Jay Bruce is on the disabled list now recovering from a hip issue, but it’s no secret how dismal his season was before being sidelined.
Bruce, 31, signed a three-year deal this offseason to return to the Mets, the team that traded him in August last year to the Cleveland Indians.
New York doled out $39 million to the outfielder in what ended up being the slowest market in recent memory.
Bruce responded to his lucrative contract by hitting .212/.292/.321 with just three home runs and 17 RBI across 236 plate appearances before being put on the shelf.
I’ll admit, I was in the minority when I applauded the Bruce signing this winter. The 11-year veteran hit over 30 home runs just a year ago, and enjoyed a solid season with the Mets before his trade.
I knew he would be a square peg in a round hole of sorts, but I figured if he just performed at the dish, it wouldn’t matter if he struggled in the outfield.
I can also admit now that I was wrong and I see how awful it is that Bruce is signed through 2020. With the emergence of Brandon Nimmo and Peter Alonso quickly climbing through the ranks in the minors to be the first baseman of the future, there’s no place for Bruce on this team.
With the amount of money he’s making, he’s not going to be a bench piece, meaning he’s either going to be taking time away from someone like Nimmo or Michael Conforto, or blocking Dominic Smith or Peter Alonso from getting a chance to be the Mets first baseman.
With that being said, the Mets should be telling team’s interested in Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard that if they want the aces, they must take on Bruce too.
His contract is an albatross, and one of the only ways they could conceivably get rid of him is if they packaged him in a deal with a highly sought after commodity to help soften the blow for the other team.
Pluce, Bruce is still in the middle of his career and is coming off a year in which he still hit a lot of home runs and overall batted .254/.324/.508, so maybe a change of scenery could help him turn things around.
For the Mets though, they can’t really afford to keep him the next two years. Yes, Yoenis Cespedes has been hurt as has Juan Lagares, but having Bruce on the 25-man roster provides a logjam whichever way you split it.
New York is also in a spot right now where they are likely going to retool and may even rebuild for the future. Bruce won’t be part of the plan and is only going to take up a roster spot while making a decent amount of cash.
So I propose: if you want one of our young pitchers, you have to take Bruce too.
