The Baywatch is set to begin at Citi Field.

Free agent slugger Jason Bay and the New York Mets have reached a preliminary agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press yesterday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Bay must pass a physical for the deal to be completed. The three-time All-Star is expected to sign a four-year contract for about $65 million.

Bay set career highs with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs last season for Boston. The 31-year-old outfielder is a lifetime .280 hitter and has averaged 30 homers and 99 RBIs in his six full seasons in the majors.

The deal was first reported by WFAN.

SKIING

VONN FINISHES 18TH

Lindsey Vonn finished 18th despite a bruised left arm and Marlies Schild won a World Cup slalom yesterday at Lienz, Austria, for her first victory since breaking a leg more than a year ago.

The Austrian led after the opening run and finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 57.65 seconds. She topped Sandrine Aubert of France by 1.83 seconds and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third.

Vonn, the overall World Cup champion, crashed during the giant slalom Monday and injured her arm. Wearing a brace, Vonn said she felt "a lot of pain" but never considered skipping the race. She finished 4.42 seconds back but kept her lead in the overall standings.

ELSEWHERE

Skiing: Andrej Jerman of Slovenia won the downhill on the Stelvio course at Bormio, Italy, yesterday, and Mario Scheiber of Austria who crossed second was disqualified for irregular ski boots.

Jerman clocked 2 minutes, 0.32 seconds. Didier Defago of Switzerland finished second, 0.53 seconds back.

Scheiber was disqualified because his ski boots were 0.06 inches above the maximum of 1.69.

Golf: John Daly has received a sponsor's exemption to play in next month's Sony Open in Hawai'i.

It will mark Daly's fifth appearance at the tournament at the Waialae Country Club. The event tees off Jan. 14.