Cleveland Sports Forum

They DFA'd Robertson to make room on on 40 for Bruce. They resigned Garner, local kid who grew up Indians fan, to a minor league deal, assigned him to Akron. They are trying to get Bruce to St. Pete tonight for game. They tweeted to stay tuned. If he makes it I'm assuming Urshela will go down to make room on 25 but we'll see.

Just saw on MLB channel that Bruce does worse after the ASG

Well, the Yankees apparently liked Bruce:

Yankees thought they had Jay Bruce — then he was gone

By Joel Sherman


After being mostly shunned at the non-waiver deadline, Jay Bruce was pursued by two AL teams with playoff aspirations and more.

The Yankees were not only one of those teams, they had agreed to send the two prospects requested by the Mets in exchange for the Mets eating a piece of the roughly $5 million Bruce was owed the rest of the season.

While the Yankees had confidence in completing the deal and making Bruce their DH with Matt Holliday on the DL, they also were told by their New York neighbors there was another bidder for Bruce’s services.

And it was the Indians who ultimately landed Bruce, with a source saying the Yankees never got a chance to bid again.

Perhaps it was because Cleveland was willing to assume all the money that Bruce was owed. Maybe it was because in a season of despair, the Mets did not want to add to it by helping the Yankees reach the playoffs. Or it is possible the Mets simply liked the singular prospect, Ryder Ryan, they received from Cleveland, though the righty is at Single-A and has a 4.79 ERA in 33 relief appearances.

It is complicated between the New York teams, who have not agreed to a trade in which players went both ways since Dec. 3, 2004 — when Felix Heredia was moved to the Mets for Mike Stanton.



The Yankees also had tried to obtain Lucas Duda from the Mets, who instead dealt him to the Rays. In that situation, the Yankees believed Tampa Bay had offered (Drew Smith) more than they were willing. In this situation, they were less positive about that.

Regardless, it did show the Yankees have concerns about their lefty hitting — though Aaron Hicks is due back this weekend and Greg Bird perhaps by September — and also having heft in the DH spot.

Bruce will now bring his lefty heft to the Indians, who had to put lefty-swinging outfielder Michael Brantley on the DL earlier Wednesday with a left ankle sprain. Another lefty-hitting corner outfielder, Lonnie Chisenhall, already was on the DL with a strained right calf.

The Mets have wanted to deepen their system with relief arms and save money as part of their strategy and so far they have dealt Duda, Addison Reed and Bruce for five minor league relievers and a savings of about $10.6 million. They still would like to find deals for at least Asdrubal Cabrera, Neil Walker and Curtis Granderson, and as I wrote this week, the Brewers have interest in both a lefty hitter who can play center and a lefty hitter who can play second.

The Mets also wanted to streamline their 25-man roster for August to make it easier to call up their top two prospects, Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith, and play them regularly without having veterans upset about their lost playing time. Rosario already is up and the removal of Bruce means Smith will be with the big club sooner than later.

Bruce had a redeeming season as a Met. I have to admit, I fell for the narrative last year that Bruce simply could not handle New York after he performed poorly down the stretch following his acquisition.

But Bruce is a pro, low-maintenance, ready to play and not only durable, but someone who takes accountability in being on the field and playing hard.

He led the Mets in homers (29) and RBIs (75). He avoided the pronounced slumps that have haunted his career, hit lefties more than capably and fielded better than his reputation.

As a long-time member of the Reds, Bruce played often in intra-league games at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, hitting .384 in 23 games with a 1.034 OPS. He is a free agent after the season and playing for a contender — if he thrives — can only help his stock.

But the contender will be located in Cleveland, not the Bronx.

Not often the Indians outspend the Yanks on a player.

I saw on Twitter this morning the final tally owed to Bruce is 3.7 mill for the rest of this year.

Yanks offered to pay 1 mill of it.

If the Yankees really loved him do you really think they'd let 2.7 mill stand in their way?

But look, Bruce is an Indian now so he has my full throated support. I'm a huge fan now. Want nothing but success.

Hell, I saw a lot of him when he was with the Reds. I always liked the guy. Just kind of soured on him last few seasons. The prolonged slumps really hurt the overall BA and OBP. I have my doubts that he's a savior. But have no doubt he'll give us more than Almonte and Guyer. ... Barring another prolonged slump....

Took a look at his splits and yes, Bruce, is consistently terrible in August and varied in September/October.

August OPS for 2012-2016: 695-727-607-477-552
Sept/October same years: 897-756-611-669-846.

He's 3-22 this August, but the hits were a double and two homers and he drew 3 walks, so the OPS is a not so bad 695

Hillbilly wrote:
If the Yankees really loved him do you really think they'd let 2.7 mill stand in their way?

On MLB now, it was stated that it was a luxury tax penalty issue for the Yanks. So yes, it was the money and the recent Yankees - the ones with Judge, Sanchez, Severino now are trying to reign in the years of stupid spending.

All the better for us. Their problem was our luck.

The guy still has to perform but especially for the price we paid I agree it's a massive upgrade over Almonte (not saying much).

Luckily we don't need him to be a savior, he's joining the reigning AL champions.

TFIR ... Yankees 2017 payroll is 223 mill.

2016 it was 227 mill.

In 2015 it was 228 mill.

In 2013 it was 243 mill.

Now you trying to tell me they are penny pinching cause they don't want the luxury tax on another 2.7 mill on a 223 mill payroll?

Sorry, have a hard time buying that. Maybe they were trying to get a good deal and don't want to have egg on their face so they're saying that. But please. Money has never ever stopped them. It didn't here either I'm sure.

And have you seen the offense lately? May not need a savior but needs something.

(payroll numbers according to spotrac.com http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/new-york-yan ... roll/2013/ )

I'm thinking it was due to jealousy/envy. The two NY teams don't make many trades with each other. Maybe the Mets didn't want to help out their rivals?

"It is complicated between the New York teams, who have not agreed to a trade in which players went both ways since Dec. 3, 2004 — when Felix Heredia was moved to the Mets for Mike Stanton.

The Yankees also had tried to obtain Lucas Duda from the Mets, who instead dealt him to the Rays. In that situation, the Yankees believed Tampa Bay had offered (Drew Smith) more than they were willing. In this situation, they were less positive about that."

Yeah, that I could buy. Maybe it is my small market complex but I just have a hard time believing that 2.7 mill stood in their way.

Bruce gets to the ballpark and he'll be available as a pinch hitter.

Cleveland Indians‏ @Indians 11 minutes ago
Roster move:
- OF Jay Bruce added to 25-man roster.
- INF Erik Gonzalez optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

Gonzalez sent down again instead of Urshela.

Happy 84th birthday!

Tom Withers‏ @twithersAP 4 minutes ago
#Indians option INF Erik Gonzalez to Columbus to make room for new OF Jay Bruce, who will be in uniform tonight at Tampa Bay.

Tito on Kipnis: "It's day to day. I think it was more precautionary than anything, at least that's the hope. We'll know more tomorrow."

Since he's been useless since his return, didn't hit in his rehab games, and wasn't so hot before, why not put him back on the DL, let him actually recover this time and give the fans their man and get Yandy Diaz up to try his luck with major league pitchers again. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Agree but I'd like Gonzalez to get an extended look there.

If Kipnis is DL'd he'd be eligible to come right back.

Kip is back today and needs more rehab, for his bat.