G’Day, Bruce

Dave Cameron rounds up the details of the Mets giving away Jay Bruce to the Indians.

So, yeah, this is a nice little move for the AL Central leaders. It’s not like that $4 million was likely to be allocated for anything else the baseball-operations department could use, and it’s nice to see a mid-market team take on salary rather than surrender more talent for cash savings. So in the midst of a pennant race, the Indians got better at no real cost to the franchise beyond a slightly smaller annual profit for the team. Given that MLB just sold another 42% of BAMTech to Disney for $1 billion the other day, I’m sure they’ll be just fine.

For the Mets, they clear up a logjam of corner infielders that had already pushed Bruce to first base, an unfamiliar position, and can now easily promote Smith to take his place and audition for the 2018 job down the stretch.

I need to remind myself to evaluate Bruce for what he can do, not what he can’t do. Bruce came up young, seasonal age 21, and in his first two seasons was a power hitter who didn’t get on base. Then he seemed to find himself at age 23, and for two season did a very good job of both getting on base and hitting for power. He was by no means a superstar, but a player who helped a team a great deal.

He goes into his prime on the upswing, then falls on his OBP just as he should be playing his best. His worst season was his seasonal age 27 year, the season that should have been one of his best. Because of the inconsistent OBP, I tend to think of Bruce as a poor player, when really he’s just the type of hitter that is good near the bottom of the middle of the order, when people are on base and you need someone to drive them home. His career presents a strange timeline, but Bruce can sock the ball.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2uvbSOw