Bruce, who has a team option on his contract at $13 million for next season, will be insurance in the outfield in case Cespedes decides to sign elsewhere after this season.
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Mets OF Jay Bruce is hitless in eight at-bats, with four strikeouts, since being acquired from the Reds for two prospects on Monday.
The deal was first announced Monday before the non-waiver trade deadline, giving the Red Sox another veteran for the bullpen in their pursuit of Baltimore and Toronto in the AL East race.
Image: Outfielder Jay Bruce slugs homer for the Cincinnati Reds. The 2016 New York Mets are not the 2015 Mets, and the National League East isn’t the same as it was previous year, either. Remember, Cespedes wasn’t a center fielder when the Mets acquired him a year ago, but he ended up starting there 39 times and 10 more times in the postseason. He’s well on the way to his best campaign since 2013, when he finished 10th in MVP voting, and has a shot to set career-highs in almost every category.
Didi Gregorius ended the shutout with a homer leading off the ninth against left-hander Jonathon Niese, who was reacquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. If the pitching gets remotely close to where they were last season, the Mets have a good chance to catch and leapfrog the Miami Marlins.
Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball says that the Mets are getting a “great hitter, a great guy, but an interesting fit” in Bruce.
“Over the past nine seasons, we couldn’t have asked for a better person to represent our team, our city and Major League Baseball, both on and off the field”, Jocketty said of Bruce.
BRIEFS: Cespedes (strained right quad) didn’t start for the third straight game, but laced a pinch-hit single in the seventh.
First things first, the Mets offense looks a lot like it did at this point in time last season.
Herrera was thought of as a future middle infielder.
Bruce is hitting.360 this season with runners in scoring position. “They talked about us losing 100 games at the beginning of the year, and s–, we’re damn sure trying, aren’t we?” They also had the framework of a three-team deal in place that would’ve sent Bruce to Toronto in the offseason, but that fell through.
As the trade deadline was coming down to its final hours, several reports said NY was nearing a deal, but nothing was set in stone.
A Met for the first six years of his Major League career, Niese was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for second baseman Neil Walker. He hit.336 with seven homers and 45 RBIs in 72 games in the minors this year.
“It’s not that our estimation of Dilson has gone down”, Alderson said.
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After his Tommy John surgery, Patrick Corbin mightily struggled as per 5.38 ERA and his 4-8 record serve as the basis. Bruce should provide plenty of offense for the Mets, but one can’t help but wonder how this is going to impact their defense.
