The Cincinnati Reds’ Jay Bruce is off to NY to play for the Mets, ESPN andMLB.com report. And now, he’ll provide protection for Yoenis Cespedes rather than an alternative to him. Please click the button below to manage your account. He has 25 home runs, nine short of his career best, with 80 RBIs, leading the National League.
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There is an obvious need for Bruce on the Mets to bolster their offense, but there is always the worry of his defense.
The All-Star outfielder will add some muscle to New York’s lineup.
For the 2nd straight season, the New York Mets acquired a big bat at the trade deadline.
Before getting Cespedes from Detroit for pitcher Michael Fulmer, the Mets almost finalized a deal with Cincinnati for Bruce.
Alderson did well not to give up too much in this trade. Last year, there’s some insane stuff during the deadline. How effective he’ll play at the position remains to be seen.
The banged-up Mets began the day with a.237 batting average, lowest in the majors.
It’s 6.5 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East and 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot heading into August’s action.
“When it happened, I was very, very excited”, Bruce said.
“I’ve talked to some of the great RBI guys in the game, and one thing they talk about is, driving in runs is mental”, Collins said. The Mets already have a bunch of left handed bats in their lineup and are now banged up with injuries. Maybe Cespedes’ sore right quadriceps (which kept him out of the lineup again Monday) will heal enough that he can return to center field. It’s a flawless fit, and yet, it really isn’t.
“Unless (we) got a young Robinson Cano, I think they got us on that one”, Bailey told Joe Danneman of FOX19 in Cincinnati.
It would be unfair to expect Bruce to play at the level that Cespedes did a year ago, when he garnered some MVP attention, however the Mets would be very happy if the 29-year old outfield continues to play at the All-Star level he has this season.
“We would not have done this deal without an extra year of control”, Alderson said. After he excelled following a midseason call-up in 2015, the Mets were counting on him to be a run producer this year. And worse, he could ultimately do more harm than good for the Mets’ outfield. A downside has been his career-long penchant for following a torrid streak with an incredibly cold one.
Bruce’s 233 home runs with the Reds is seventh on the team’s all-time list.
He is due roughly $5 million the rest of this season with a $13 million team option or $1 million buyout for 2017. No less than five clubs might be interested in the Cincinnati Reds slugger: The Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.
Cincinnati is into its second year of rebuilding, trading any high-priced veteran it can. He’d immediately slot in as a starter for the Reds. They were able to work around that and agree to a deal just before the trade deadline. Though a few teams showed minor interest in Bruce last week, rumors have since heated up, with several teams chiming in to secure the talented player with the hopes of bolstering their offense.
Herrera, 22, originally was signed by the Pirates in 2010 and was aquired by the Mets in August 2013.
With the current trade, the Mets hold onto Nimmo – the 13th overall pick from the 2011 draft.
NY had long considered trying to acquire Bruce.
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“In 2014 I had knee surgery”, he said.
