Mets: Making sense of the hypothetical Jay Bruce for Bryan Shaw trade proposal

When Jay Bruce returns from the disabled list, is there a team the New York Mets could actually trade him to?

Last week, Joel Sherman of the NY Post suggested a hypothetical trade between the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies. Unlike the blockbuster deal I’ve suggested, this one would swap two bad contracts of underperforming players.

In the deal, the Mets would trade Jay Bruce to the Rockies. In return, they would receive relief pitcher Bryan Shaw.

Mets fans know how underwhelming Bruce has been in 2018. After a productive 2017 campaign, Bruce returned this winter on a three-year deal.

Through the first three months of the new contract, Bruce’s bat has been absent of power. He’s not driving in home runs and continues to decline defensively. Clearly, the agreement is something the Mets should have passed on.

As nice as it would be to move on from Bruce, in this deal, they would receive a pitcher have an equally (or worse) year with the Rockies.

Prior to 2018, Shaw was a consistent reliever for the Cleveland Indians. He led the league in appearances three of the last four seasons.

As rubber-armed as they come, it was normal to see Shaw appear in nearly half of his team’s games. The trend has continued in 2018 with ar worse results.

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Shaw’s ERA is hovering near 7.00. Not only are batters hitting him well, his control has been dreadful. Shaw is already one wild pitch away from tying his total from 2015-2017.

The thought behind this trade is that Shaw would reunite with Mickey Callaway in New York. Callaway was the pitching coach for the Indians during Shaw’s prime years. By joining forces again, there’s a belief that Shaw could become productive again.

I’m not convinced this type of deal works in 2018. The Rockies would be wiser to see if Shaw’s struggles are the results of pitching at Coors Field. After all, his ERA at home this season is well over 9.00.

The Mets could use an upgrade in their bullpen, but I’m not so sure Shaw is the right guy.

Going from the Rockies to the Mets would undoubtedly improve his ERA just as Bruce would find new life playing half of his games in Denver.

On paper, the deal makes sense. It also improves both ball clubs if all goes well. There’s no guarantee, though. Plenty of Rockies position players have slumped. We know all too well how many relief pitchers have pitched horribly.

Next: Best Jacob deGrom trade destinations

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In the offseason, this is definitely a move the Mets should look into. For now, I would like to see them hold out some hope that Bruce figures it out.