SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – In mid-July, John Bay was working out, done with school and undrafted, pondering what might be his next step in the baseball world. Just over three months later, he was playing in the Arizona Fall League.
“My head was kind of, ‘Just stay positive, take each day as it is,’ and if it was Draft League, independent ball, I was OK with going that route,” Bay said about that point of limbo. “I’m just very grateful this opportunity showed up.”
He wasn’t sure the opportunity -- courtesy of a nondrafted free-agent offer from the Mets -- would ever come. Not after he transferred from Oklahoma State for a chance to play regularly, nor after a pair of outstanding seasons at Austin Peay with a solid Cape Cod League campaign sandwiched in between went relatively unnoticed.
More on the Arizona Fall League:
Bay was a three-sport standout at his Oklahoma high school and he went a few hours east to focus on baseball. He redshirted his freshman year before leading Major League Baseball’s Appalachian League with 10 homers. But he played sparingly in 2022 for the Cowboys, and when assistant coach Roland Fanning headed to Austin Peay University, Bay went with him.
His 2023 season was derailed by a hamate injury, but a fully healthy Bay erupted for 24 homers and a 1.288 OPS in 2024 and he slugged .507 over 23 games in the Cape Cod League. Maybe it was because he turned 23 and didn’t have any real track record before the breakout, maybe it was because he was only hitting sixth in the Austin Peay lineup and playing in a hitting haven. But 20 rounds of the Draft came and went, as did the time post-Draft when offers are extended to nondrafted players, and the phone never rang.
“Oh yeah, I was definitely anticipating it, and when it didn't happen, it's like, 'Put your head down, get back to work, got another year, so let's make the most of it,'” Bay said.
“I probably was a little shocked,” Mets area scout Kevin Whiteside said about Bay not getting any offers in 2024. “Maybe people wanted to see him do it in back-to-back years, making sure he wasn’t a one-hit wonder. Credit to the kid, he came back and maybe even had a better year.”
More from MLB Pipeline:
• Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage
At least it was equivalent, with Bay finishing at .360/.507/.769 with 22 homers and 12 steals. But he also turned 24 in May and again, the phone didn’t ring. He had all options on the table, from the more mainstream indy ball teams to the Savannah Bananas. Fanning, who coached Bay for five years between the two schools, did everything within his power to get him an opportunity to keep playing.
“I was Jerry Maguire-ing it, calling everybody,” Fanning said. “Everywhere he’s been, he's won. He was the best offensive player in ASUN the last two years. We dominated and he was in the middle of it. There are probably a lot of scouts who were getting tired of my emails and text messages. But I was getting sick that no one would give him an opportunity.”
Finally, after the 2025 Draft was over, someone did in the form of the New York Mets and Whiteside, who had seen plenty of Bay’s exploits first-hand. He called Fanning and said he wanted to talk to Bay. A three-way call came together in a hurry. Bay’s reenactment:
“I was in the middle of a workout, I get a phone call from Roland Fanning, I just think he's checking up on me and I hear this other voice on the line. It's Kevin,” Bay recalled.
“'Kevin, what up?’
‘Hey John, what's going on?’
‘You know we have this opportunity if you would like it.’
‘Absolutely, where do I need to go? Sign me up.'”
“Once the Draft was over, you can catch your breath a little bit,” said Whiteside. “You assess needs that can be addressed after the Draft. He was a guy we thought could come in and help us.
“I could feel the emotion on the other end of the phone. He just wanted the opportunity. I could scout another 20 years and I’ll never forget that one.”
Bay hit well at his first stop with Single-A St. Lucie, getting bumped up to High-A Brooklyn after posting a 1.056 OPS over 17 games. The South Atlantic League was a stiffer challenge for the athletic outfielder and he went 3-for-29 to finish out the regular season. Then he went 4-for-15 as the Cyclones won the league title.
“That was awesome,” Bay said. “It was a great time with those guys and glad to go out on top with them.”
Little did he know he wasn’t done. When D’Andre Smith was removed from the Scottsdale roster, they asked Bay if he would get some more reps in. He gets points for consistency, providing the same response he gave Whiteside just a few months prior.
“I was like, 'Absolutely, sign me up, where do I need to go?' So we're here,” said Bay, who got in his first fall game on Tuesday. “I just want to soak it up, get some good experience out here. It's a great environment, great league. I already love just getting to the everyday grind of it and just seeing everybody go to work and picking people's brains, coaches' brains, learning something new every day.
“I can't thank Kevin and the Mets organization enough for giving me the opportunity.”