The Bay Watch is over.
Jason Bay has agreed to a four-year contract worth about $66 million with the Mets, pending the results of a physical exam, a baseball source confirmed to the Daily News.
Bay will be introduced at a press conference next week, providing there are no danger spots in the physicals. The news of Bay's agreement was first reported by WFAN Tuesday afternoon.
The deal includes a vesting option for a fifth year.
The 31-year-old Bay would play left field for the Mets and offers the kind of power bat they desperately need for the middle of their lineup. Last season with the Red Sox, Bay had a career-best 36 homers and 119 RBI. He has knocked in 101 or more runs and hit 30-plus home runs in four of the last five seasons and won the 2004 NL Rookie of the Year award with the Pirates.
In studies of Bay's swing, the Mets determined that he was more likely to thrive at Citi Field than Matt Holliday, this free agent class' other slugger.
This will be Bay's second go-round in the Mets' organization. He was in their farm system from March 24-July 31, 2002, acquired from the Expos but then dealt to the Padres as part of a swap for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed.
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Free agent outfielder Jason Bay agrees to four-year deal with New York Mets