Just Mets

With the Cincinnati Reds sitting at 39-47, 15 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the National League Central and 7 1/2 games behind the Cubs for the second wild card, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports expects the Reds to be sellers shortly after the All-Star Game tomorrow night at Great American Ballpark.

As expected, the Reds chose to wait to start moving some of their assets until after baseball’s jewel event of the summer, and one player Heyman believes the Reds will work hard to move is OF Jay Bruce.

Bruce, 28, has been productive for the Reds despite a high strikeout rate, posting a 120 OPS+ while hitting .251 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI this season. He’s actually hit left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching although the bulk of his home runs have come against right-handed pitching.

Bruce is a good right fielder with an outstanding arm, and acquiring him – or any other outfielder for that matter – would allow for a platoon between Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer which would protect Granderson’s weakness against left-handed pitching and give Cuddyer and his knee the necessary rest time, assuming he doesn’t hit the disabled list in the near-term.

He would also serve as a big defensive upgrade in the outfield, which goes along with their need to prevent more runs thanks to a mostly poor all-around defense – the outfield included – currently being fielded on a daily basis.

However, Bruce has not been close to as good on the road as he has been at the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark.

He’s posted only a .361 slugging percentage on the road while hitting .233 with six doubles, three triples, four home runs and 17 RBI in 45 games away from Cincinnati. Those splits are pretty much in-line with his career totals, although his power has dropped substantially away from Cincinnati this season.

In addition, while it’s a small sample, Bruce has hit just .186/.275/.443 with five home runs in 21 games at Citi Field in his career.

Having said that, given the current state of affairs for the Mets offense, he could be worth a look if the price is right in trade. If anything, he would improve the outfield defense which would help save more runs, something they must consider with the overall lack of offense anyway.

Bruce is guaranteed about $19.5 million through 2016. The Reds hold a club option for $13 million on Bruce for 2017 with a $1 million buyout. According to Cot’s Contracts, Bruce cannot reject a trade to the Mets.

Heyman says the Reds aren’t inclined to pay down any of the money owed to Bruce, which could lessen the price in trade in terms of talent going back to Cincinnati.

Heyman does not list the Mets among those looking for an outfielder at this time.