Last summer, Jay Bruce was traded from the selling Reds to the buying Mets. The tables have turned and now that the Mets are sellers, Bruce is once again on the trading block.
“Obviously things have derailed our season a little bit — mostly injuries,” Bruce said after the Mets 9-1 loss Sunday afternoon. “Coming in here at the beginning of the year in Spring Training, I thought we were World Series contenders. It’s part of the game, obviously. And the team has to figure out how they want to approach the future.”
Bruce, 30, is having the best season of his career, having hit .262/.326/.525 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in 96 games. He has a 122 wRC+ and 2.0 WAR, as well as a 2.6 UZR and 8 DRS in right field according to Fangraphs.
As someone who was in the thick of trade rumors last season before being traded himself, Bruce was still shocked when Lucas Duda was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“You know it’s happening, you understand it and you expect it, until it happens,” Bruce said in the quiet clubhouse. “The most shocking part is that Lucas isn’t here. He’s not part of the team any more. He’s gone.”
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Bruce said Sunday regarding whether or not he would be traded again. “This stuff goes down to the wire. A lot can happen either way.”
Asdrubal Cabrera, Addison Reed, Curtis Granderson and Rene Rivera join Bruce as impact veterans the Mets could deal today.
