Hot Stove Glows Faintly

A few months after the New York Mets traded Jay Bruce to Cleveland for next to nothing, they’re bringing him back. Bruce, who hit a career-high 36 home runs last year and turns 31 in the spring, has reportedly signed a three-year deal with the team for $39 million:

It’s a fair enough deal; Bruce has hit 25 or more home runs in seven of the last eight seasons, and while his defense is certainly nothing special (or close to it), he can provide some necessary outfield depth to a club whose situation currently involves many prayers for the healthy return of Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes. (He reportedly might also see some time at first base, after rookie Dom Smith struggled there last year.) A decent move on its own, then, but one that can easily seem frustrating in the context of a very quiet Mets offseason that seems unlikely to get any louder. Given the notorious stinginess of the team’s ownership, the chances of another big move look slim—meaning that the plan for improving on last year’s 70-win club is just... trying to recreate said club.

The Mets, of course, are far from the only team that has been mostly quiet this winter: