Met Jason Bay Making Larchmont Home

When Jason Bay signed his four-year, $66 million deal with the New York Mets this winter, many expected the All-Star outfielder to move his family from Boston to Connecticut.

But when he announced that he was going to be calling Larchmont home, Mets fans in the area (as well as some real estate brokers!) did a little cheer.

Said one local agent: "To have someone like him come into our community only enhances the value and desire to be here."

Bay and his wife, Kristen, have two daughters, 3-year-old Addison and 18-month-old Evelyn, and the ballplayer thought New York would be a great place to raise them.

"I chose the Mets for a lot of reasons, and of course my family was a big part of this decision," Bay said. "New York is a great place with great people and so much to do, and we are looking forward to living here and being a part of it."

Bay joins a growing list of celebrities who call Larchmont home. Director Ang Lee purchased a home here a few years ago, Kevin and Matt Dillon still have homes in their names (and are seen locally every once in a while) and Rescue Me's Jim McCaffrey lives right off of Weaver Street.

Bay comes to the Mets after All-Star seasons with both Boston and Pittsburgh and brings some nice power to a lineup that was seriously lacking in homeruns last season. The leftfielder has hit at least 30 home runs in four of his last five seasons, including 36 with the Red Sox in 2009.

Ironically, Bay could have been a Met his entire career. He was traded from Montreal to the Mets organization as a minor leaguer back in 2002, and played 69 games for their Class A St. Lucie team, before being traded to San Diego. It was Mets GM Omar Minaya (then with he Expos) who initially traded Bay to the Mets the first time.

"When we were discussing going to the Mets, my agent was like, 'Omar said he wants to talk to you because he doesn't know if you remember, but he was the one who traded you the first time," Bay laughed. "I think he felt bad about it, but there were no hard feelings as it ultimately got me in a better spot."

Bay signed with Mets for a variety of reasons and was thrilled that they made such a strong push to bring him in.

"Their want for me was a big factor," he said. "You don't want to fall into a situation where someone will just take you. You want to go somewhere where you're wanted for a number of reasons. They were No. 1 in that."

Looking ahead to the start of the season, Bay is excited about the team and the Mets chances to win.

"I wouldn't have signed the contract if I didn't want to be here or I wasn't happy," he said. "We have a great group of hitters, arguably the best pitcher in baseball so what's not to like?"

Some may point out that in its first season as home to the Mets, Citi Field wasn't too kind to power hitters. Bay said he wasn't worried about the ballpark.

"I'm going to do everything I can to help this team win," Bay said. "I think we're going to surprise a lot of people."