Cleveland Indians: Not overreacting to the Jay Bruce news

Jay Bruce has returned to the New York Mets on a rather cheap deal, angering some Cleveland Indians fans who felt he should have been retained.

Cleveland Indians fans may have thought the offseason was over with the slow pace of MLB’s hot stove, but Jay Bruce decided to spice things up Wednesday night.

Wow, look at that salary.

Jay Bruce, the man who claimed to be looking for $80-90 million this offseason, has settled for a deal that may frustrate some Indians fans.

The $13 million per year is much less than what was required to keep Carlos Santana, and the combined 2018 salaries of Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley could have covered two years of Bruce’s deal.

But it doesn’t matter the salary because it became clear the Indians moved on from Bruce.

It is easy to say that picking up Brantley’s option and not trading Kipnis prevented the Indians from keeping Bruce. That may have been true if his salary was $18 million per year, but the Indians could have realistically given him $13 million.

A lot of factors go into the situation including Bruce’s health, his age and the fact his career numbers of .249/.319/.472 don’t exactly stand out as star numbers. Kipnis’ career slash of .268/.340/.422 looks just as good, and would be better if not for an injury-riddled year in 2017.

To put it into perspective:

Bruce had a fun run during his short time with the Indians, but it seems that an outfield mainly featuring Michael Brantley, Bradley Zimmer and Lonnie Chisenhall was always the plan. Austin Jackson may return to bolster the group while Brandon Guyer will be back as well.

Bruce is a nice piece in the lineup, but his career numbers are rather similar to those of Chisenhall as well. Hitting 30-plus home runs has helped him build some star power, but he isn’t actually a tremendous upgrade over what is already in town. It may be hard to believe, but the numbers don’t lie.

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It seems that a lot of the frustration with Bruce leaving goes back to those few who still claim the Dolans are cheap owners, or those who think Kipnis and Brantley are terrible baseball players. The offseason is always a time of overreactions, but it isn’t necessary when it comes to Jay Bruce.