Anytime you can acquire the league's leading RBI producer, it't not a bad thing, but the Mets are already a bit overcrowded in the outfield (particularly from the left side with Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto needing to play regularly). The deal is pretty much a short term and long term hedge against Yoenis Cespedes not being able to play due to injury in the short term and testing the free agent waters in the long term.
As far as who they give up -- Brandon Nimmo and two lower level prospects not yet identified. Nimmo leaving is not going to cause too much heartache. Lower level prospects may or may not as they are always a long term crap shoot.
For a team struggling to score runs, you have to like acquiring another 25/80 guy, though he's another in the mold of free swingers like Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson. He's a career .249 hitter having his best season. At $12.5 million this year and a $13 million option for next year, he's a good baseball value.
Perhaps best of all, Travis d'Arnaud and Dilson Herrera are still on the club which means Jonathon Lucroy may still be in play....and then there's that rumored acquisition of a middle reliever.
It should be an interesting few hours leading up to the 4:00 PM deadline.
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I hate that Lucroy trade if thats what it is. I dont get the bruce trade, not because of acquiring bruce for the Nimmo and hopefully two prospects i dont care about, but bc you want to keep cespedes but will have 4 guys to play lf/rf next year 3 of whom are lefties and not a real centerfielder.
ReplyDeletethey also currently have the worst defensive team in baseball.
The mets would be better off selling walker, promoting Herrera and realising that they can finish 3rd in the wc standings without giving away future assets for mediocre players who are just being plopped in places they cant really play.
they still lack a real 3b, as of today a ss, a 2b for next year and a cf.
This is just so desperate. Getting Bruce AND Lucroy can help this year and next and I'd make my peace with it. Getting just Bruce while giving up Nimmo is foolish.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Bruce but his career numbers are Duda-esque. They miss the big guy behind Cespedes. This could be a shot in the arm for the offense.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to Nimmo. Nice kid.
getting bruce for Herrera and Wotell. its a bad trade. also means they aint trying to resign cespedes again.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, Robb
DeleteI'm perfectly fine with this. We keep Nimmo (don't have much OF depth in the system), trade Herrera who while promising was also overrated (not to mention) our young IF depth.
ReplyDeleteThis opens possibilities other than letting Cespedes walk. The team can trade Granderson to open up money and play Bruce in RF. They can also trade Duda to make room and put Bruce (or even Conforto) at 1B. There's a good chance the OF/1B rotation next year includes Conforto/Cespedes/Nimmo/Bruce in some configuration.
The other wild card is David Wright. He might retire or he might not be able to play - is the contract insured? If so that's more money that could be available.
If Cespedes misses a few weeks plus Cabrera, without a Bruce bat, offense would have imploded
DeleteThere are two more shoes to drop. Right now the 25-man roster is full with two people en route -- Jay Bruce and Jon Niese. If they go with the 12 man rotation then they have to drop two position players. If they go with the 11 man rotation, then one pitcher and one position player. The folks on the bubble would seem to be Seth Lugo, Erik Goeddel, Logan Verrett, Brandon Nimmo, Alejandro De Aza and Justin Ruggiano.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they add Niese as a 12th pitcher, drop Nimmo and disable Cabrera.
Wouldn't one spot be Bastardo, who got traded for Niese (right?)
DeleteWouldn't one spot be Bastardo, who got traded for Niese (right?)
DeleteI approve of both deals. I like Hererra, who will likely be good, and these two deals aren't fixing all the leaks, but as Thomas said above, with Cespedes and Cabrera hobbled, the offense could be non-existent. At 54-50, despite all sorts of issues in 2016, this could still be a playoff team.
ReplyDeleteI feel Herrera took a step back this year. Time will tell if he succeeds or fails in the bugs. So tell is at least 3 years away. Good trade therefore for Bruce.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how I feel about Niese. He has struggled this year. But so had Bastardo. Maybe a change of scenery will help.
Does anyone know what the story is about the medical concerns and why we had to switch from nimmo to herrera? some reports are that the lower minor leaguers where the issue... who were they??
ReplyDeleteTom/ Reese,
ReplyDeleteIn term of assets... ( i am all about assets) could you see the Bruce trade as being Herrera and Wotell (who i believe was developing nicely) for Bruce and a 1st rd pick (in the next year in qualifying offer?)