Can Jay Bruce help drive Mets back to postseason?
The Mets made a splash before the trade deadline once again.
In an attempt to boost an offense that has scored the thirdfewest runs in baseball, the Mets acquired right fielder Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds.
Bruce has a $13 million team option for 2017 with a $1 million buyout, and this marks two consecutive summers when Mets general manager Sandy Alderson acquired a slugger on the final day of the non-waiver trade deadline. The Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes on July 31, 2015.
Cincinnati received second baseman Dilson Herrera and lefty prospect Max Wotell. The deal had originally been slated to include former first-rounder Brandon Nimmo, but the teams reworked the deal after medical concerns over a Mets prospect.
The Mets also reacquired lefty Jon Niese from Pittsburgh in exchange for Antonio Bastardo.
The Mets’ offense has been at the heart of the team’s inconsistencies this season, and in adding Bruce the Mets are fortifying their offense with one of baseball’s most productive players this season. Bruce, 29, has hit 25 homers and leads the NL with 80 RBI, and has a career-high .875 onbase-plus-slugging percentage.
This marks the second consecutive year that the Mets and Reds discussed a trade for Bruce, with talks falling apart last year when the Reds’ demands were more than the Mets were comfortable with parting for the outfielder. The Reds wanted a deal based around injured starter Zack Wheeler and, in a move that ultimately transformed the season, the Mets instead made a deal with the Detroit Tigers for Cespedes.
While Bruce should help lift the Mets’ offense, he is not an ideal fit as he gives the team an excess of left-handed hitting outfielders, and leaves them with four starters for three spots. The Mets also have Cespedes, veteran Curtis Granderson and struggling but promising second-year player Michael Conforto.
Bruce figures to play right field, where he has played for almost his entire big-league career. That would force Granderson out of his starting spot.
With Cespedes manning left field, that leaves Conforto and Granderson to platoon in center, although that is not an ideal spot since neither is considering a plus defender at the spot, and both are lefties who struggle against lefties.
That defensive alignment would also be a shaky one since Bruce is rated as the worst right fielder in baseball, according to the defensive runs saved metric on fangraphs.com.
Adding Bruce provides insurance in case the Mets need to place Cespedes on the disabled list with his strained right quad or in case he opts out this offseason.
Cespedes is not 100% and might need to be shut down to let his quad fully heal, and the team was not in a position to do so before this acquisition.
The outfielder also can opt out of his deal and become a free agent, and Bruce gives the team a slugger for next year in that scenario. Cespedes has two years left on his deal after this season, but if he opts out, as expected, he could receive the long-term deal he failed to sign this past offseason.
Cespedes will be one of, if not, the premier free agents this upcoming winter.
Herrera was seen as the Mets’ second baseman of the future, but the team used him to get a big bat. The Mets can retain Jose Reyes and shift him to second next year or try to retain Neil Walker, who is slated to become a free agent.