Mets make move with Jay Bruce
The New York Mets have not been able to hit for the better aprt of this season. After watching David Wright go down with what could be a career-ending back injury, New York struggled desperately to find any hitting beyond Yoenis Cespedes.
General manager Sandy Alderson attempted to bring in an old friend in shortstop Jose Reyes, but that controversial move went up in flames. Reyes barely played before landing on the disabled list, something that has far too often been the story of his career.
On Monday, the Major League Baseball trade deadline came, and Alderson took his biggest swing yet. Alderson was able to strike a deal with the Cincinnati Reds, landing outfielder Jay Bruce in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers. Bruce is leading the National League with 80 RBI and finally gives New York somebody for opposing pitchers to legitimately fear other than Cespedes.
Bruce has never lived up the hype he entered the league with. Back in those days, he was the subject of a Sports Illustrated profile that suggested he could be the next Mickey Mantle. Still, Bruce has hit 233 home runs in his career including 25 in 2016, giving Alderson ample reason to make the move.
Some are calling the move odd because of the fir. When all of the outfielders are healthy, there is not enough room for Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson, Cespedes and Bruce, let along Juan Lagares. In reality, Cespedes and Bruce are going to be full-time starters – and should be – and Granderson and Conforto can platoon with one another.
The other argument has been that Bruce can’t play solid defense, and moving Granderson back to his original position of center field will weaken his value in the field. Both of these things are true, but when you have absolutely no ability to score runs, you have to put these types of concerns on the backburner.
New York needed to make some noise and take a chance. The defending National League champions are sitting in third place of the Eastern Division, trailing the Washington Nationals by 7.5 games and the Miami Marlins, who own the second wild card spot, by 2.5 games. If the Mets have any designs on getting back into the playoffs, another bat was the order of the day. Alderson came through, and now it is high time the players do the same.
