Mets outfielder Jay Bruce has come up as a potential salary-swap candidate in a variety of hypothetical trade scenarios. Whether or not he’s a realistic trade piece remains to be seen, but his limited no-trade rights could play into the situation.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post provides an updated list, via Twitter, of the slate of teams that Bruce cannot be dealt to without permission. For the present season, Bruce can block deals to the Tigers, Marlins, Athletics, Rays, and Blue Jays. He had previously listed the Orioles and Mariners in place of the Detroit and Miami organizations, but now Bruce can be dealt to Baltimore or Seattle without his permission.
Needless to say, it does not seem terribly likely that Bruce’s blocking rights will impact his potential market. While the A’s and Rays do feature as contending organizations, neither figures to prioritize offloading existing salary — or to seek out Bruce’s rights in a deal. That said, it’s not entirely impossible to cook up scenarios involving the other three teams on Bruce’s list, so their inclusion would add a significant complication to any (purely theoretical) trade talks.
Bruce has had some ups and downs throughout his career, and he’s now coming off of a dry spell at 31 years of age. Last year, he slashed just .223/.310/.370 with nine home runs in 361 plate appearances. He has been much better in the past, of course, and carries a lifetime .247/.318/.466 output at the plate.
Hip issues limited Bruce’s availability in 2018 and could help explain the difficulties, though with $26MM left to go for the next two seasons his contract is not an appealing one. It’s certainly still possible that the Mets could move him in a deal involving one or more other highly paid players. Those interested in contemplating the possibilities may be interested in checking out our recent listing of some of the many potential contract-swap candidates around the game.
Listing the Rays and Marlins wasn’t smart on his part in my opinion. Those teams are so unlikely to trade for him during this season. Love his choice of the Jays. Maybe the fans will realize free agents don’t want to sign with Toronto for a variety of reasons. 1. Being another country, travel and boarder issues. 2. The turf is the 2nd worst playing surface in the league 3. Taxes.
The inclusion of the A’s and Rays likely has to do with their past moving of players at the deadline. While any team losing will shop their players then, those teams are more likely to do so at ANY time. Just a guess on my part.
Iver just made a compelling argument against Montreal having another MLB franchise.
Taxes and cost of living isn’t exactly ideal in New York, so point #3 defies logic.
Lol at these sports radio talking points. Toronto signs plenty of free agents. The tax problem is always overblown (partly because it only affects games played in Canada). The border issues are really American issues that can be easily fixed with smarter policy. Players can use NTC to extract value from teams they get traded to (it’s no secret the Jays repeatedly tried to get Bruce). Sure, the stadium and playing surface are crappy. But really, all things equal players would rather go to cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Oakland, Tampa, Kansas City, Detroit etc etc rather than a city like Toronto? Those are all more secondary things anyways to the dollars on the contract.
Border issues easily fixed…. ha ha ha ha!!! Best comment I’ve seen in a while!! I’d ask how, but, this is sports chat and not politics
Toronto is a world class city. Players are reluctant to play in Toronto due to the Blue Jays’ commitment to mediocrity. Further, MLB would be well served to return a team to Montreal – vive les Expos!
Montreal having an MLB team is on-par with the wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald (Lightfoot reference, readers need not be offended).
You beat me to it
So I’ll go with Montreal should have a team and the stadium should be on carefree highway
First, learn how to spell border. Next, understand the way the taxes work. He only pays Canadian taxes for the days he actually works in Canada, and with NY’s state taxes, it’s not much different in the grand scheme of things. When you combine Federal and Provincial taxes in Ontario, they come up to less than what someone in California pays.
If anything, it’s the ignorance of some (I am looking at you Antonio Davis) that don’t understand the lack of difference, or the fact that Toronto is a great city to live in.
Turf and Taxes. Toronto is actually a great city, but that turf and the Canadian taxes are rough. Tulo hates the turf and it’s rough on the knees. Given the demographics in the MLB, a colder city like Toronto could also be a tough sell. Chicago and NYC get passes because they are great cities AND great baseball towns (for CHC and NYY at least). I feel bad for Toronto in that regard because I think it’s a great city, but they likely have to overbid to attract top notch talent.
Shows how stupid you are! They don’t pay taxes in Canada! Unlike your terrorist USA! You inbred child molesting fuqtard!
Jeez bro
Slap in the face… If your team is added to a 5 team NTC list.. away from the NY Mets!
Just because an organization isn’t particularly successful doesn’t mean that they don’t treat their players. Stop acting like the Mets pay everyone league minimum.
Nobody talking salaries. irrelevant. Bruce is owed his 39M contract fully guaranteed. We are talking organizational structure and stability…
The Wilpons are clowns.
Clowns might be an appropriate word but if they had the market all to themselves with no crosstown comparisons, some might view them differently. I myself until shown otherwise believe their decisions are based on finances, their yearly costs on building Citi field and other already on the books commitments. Such were planned with Madoff earnings that suddenly went poof. Add to the equation their real estate first mode of operations and you have what you have today. MLB is to blame. If the Mets were treated like the Dodgers were, there likely would be bigger pocket ownership in Flushing.
He’s owed 26
Hey X-
Your 100% correct.
Mutt and Jeff are clowns that wear bandits masks as they steal from the fans.
Let’s see if any dissidents like metsfan4ever get bent out of shape.
I think that’s just the perception here, big market team that doesn’t spend like one…
Put Him At First, They Might Be OK. !!!
I wouldn’t do a Cano for Bruce deal, no disrespect. Cano can hit but I wouldn’t want that albatross of a contract hamstringing future deals for the next 5 years.
The talk on the radio this AM was that those talks between the Mets and Mariners involved the Mariners paying down the Cano contract to $14m for the next five. No indication on how serious it is but if true, he likely is very tradable even with is age and suspension backage.
*baggage.
If the Ms are paying down to $14M I’d take cano in a heartbeat. Especially if I’m also dumping Bruce.
I believe it was a net effect not $14m cost plus the dumping of Bruce. I caught only the end of the discussion.
I find it hard to believe that they would pay down that much, maybe they will send 14 mil a year, or 14 mil at the start? I get that any savings would be helpful but that’s quite a lot to also be taking on salary as well.
Bruce to San Fran for Malancon
Money is almost a wash
Gives Giants an OF they desperately need
Gives Mets a bullpen arm with potential to bounce back.
Bruce is not as bad as he was last year he dealt with some injuries. I see him as a bounce back candidate.
I was going to post that same proposal. Melancon wasn’t even all that bad last year. He was still a useful reliever, just not a dominant one who deserves 14M a year. Full NTC though.
Bruce would be awful in SF. That ballpark would ruin him. He has a fly-ball approach and to hit one out of ATNT as a left handed hitter requires great power. It’s the only reason Brandon Belt hasn’t had a 30 HR season yet.
Jason Vargas
Jay Bruce
Anthony Swarzack
Todd Frazier
Brought back Reyes
That was 5 free agent moves last year
I don’t believe it’s not about them spending money I think it’s more about who they spend it on
All 5 of those guys were overpaid
Frazier was the closest one to actually being worth the money. He is an amazing locker room guy and had some great stretches over the season. Not saying he lit the world on fire but I’ll take him over LoMo as far as the contracts go..I know, I really set the bar high there.. Otherwise..as a Mets fan everyone was so excited for these signings when they paid Vargas for a really good HALF OF A YEAR he had. Bruce was the worst as he had no place on the team even in the near future. Reyes sure whatever for your nostalgia l. Didn’t like it but didn’t care since I don’t believe he made much even though developing a younger guy would have been nice. Was never sold on Swarz but I had some hopes he could be a decent piece in the bullpen but was way overpaid.
The Mets will competitively spend they just won’t be a high spender meaning they shop at Target instead of Macy’s. Sometimes you find the same for less but usually you get what you pay for
The folks at Target would be insulted at the comparison.
The more accurate one is that the Mets shop at K-Mart. Always looking for closeouts and bargain players, and willing to get damaged and dented assets (like last years signings including the geriatric set) their signings are always foolish.
Cano, Diaz & $50M for Bruce, Alonso and McNeil.
Alonso and McNeil should not be included. Send Gimenez, Dunn, Bruce and another B prospect… Peterson. Just take less money from Seattle
Flip Homer Bailey to New York to reunite Jay Bruce in Cincinnati. Salaries similtar but New York only has 1 year of Bailey versus 2 years of Bruce
There is no room for Bruce, so that wouldn’t work.
What bout Kemp for Bruce contract for bad contract
As a dodgers fan- NO
That’d make absolutely no sense for the Dodgers.
In a second…as a Mets fan. Kemp bounced back to beast again. Bruce…limped into the season and sucked for basically all of it.
Hey Hojo-he looked good on the day that he signed the contract. Once the reality set in that this as not a true contender, he played his age.
cannot fathom too many feasible ways for Bruce to wind up in Detroit. Let alone worry about it so much as to ntc them.
Jay says no way will he play for Jays, A’s or Rays.
Maybe I’m oversimplifying this, but Bruce has only been worth a total of 2.7 WAR over the last 5 seasons. He’s probably a nice guy, but who would ever want to pay him $14m/yr over the next 2 seasons? I can’t imagine the Mets getting another team interested in a trade. He’ll play on another team when his contract expires or if they release him.
Trade him for Melancon straight up
He should wave his entire list of no trade teams and play for the first loser team to actually inquire about him! He’s a has been/plug!
Why should he do that snake? Did he hold a gun to Sandy’s head to sign him? Or did they drug Mutt and Jeff?
I mean we all know what dummies they are, however at some point real baseball fans have to STOP ENABLING this discussion.
So let’s step up like adults Mets fans and publicly accept responsibility for supporting a totally losing proposition.
Join the BOYCOTT and:
Do NOT BUY any 2019 tickets.
STOP watching SNY.
As a Jays fan, I’m happy that the Jays are on that ‘no trade’ list.
First sensible response in the whole damn thread!
Too bad my Marlins are on that list. I would have been willing to give up Wei-Yin Chen for Bruce.
Worth clarifying and including that in 2018 his main ailment was plantar fascitis. Hip and back issues are a common side effect/consequence of plantar fascitis (especially when you ignore it), and it was the PF that ailed him first, in April.
See here: sny.tv/mets/news/jay-bruce-out-of-lineup-monday-du…
And here: orthofeet.com/blogs/news/how-your-feet-impact-knee…
This is important because he still has plantar fascitis (it’s permanent), so any issues that ailed him in 2018 are very likely to recur in the future. It wasn’t a one-time hip injury
Hey Reflect-look in a mirror when you spew stupidity as a way to stop this bad habit.
Plantar fasciitis can be controlled in most patients with regular stretching and strengthening in PT as well as
Orthotics.
Proof positive in your denial is referencing SNY.
Why?
Bruce is a terrific hitter. His best value to a team is the scenario the Indians used with him a few years ago…..
Have a contending team (preferably from the AL to DH) acquire him at the trading deadline, or preferably via waiver wire trade in August. Pay his prorated bloated salary for a few months. Play him as little as you can on defense, and hope he cracks some big hits, including HR’s, in close games during the stretch run and into the playoffs. Then let him go.
Since he’s under contract for 2 more years, the above strategy cannot be implemented until late in the 2020 season.
The problem with Bruce is not just injury, but that he’s terribly out of shape. On D – he cannot run in the OF (he regularly misjudges fly balls), and he’s too heavy to be agile enough to play 1B well. On O – his hitting and baserunning suffer.
The Mets FO and/or his agent should be checking on him daily regarding progress he’s making with a series of personal trainers this off-season. The man is a professional hitter, and should be able to be major league average playing 1B. If he shows up out of shape in spring training, then his only value will be as an overpaid, so-so pinch-hitter, and a DH when playing AL teams.
Hey Samuel-good points however Bruce is not the only one who has been out of shape. The organization is out of shape with medical And training staff that has been changed out more than once and still out of shape.
Between Mutts’ senility and Jeff’s secret belief that he is the next Branch Rickey this epidemic starts at the top and is infested all the way down to Mr. Met (metsfan4ever)
John Bruce is one of the most feared pure hitters in the game. Why would the Mets trade him at all? Consistent 40 HR power. OBP machine. Sign Manny and protect him with Bruce
I don’t know much about John Bruce, but Jay has never hit 40 homers, hit 9 last year, and I’d think an “OBP machine” would have more than a .318 career mark.
You must not know john bruce then, dude has career 800 homers and .500 obp, mets should get a package for him
Forgive me for asking, but is it based on personal preference when a player decides who to block trades from?
Players that have limited no-trade rights, in which they get to elect certain teams, can use whatever reasons they wish. Some perhaps have strong geographic preferences, others might try to pick clubs that would be likely to want them so they have the opportunity to control the situation.
Okay what bout a three team trade the Braves send Ender and Swanson to NY Mets the Mets send Bruce and McNeil to the Giants Giants send Melancon to the Mets the Giants send Madbum to the Braves
I was wondering if the Braves could trade Teahran and a couple prospects for Thor and Bruce. Maybe having Camargo spell Bruce at times would allow him to stay healthy and it seems like our hitting coaches do a good job of helping hitters.
Inciarte and Swanson for madbum. Sounds like a bad idea for braves
Bruce to COL for Shaw (or similar high-$ BP arm who struggled last year). The money is pretty close and it offers both players a chance to rebound. I can see Bruce putting up 35-40hr at Coors and playing a passable RF/1B. The mets need at least 2 BP arms. It seems to make too much sense so I doubt it happens.