Earlier this week, the New York Mets dealt OF Jay Bruce to the Cleveland Indians. However, the Indians weren’t the only team in the Jay Bruce sweepstakes; the Yankees were also heavily involved until the Mets decided to cut them out at the last minute.
An unnamed Mets official spoke to the media last night regarding the Mets sparring with their crosstown rivals. However, the points the official made didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense from the Yankees perspective.
Exhibit A:
A Mets official on the Bruce to the Yankees talks: “If they would give us something of [bleeping] value, maybe we would make a deal.”
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 10, 2017
The Yankees have literally one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball. So almost anything the Yankees offer to the Mets is of value. The ironic part is the Indians gave up a 30th round draft pick for Bruce in Ryder Ryan. If the Mets were really serious about bolstering their farm system, a trade with the Yankees seemed the most logical.
Exhibit B:
Also, the Mets evidently were not happy that the Yankees, with their $200 M-plus payroll, wouldn’t absorb all of Bruce’s salary.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 10, 2017
Bruce is owed $4 million for the remainder of the season. The Yankees offered to pay half of the remaining salary. The Yankees aren’t trying to bamboozle the Mets, but at the same time, the team has to focus on their own finances. Are the Mets going to pay the Yankees’ luxury tax if they go over the threshold? Didn’t think so.
Exhibit C:
Another Mets offficial: “When we were looking for players last year, the Yankees weren’t exactly rushing to return our calls.”
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 10, 2017
Was this one of the reasons the Mets decided not to trade to the Yankees this year? If so, this is kind of petty. Maybe the reason the Yankees weren’t willing to trade with the Mets was because the Mets had nothing the Yankees wanted. It’s strictly business.
Exhibit D:Â
Mets believe that the Yankees killed the Walker deal once they acquired Sonny Gray and used Walker’s medicals as a back-out tactic.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 10, 2017
If the Yankees didn’t like Neil Walker‘s medicals, they had a right to back out of the deal. Besides, the Yankees were focusing on the big fish during the trade deadline. Once they got Sonny Gray, they closed up shop. They already added Todd Frazier, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, and Jaime Garcia. Plus, they found a fix to their first base problem by moving Chase Headley across the diamond.
Honestly, this whole fight regarding the Jay Bruce deal is a little childish. But maybe this is to build tension for the upcoming Subway Series this week at the stadium. Between you and me, I’d rather both teams do their fighting on the field, where everything matters in the standings.
