The New York Mets apparently have a strict preference as to which of their outfielders they would like to keep and which they would like to deal.
According to a report by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on Wednesday, the Mets are making it clear that they don’t intend to deal Michael Conforto or Juan Lagares and instead strongly prefer to move Jay Bruce.
The Mets have made it clear Conforto and Lagares are going nowhere. Again, their overwhelmingly strong preference is to trade Bruce.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) November 30, 2016
Conforto, 23, and Lagares, 27, did struggle with injuries and ineffectiveness last season. But with the former club-controlled through 2021, the latter through 2020, and both making team-friendly money, it’s easy to see why the Mets wouldn’t want to deal the two talented outfielders near the nadirs of their respective values.
On the other hand, the 29-year-old Bruce is owed $13 million in 2017 and will become a free agent in 2018. We heard recently that the Mets were discussing the framework of a possible Bruce trade, so it looks like he might be an odd man out in a Mets outfield featuring Conforto, Lagares, and the newly re-signed Yoenis Cespedes.
