4-year, $66 million dollar deal. Bay played in 151 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 142 for 531 (.267 avg, .921 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 36 homers, 119 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Bay has now played in 922 games in his major league career and he is 927 for 3,313 (.280 avg, .896 OPS) with 579 runs scored, 185 homers, 610 RBIs and 66 stolen bases. I love this signing for the Mets as Bay will give them a lot of pop in the middle of the batting order and he’s in his prime right now.

The Mets have signed 33-year old righty starter/reliever Kelvim Escobar to a 1-year deal. Escobar only pitched in 1 game (1 start) for the Angels last season and he was 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He has now pitched in 411 games (202 starts) in his major league career and he is 101-91 with 59 saves, a 4.15 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Escobar hasn’t pitched much the last couple of years so the Mets are going to use him in the bullpen to save the wear and tear on his arm. I like this signing for the Mets as Escobar has a nice upside if he can just remain healthy.

The Mets have signed 35-year old righty knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to a minor league deal. Dickey pitched in 35 games (1 start) for the Twins last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. He has now pitched in 144 games (48 starts) in his major league career and he is 22-28 with 2 saves, a 5.43 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. The Mets will be a better team if Dickey spends all year in AAA.

The Mets have signed 30-year old righty reliever Ryota Igarashi to a 2-year, $3 million dollar deal. Igarashi pitched in 56 games last season in Japan last season and he was 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He pitched in 507 games in his career in Japan and he was 47-29 with 54 saves and a 3.25 ERA. He whiffed 630 batters in Japan in only 570 innings showing how nasty his stuff is. He brings his fastball in the mid to high 90’s and he has a splitter that drops right off the table. The Mets hope that Igarashi pitches well enough in spring training to win the set-up job in front of Francisco Rodriguez.

The Mets decided not to tender contracts for the 2010 season to 31-year old righty starter Tim Redding, 30-year old lefty swinging OF Cory Sullivan, 28-year old lefty swinging OF Jeremy Reed or 26-year old righty reliever Lance Broadway making them all free agents. Redding pitched in 30 games (17 starts) for the Mets last season and he was 3-6 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. While he wasn’t awful the Mets are hopeful that they will be able to add someone better than him. Sullivan played in 64 games for the Mets last season and he was 34 for 136 (.250 avg, .720 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 2 homers, 15 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Like Redding, Sullivan wasn’t terrible but he can be replaced. Jeremy Reed was a huge disappointment for the Mets last season as he played in 126 games in which he was 39 for 161 (.242 avg, .605 OPS) with 9 runs scored and 9 RBIs. Lance Broadway pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Mets last year and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. The Mets won’t miss any of these guys and it’s a step in the right direction to jettison them from the roster.