Report: Mets will not cut Jason Bay

Jason Bay will not meet the same fate as Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez.

According to a New York Post report, the Mets will not release Bay before the 2013 season, a move that would involve the team swallowing $19 million (he's owed $16 million next season and has a $3 million buyout on a 2014 contract option).

Bay is hitting .155 with eight home runs this season heading into Tuesday night and has hit .232 with 26 home runs over the past three seasons.

If they did make the move, there would be some precedent within the organization. The Mets released the under-performing duo of Perez and Castillo—each making a sizable amount of money and in the last season of their contracts—during spring training 2011.

But there is a difference.

Whereas fans had become completely disgruntled with Perez and Castillo, a pair that was perceived to be indifferent to their struggles, there remains some sympathy for Bay, who by all accounts is a hard worker and class act. There's also the matter of the concussion Bay suffered in 2010, the first year of his contract. Some question whether that injury has led to the former All-Star's quick and unexpected decline.