Tribune blog buddy and Rays beat writer Marc Lancaster has been following developments all day on the trade front between the Rays and Pittsburgh over outfielder Jason Bay.

The talks seem serious and Bay would fill a role most people believe the Rays need for a right-handed power bat in the middle of the lineup.

Well, maybe he fills it.

The thing that jumps out at me, besides Bay’s 22 home runs to this point, is his .377 on base percentage. Interestingly, though, for someone who is supposed to provide that right-handed protection the Rays need against left-handed pitchers, here’s a sobering stat: he is hitting only .193 against lefties (vs. .308 against righties). His OBP jumps 52 points against righties, too. Two of his homers have been against lefties; 20 have come against righties.

Hummm.....

Without being on the other end of the cell phone from Andrew Friedman during these talks, it’s difficult to say exactly what Bay would cost. The righty/lefty breakdown is a concern, for sure.

Here’s his contract info, courtesy of the Cot’s Baseball Contracts web site:

4 years/$18.25M (2006-09)

* signed extension 11/05
* $1M signing bonus
* 06:$0.75M, 07:$3.25M, 08:$5.75M, 09:$7.5M
* 1 year/$0.355M (2005), renewed 3/05
* 1 year/$0.305M (2004)
* drafted 2000 (22-645)
* agent: Joe Urbon, Octagon Baseball
* ML service: 4.080