New York Mets: Is Jay Bruce the first baseman moving forward?
The New York Mets first baseman in 2019 may have just come off the DL today in Jay Bruce
The 2018 season got off to a great start for the New York Mets and outside of Jacob deGrom, has turned into a train-wreck. Injuries to many key players set this team back immensely and they have basically gotten nothing from an off-season veteran spending spree.
One of the signings the New York Mets made was bringing back Jay Bruce to a team that already had Brandon Nimmo. Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes as outfielders, though with questions regarding Conforto and Cespedes’ health, you could understand the move.
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Bruce started to play first and it may be that his position in 2019 for the New York Mets may be there.
“We need to make some kind of determination going into the offseason whether or not it’s feasible to bring him back as a first baseman next year or a guy that’s going to play both or a guy that’s going to be a rightfielder,” Callaway said. “So we’re definitely going to play him at first quite a bit moving forward.”
The issue with that is the fact that Bruce is blocking multiple people at first base. Wilmer Flores has been solid there this season. Dominic Smith has started to play outfield himself to get more versatile to get more playing time. They also have top prospect Peter Alonso who leads the minor leagues in RBI this year. Smith was a top 100 prospect and Alonso currently is
“The deal here is you might not ever get a look,” Callaway said of Smith. “That’s how it goes in the major leagues. Nothing is fair. It is what it is. But he has to keep on grinding and putting himself in a position where he can come up here and get at-bats.”
If I’m the New York Mets i play Bruce as much as I can at first and right and then possibly look to trade him in the off-season. Joel Sherman of the NY Post laid out multiple scenarios in which they can take a similar contract that would help them fill a different need like Mark Melancon. If I’m the GM of the New York Mets, I look to do something creative like this and let the young players have a shot at first.
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The New York Mets the rest of the way should figure out what they have in young players like Amed Rosario. They should also figure out what to do with Jay Bruce and if Bruce can stay healthy, maybe they have an off-season trade chip.