After the Toronto Blue Jays resigned Jose Bautista, the field for viable options to find a new home for New York Mets Jay Bruce got a bit tougher.
Bruce, who was traded to the Mets last July in a deal that sent top prospect Dilson Herrera to the Cincinnati Reds, never materialized into anything down the stretch for New York as he batted just .219, with eight home runs and 19 RBI’s in 50 games. Prior to the trade and possibly the reason why the Mets made the deal was because Bruce was batting .265, with 25 home runs and 80 RBI’s as of July 30th. But the outfielder’s jump to Queens wasn’t as advertised.
But now the Mets are faced with many decisions for the 2017 season and one is who will take Bruce along with the remaining $13 million he is owed for 2017.
MLBTradeRumors.com reported on Tuesday that the Mets were not willing to adsorb any of Bruce’s 2017 salary which puts a damper on any idea that he could be moved.
The Mets are already stacked in the outfield, especially after resigning Yoenis Cespedes to a 4-year deal. In the fold they also have Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Nimmo and a healthy Juan Lagares. Not to mention they will be looking to workout T.J. Rivera in the outfield to give them more options.
The only opportunity to get Bruce on the field if he isn’t dealt, is if the Mets move forward with their plans to workout Conforto at first, but even that doesn’t sound like a good idea. That is what they have Wilmer Flores and Lucas Duda, who both can platoon at first.
The Mets have to make a deal for Bruce, it isn’t an option to keep him especially with the notion of what message are they sending to the fan base, who were not impressed with the move in the first place. Who knows, Bruce may turn it around and have a monster 2017 season, but without an open position for him, it doesn’t make any sense to tool around with the idea. One other idea may be that having him around may fuel a fire in the younger ball players to not get too comfortable, but if they have a great spring, someone will have to sit it out or get sent down to make room for Bruce.
The Mets made a bad choice in trading the future for him in the first place, so now they need to just bite the bullet and eat part of the contract to lure in viable suitors. At this point its being reported that only the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants would be looking to work with the Mets, so as a fan I say, if there is an open door, then make it happen.
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
