In 2017, Jay Bruce enjoyed his best season since 2013 by both traditional (36 HR, 101 RBI) and advanced (2.6 fWAR) metrics. Bruce did most of this work for the Mets before being traded to Cleveland for the Indians’ playoff run. Saying goodbye to Bruce in August 2017 seemed to make a lot of sense for the Mets—not only at the time for a team out of contention, but also with an eye to the future, with a seeming logjam at the corner outfield spots.
So it was a bit of a surprise when the Mets jumped back on the Bruce train relatively early in a slow-developing free agent market last offseason.