The New York Mets today announced that the club has acquired three-time All-Star outfielder Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for infielder Dilson Herrera and minor league left-handed pitcher Max Wotell.
Bruce, 29, was named an All-Star for a third time this season and is batting .265 (98-370) with 22 doubles, six triples, 25 home runs, 80 RBI and a .559 slugging percentage in 97 games. His 80 RBI lead the National League (fourth in the major leagues) while his 25 home runs are tied for fourth-most in the NL. He’s one of three players in the majors this season to have at least 22 doubles, 25 home runs and 80 RBI (the other two are Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion and Boston’s David Ortiz). Additionally, Bruce is batting .360 (32-89) with eight home runs and 52 RBI with runners in scoring position.
His All-Star selection earlier this year was his first since being named a back-to-back NL All-Star in 2011 and 2012. The Beaumont, TX native is also a two-time Silver Slugger award winner (2012 and 2013).
Last season, Bruce batted .226 (131-580) with 35 doubles, four triples, 26 home runs and 87 RBI in 157 games. He was one of nine major leaguers with at least 35 doubles, 26 home runs and 87 RBI. He finished the season with the ninth-most extra-base hits in the National League. His 45 RBI following the All-Star break were eighth-most in the NL. In the outfield, Bruce recorded 11 outfield assists, third-most for a National League outfielder.
“The focus was offense,” Sandy Alderson told reporters. “We worked hard to get something done in that regard. We always feel that, at the trade deadline, we need to everything we can to improve the team if they’re in a position to compete.”
Since 2011, Bruce has 165 homers, 10th-most for any major league player while his 538 RBI in that time are seventh-most in the majors since 2011. Since his debut in 2008, Bruce has 233 career home runs, fifth-most in the major leagues for a left-handed hitter while his 718 career RBI in that time are the sixth-most for a left-handed hitter.
In 1,220 career games across nine major league seasons, Bruce has batted .249 (1,116-4,481) with 238 doubles, 27 triples, 233 home runs and 718 RBI.
Herrera, 22, has played in 86 games for Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League this season and batted .276 (99-359) with 24 doubles, 13 home runs and 55 RBI. Last season, Herrera played in 31 games for the Mets, batting .211 (19-90) with three doubles, one triple, three home runs and six RBI. In 49 career major league games, all with the Mets, Herrera batted .215 (32-149) with three doubles, two triples, six home runs and 17 RBI.
Wotell, 20, was the Mets’ third-round selection in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. In six starts for Kingsport (R) of the Appalachian League this season, Wotell is 3-1 with a 3.94 ERA (13 earned runs/29.2 innings) and 31 strikeouts. In two minor league seasons, Wotell is 3-2 with a 3.57 ERA (16 earned runs/40.1 innings) in 15 games (six starts).
“This was a very difficult trade for us to make because of how our fans, ownership and everyone in our organization feel about Jay, but we acquired two quality players who better fit the direction our organization is heading,” Reds President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty said.
“Herrera is considered one of the brightest young stars in the game today. Wotell fits in with the other good, strong arms we’ve been trying to stockpile in our minor league system.”
