Radio silence from Jason Bay and Bengie Molina continued for the Mets over the weekend, leading some within the club to wonder if either player is truly interested in coming to Queens.
The Mets remained at a negotiating standstill with Bay and Molina after offering both free agents contracts on the final day of the Winter Meetings almost two weeks ago.
Mets GM Omar Minaya has indicated a willingness to wait on both players, telling The Post late last week, “It is a long offseason.”
But a team source said yesterday that Minaya might soon consider other options in left field and at catcher if Bay and Molina continue to leave the Mets dangling despite appearing to have no serious offers anywhere close to what Minaya has tendered.
The holdup in both cases continues to be an extra year — the 31-year-old Bay wants a fifth year added to the Mets’ four-year, roughly $65 million offer, while the 35-year-old Molina wants a guaranteed third year tacked on to Minaya’s two-year, roughly $12 million proposal.
While Minaya hasn’t ruled out adding a year to each offer, the Mets refuse to budge for the moment because they are increasingly convinced they are all but bidding against themselves for both players.
Unfortunately for the Mets, their options in left field aren’t all that promising beyond Bay.
Matt Holliday is considered too expensive by the Mets in light of his roughly $100 million offer from the Cardinals. Meanwhile, sentiment within the organization is not strong to pursue free agent Johnny Damon, because the Mets are looking to add power and they wonder if Damon’s 24 home runs last season were largely a product of new Yankee Stadium’s bandbox dimensions.
If Bay goes elsewhere, the Mets might look instead to the trade market or the list of non-tendered players, with former Red Jonny Gomes (20 HRs in 98 games last year) a possibility.