PORT ST. LUCIE − Jay Bruce is still unsettled and as the outfielder arrived at Mets camp, his future is still uncertain as well. The Mets traded for him last August and picked up his option in November as insurance, but now Bruce is stuck in an overcrowded outfield with a team that spent the winter trying to get rid of him.
Bruce shrugged that off Thursday.
"I am here until I'm here until I'm not," Bruce said when asked about the winter full of reports that the Mets were trying to trade him. "My job is to play baseball. Not concerned with trade rumors."
Bruce said he was told to come into camp ready to be the Mets' everyday right fielder. That, however, was not something the Mets were even sure of until late this winter.
The Mets received some calls on Bruce this winter, but the interest faded fairly quickly. The interest in Curtis Granderson picked up later in the winter, but the Mets were not ready to
deal him. For now, they are resigned to figuring out how best to play an outfield of Yoenis Cespedes, Bruce, Granderson, Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares.
"But you never know what can happen in other camps," a Mets official said Wednesday. "There could be an injury to an outfielder in another camp, we get a call and a move is made quickly. We'll see."
Granderson said that he has not let the rumors affect him this winter, either.
"This organization has treated me really well. I like the city. I have good relationships with Sandy (Alderson), Terry (Collins), Fred (Wilpon) and Jeff (Wilpon)," Granderson said.
"They supported me on and off field.
What the Mets do off the field, I understand the business.
I understand that things have to happen.
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"But I don't want to go anywhere."
The Mets' preference has always been to move Bruce.
The left-handed hitting outfielder proved he wasn't a great fit quickly after the Mets acquired him from the Reds in August. A streaky slugger, Bruce cooled off as soon as he put on his Mets jersey, hitting just .219 with a .685 OPS in 50 games. He struck out 43 times, hit eight home runs and drove in 19 in 169 at-bats.
He became a lightning rod for the Flushing fans' ire.
Bruce gets the fans' frustrations. He was upset with himself.
"It bothers me that I wasn't playing well. Coming here with a fan base of what have you done for me lately, I can understand their frustration," Bruce said. "But wasn't concerned about what fans were thinking. I wasn't contributing."
The Mets gambled and picked up Bruce's $13 million option as an insurance against the possibility they would not be able to bring back Cespedes. They figured they would easily be able to move a guy who hit a total of 33 home runs in 2016 and hit at least 30 in four of the last six seasons.
They could not and Thursday, Bruce arrived hoping to make the best of his second chance with the Mets.
"I was having one of best offensive seasons (before the trade) and then I think it was just baseball. I am a pretty routine oriented guy and what I was used to was flipped upside down," Bruce said. "But I am not making excuses.
… I was able to shake out of it the last week and a half. It's part of baseball."
Jay Bruce.
(Kathy Willens/AP)
Now, the Mets have to configure an outfield. Cespedes will remain in left since they want to limit the wear and tear on his legs.
Terry Collins said it would be hard to expect Granderson, who turns 36 next month, to play every day in center.
"We have some very good depth on this team ,so yeah, I gotta get Grandy out of there a little more than I have in the past," the Mets manager said. "I know we are going to have to make sure we give him more days off than we did in the past."
Conforto is built to be a corner outfielder and Lagares does not hit enough to play every day, so Collins will have to mix-and-match.
Collins said Bruce will also work at first base this spring. That could be as an emergency fill-in if something happens to Lucas Duda, who also is a left-handed hitter. The Mets' front office sees the right-handed hitting Wilmer Flores as a better fit if they have to platoon there.
Bruce said he has not been told about the possibility of playing first base, but it was something he and Collins could talk about. He played first in high school and played three games there with the Reds.
"I am an employee of New York Mets. I'll bust my ass to do whatever they ask," Bruce said.
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