New York Mets: Five failed Mets reunions with former players

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 09: Jay Bruce #19 and Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the San Francisco Giants 6-1 at Citi Field on May 9, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 09: Jay Bruce #19 and Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the San Francisco Giants 6-1 at Citi Field on May 9, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Mets
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 23: Jay Bruce #19 of the New York Mets bats against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

Failed Mets Reunion with Jay Bruce

A little more recent of a reunion, the Mets brought Jay Bruce back to Flushing after a short layover with the Cleveland Indians. The club traded him at the 2017 deadline only to re-sign him again in the offseason.

Bruce’s time with the Mets had its ups and downs. When the team landed him at the 2016 trade deadline, it took him a while to get comfortable. He went on to slash .219/.294/.391 in 50 games played.

The 2017 season was much better for the veteran slugger. In 448 trips to the plate, Bruce slashed .256/.321/.520 with 29 home runs and 75 RBI. Given a chance to play out a full season with the club, he may have set a franchise home run record.

The 2018 return wasn’t so wonderful. Bruce was hurt for about half the season and there didn’t seem to be any obvious place for him to play. In his 361 plate appearances for the 2018 Mets, he slugged only 9 home runs and slashed .223/.310/.370. The production was far less than what Sandy Alderson was hoping for from this reunion.

Bruce’s time with the Mets ended sooner than expected. He was part of the infamous Brodie Van Wagenen trade with the Seattle Mariners that brought Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York. Of course, it also cost the Mets some notable prospects.

Round two of Bruce in Flushing worked out poorly for the one season he stuck around. He has since gone on to put up similar numbers with the Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies with the former paying his salary.

Home/New York Mets History