Epstein reportedly offered Bay a four-year, $60 million contract. A second offer, Urbon said, was made recently.
Urbon claimed multiple teams have made offers to Bay. The Mets let it be known Thursday that they offered Bay $63 million over four seasons.
The Angels have said Bay is not in their plans, given their other needs. The Mariners are interested and could have an advantage given that Bay lives in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland and is from nearby Vancouver.
The Giants also have interest in Bay and have indicated a willingness to make a five-year commitment.
“I think a deadline will just occur and it will occur based on how aggressive and how interested the clubs that are in play are in Jason,’’ Urbon said. “Jason’s got an idea of what his value is, where he wants to play.’’
Urbon did not close the door on Bay returning to the Red Sox, but the sides have been working on a deal since spring training and have yet to reach a common ground.
“It hasn’t changed much. We’ve been talking with them for 10 months,’’ Urbon said. “We’ve got to a point where, based on the offers we’ve received from other clubs, we needed to make it clear where we stand, and they’ve made it clear where they stand. If they want, they can reengage at some point in this process, but we’re not going to wait. We can’t wait. We have to go at the pace of the other clubs.’’
Epstein has said that retaining Bay was a priority for the club, but only at the right terms. “It has to make sense for us,’’ Epstein said last week.
Bay, 31, hit .267 last season and led the Sox with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs. He was second on the team with 103 runs and made the All-Star team for the third time. He also was fourth in the American League with 162 strikeouts.
