All offseason we heard how brilliant the Red Sox were for reinventing the game of baseball. Instead of scoring runs they were going to do one better: defend and prevent them from scoring. In the modern world of advanced statistical metrics it appears the old philosophies of offense and OBP are replaced by a plus/minus system that tells us Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre are better than Jason Bay and a healthy Mike Lowell. That may be true, but you still get the sense the media can’t let go of the fact that Jason Bay refused to accept the Red Sox contract terms, ala John Lackey, who will have to play at the league minimum if he has an elbow injury during his agreement.

Give Nick Cafardo credit he, unlike some other Boston scribes, knows that not only the Mets exist, but play their spring training games in Port. St. Lucie. He wound up catching up with Bay and finding out that he “probably would have returned to Boston if not for the request by Dr. Thomas Gill to have knee surgery.” Bob Klapisch reports a similar story today in The Record while having a conversation with Bay. Here is my question- so what? Why are we still talking about the reasons Jason Bay left Boston? Wasn’t it clear the Red Sox believe they are better without him because of the defense of Mike Cameron? Isn’t Cameron a healthier option even with the early groin issues? Am I missing something?

Red Sox Nation will accept digs from the Yankees, their long time nemisis, someone they deem worthy of being in the same conversation. They could accept Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens going to the enemy. The Mets? They are the team they handed a World Series to 25 years ago and ruined the lives of a generation of Bostonians. The only acceptable closure is hearing Bay admit it was not his preference to go the Mets, but rather the sticky little details of the contract. Hell is better than Queens.

Obviously comfort is always #2 on any free agents list, behind money of course, but it is conceivable Bay could want to play here. The National League isn’t Beirut you know? I enjoyed the subtle dig by Cafardo who says “Jason Bay looks much different in the blue Mets warm-up jersey with the big No. 44 on his back. And while he has moved on from the Red Sox and is about to shoulder the burden of providing power to an anemic offense.” Well, considering they imported a below league average offensive 3B, a very poor offensive version of Bay in Mike Cameron and the enigmatic Jeremy Hermida, the Sox may have some worries on offense themselves. This was a team that looked sick against The Rays in the 2008 ALCS and didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard late in the season against the Yankees. The Bombers not only won the division, but blew by the Sox with essentially three starting pitchers.

So the word is out: Jason Bay didn’t want to sign with the Mets, but chose them because of an obtuse injury clause that was clearly in management’s favor. In a free country you have the right to not sign an agreement you deem unacceptable. This is true at least until things change in our constitution. If I were the Red Sox Nation I would worry about my own anemic offense and health concerns before you obsess over a player that you claim isn’t as good as the replacements anyway. If not, we may be talking about an anemic offense alright, just not at Citi Field, but in a 617 area code.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Adrian Beltre, Bob Klapisch, Boston Red Sox, Jason Bay, Jeremy Hermida, Mike Cameron, New York Mets, Nick Cafardo