NY Mets: 10 notable Mets trades from the month of August
By Tim Boyle

August 1, 2016 – Mets add Jay Bruce in a deal with the Reds
On August 1, 2016, the Mets were looking for some pop to add to the lineup. A year after losing in the World Series, they were willing buyers one season later. This time, their big midseason trade was a swap with the Cincinnati Reds for Jay Bruce. In return, they would send Max Wotell and Dilson Herrera to Cincinnati. Neither did much and Herrera would actually end up back with the Mets organization a few years later.
The big story here is Bruce. Acquired with a year and a half of control left, he was quite miserable in 2016 after changing uniforms. Bruce slashed .219/.294/.391 with 8 home runs in the regular season for the Mets. It wasn’t the big acquisition any of us were hoping to get.
Since he wasn’t a mere rental, we got to see Bruce redeem himself a little more the following year. In 2017, he hit 29 home runs in 448 plate appearances. It’s quite possible he could have set a franchise record, but a losing Mets team forced them to sell him and a few other pieces away.
The August trade to bring Bruce to New York in 2016 wasn’t a very good one. Although it wasn’t costly, it would have been nice to get more production from a mid-year trade like this.