I don’t know how much truth there is to the latest rumors that are popping up on Twitter, but according to several beat reporters including Mark Carig of Newsday, the New York Mets are not just focused on outfielder Jay Bruce any longer.
The word is that they have now cast a wide net and are looking at several other options as the deadline draws nearer.
Suspicious by nature as I am, I wondered if this is because the Cincinnati Reds want more for Jay Bruce then the Mets are willing to give.
I’m assuming most of you read my post this morning in which hypothesized why Bruce would cost much more than just Zack Wheeler as Buster Olney of ESPN was reporting.
But besides that, I also tossed out the possibility on Twitter that the fact the Mets have just only now started looking at other options, did something go awry in Bruce talks?
Have dollars become a stumbling block yet again?
Now I could be dead wrong, God knows I’m not a baseball savant or Mensa on these things. But I have become quite the expert and how sleazy and inept the Wilpons can be when it comes to any deals involving a cash outlay – big or small.
I had absolutely no problem pointing to money as the deal-breaker in the Carlos Gomez trade. A position that at the time was not very well received. However as of this morning’s reports, I may have had it right all along. With even Matt Cerrone telling me this morning that it could be both – dollars and a career ending hip injury. One small step for man…
By the way, remember Vladimir Guerrero‘s career threatening back injury?
So when I said this morning, that the team will try and push Juan Lagares and his $23 million dollar contract to the Reds for Bruce who is only owed $18 million, could it be they balked just like the Milwaukee Brewers did? The Mets tried feverishly to push Lagares in that Gomez deal.
Of course, if they can’t include Lagares in the deal, at that point the Mets would be absorbing all of the money owed to Bruce. Rather than having a net gained of $5 million they have a net loss of $18 million. Sounds like a deal-breaker to me…
Are you following along with me?
We will continue to wait and see how things evolve over the next three hours until the 4 PM deadline. And as I always say… I hope I’m wrong.
