The New York Mets are reportedly the favorites to land Bruce as they sit four games behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East.
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The Mets are sending former first-round pick Brandon Nimmo and lower-level prospects to Cincinnati, according to the New York Post.
“This was an opportunity to deal from a position of relative strength in the system to acquire some offense that we felt we needed”, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.
So we’ll see how his bat affects the Mets – and we’ll see first hand, when NY makes its lone trip to Busch on Aug 23-25. In an especially odd turn of events- you just can’t make this stuff up – the GM traded left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo to Pittsburgh for old friend Jon Niese.
It’s the second straight year that the Mets acquired a power-hitting outfielder on August 1, the day of the Major League Baseball trade deadline. They brought Cespedes in previous year from the Tigers to help a flagging offense. NY has been busy selling over the past week, trading relievers Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, so it seems likely they’ll give up Beltran for the right price.
“Look, it was an extraordinary turnaround past year”. “Everything that’s happened to me in baseball has happened with this organization, and they’ve been great to me, and you know, we’ll see what happens”. The Reds will get Dilson Herrera and two other prospects from the Mets for Bruce. Neither does Collins, who was quick to say Bruce will hit right behind Cespedes. With Cespedes nursing a quad injury that may send him to the disabled list, Bruce’s arrival, assuming Nimmo’s physical does not block the blockbuster acquisition, comes at a necessary time for NY, who, at 54-50 and 6.5 games behind the Washington Nationals, hope to rally for a playoff berth down the homestretch of the season.
Bruce has been a clutch hitter this season, and NY is in dire need of one.
Bruce ranks seventh all-time among Reds hitters with 233 home runs. There’s no doubt that manager Terry Collins will want to pencil him into the lineup every day.
NEW YORK (AP) – Jay Bruce stepped into the batter’s box for the first time wearing the New York Mets’ blue and orange, and the sellout crowd at Citi Field stood and greeted him with cries of “Bruuuce!” sounding as if at a Springsteen concert. He played a terrific right field. When you couple him with the aging Granderson in center and Yoenis Cespedes in left on a bum leg, and you may have the worst outfield defense in the majors. It’s a ideal fit, and yet, it really isn’t.
We know the Pirates are on controllable starters, but unknown is what effect the sweep this weekend has on their previously stated plans to add. I think this year some small, small changes that I actually noticed the past two years – and being healthy – is key. More to the point, Cespedes has an opt-out in his contract after this season and if he exercises it, Bruce would be the fallback option and/or negotiating leverage for the Mets.
“(Bruce was) one of the best clubhouse guys I’ve ever been around”, Schebler said. A downside has been his career-long penchant for following a torrid streak with an incredibly cold one.
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Bruce, at age 29, is having possibly the best offensive season of his career.
