While plenty of attention has been given to the injuries that depleted the depth in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation, they’ve gone without the threat of a power left-handed bat in their lineup.
Adrian Gonzalez hasn’t provided the same power as year’s past, as his nine home runs have him on pace for the lowest single-season total of his career. The biggest left-handed bats potentially on the market were Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez and Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce, with the Dodgers being linked to both of them in recent weeks.
But with the Rockies going 12-5 since the All-Star break to climb back into the National League Wild Card race, they decided against trading Gonzalez, leaving Bruce as the premier outfielder on the market.
While the Dodgers at one point were believed to be in the lead to trade for the 29-year-old right fielder, Bruce instead appears to be on the verge of joining the New York Mets, according to Buster Olney of ESPN:
The Mets are on the verge of finishing a deal for Jay Bruce.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 1, 2016
However, since the initial report of the trade, there’s been a hold due to a medical issue, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick:
Source says a medical issue might be holding up the Bruce deal between #Mets and #Reds. Stay tuned.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) August 1, 2016
Should the trade go through, Bruce joins a Mets team that’s 54-50, which has them 6.5 games back of the Washington Nationals in the NL East, and 2.5 games back of the Miami Marlins for the second Wild Card spot.
Bruce is currently having the best season of his career, batting .265/.316/.559 with 25 home runs and a NL-leading 80 RBIs. With him seemingly coming off the market, the Dodgers pivoted to acquire Rich Hill and Josh Reddick from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for multiple pitching prospects.
