What do you expect from Jason Bay in 2012?

In his continuing series looking at player performances from 2011, Joe Janish writes the following in his review of Jason Bay:

[jbox color="blue"]Is Jason Bay finished? His swift and drastic slide to mediocrity just after turning 30 is eerily similar to other sluggers of the past, such as Robin Ventura, Bobby Higginson, Jacque Jones, Von Hayes, Dale Murphy, Shawn Green, and Andruw Jones (to name a few). … In 2012 I’m going to keep my expectations low for Jason Bay, but at the same time I’ll be pulling for him — hard — with every at-bat he takes. As a streak hitter, he has a shot at finding his stroke and getting hot just long enough to become a trading chip at the deadline — much like the Burnitz turnaround of 2003.”[/jbox]

Janish predicts that Bay will start slowly, get hot in June and eventually be traded at the deadline for “marginal, A-ball prospects.”

To read Janish’s entire review of Bay for Mets Today, click here.

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Michael Baron: I want to believe in Bay, and I want to believe he finally made an adjustment in September and can now be a valuable part of this lineup. For the first time since he joined the Mets, he had quick hands through the zone and appeared to attack pitches middle-in, which allowed him to pull balls down the line with consistency and authority. The question is: Was this a renaissance of sorts or an aberration?

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Matthew Cerrone: I’m like Janish, I’m keeping my expectations very low for Bay this season. For what it’s worth, he did hit left-handed pitching rather well last year. Also, much like with Wright, because it is so difficult for right-handed hitters to go the other way with authority in Citi Field, pitchers pitched them away to kill any threat of pulling the ball. So, Bay and Wright very much became one-dimensional hitters forced to stand away from the plate, speed up their swings and try to pull everything. Hopefully, this changes with the new outfield dimensions in 2012.

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