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With extra outfielder, Mets likely to trade Bruce
- Updated: December 8, 2016
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Entering the Winter Meetings this week, the Mets internally estimated their 2017 payroll at around $150 million. That’s a bit of a jump for a team that only recently eclipsed the nine-figure threshold, dipping below $80 million for a time earlier this decade.
Given the Mets’ current budget, it’s also somewhat unsustainable. The Mets would like to enter next season with a payroll closer to $140 million, which they plan to accomplish by trading a corner outfielder — likely Jay Bruce. General manager Sandy Alderson does not plan to reinvest the $13 million the Mets could potentially save from that deal fully into his relief corps, the roster’s lone remaining need.
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“I don’t want to discount the payroll as a factor,” Alderson said. “It is a factor, but I don’t know exactly where we’ll end up.”
With that as a backdrop, the Mets would prefer to …
