Jason Bay’s new contract features a fifth-year option which, to some Mets fans, is a curious case:
Bay’s Fifth-Year Option Confuses Mets Fans
I’m trying to figure out why Omar Minaya has such a detestable affinity for vesting options these days. Maybe they convince the less attentive that a deal isn’t so bad, while still caving to the player’s demands. “Look, it’s only a four-year deal! We didn’t go to five years like Bay was asking! I’m a terrific negotiator!” Meanwhile, the vesting part of the option is so easily attainable as to make it tantamount to a guaranteed extra year. We don’t yet know what the requirements for the option to vest are, but we can reasonably guess that they will be based on games played or plate appearances, in which case the option year only differs from a guaranteed year if Bay is injured enough to fall short of those (presumably light) requirements.
If the option does require a “games played” milestone, Bay should be all set considering he has averaged 154 games per year since 2005.
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