The pending deal between the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels sending Jay Bruce to the Blue Jays, Michael Saunders to the Reds and prospects going to the Reds is dead, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the medical concern in the proposed three-team trade did not have to do with Saunders and his knee. Apparently a prospect with the Blue Jays, who was going to the Reds, caused the red flag. The trade is off for now, but could pipe up if a different prospect is exchanged.
If the deal would have went through, Bruce would figure to take over in left field for the Blue Jays and Saunders would battle for the left field job in Los Angeles. Saunders met with Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Gibbons to talk about trade reports.
"That's kind of the human element of it," Saunders said. "They made sure I wasn't paying any attention to the rumors and they assured me that they're just rumors and nothing more. I expect to be a Jay, they expect me to be a Jay and that's how I'm approaching this spring training."
"There's a lot of trade rumors, there's a lot of trade discussion," Atkins said. "We have them constantly. There's really nothing I can comment on about it."
Bruce removed the Blue Jays from his no-trade list earlier in the offseason, which had the club immediately interested. Obviously the team was interested enough to formulate a deal and if it was not for a failed physical by a minor league player, Bruce would currently be a Blue Jay outfielder.
Bruce is heading into the final year of his $51 million contract where he will earn a total of $12.5 million. He has an option set at $13 million for 2017 with a $1 million buyout. The 12th pick in the 2005 MLB Draft is in waiting mode about the possibility of a trade, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.
"I'm reading the same stuff everybody is putting out there,'' he said. "It's obvious the [Reds] are making an effort to get something done. We just have to wait and see. Like I've said from the beginning, the one thing I don't want to do is create a situation where I come in every day and answer the same questions.
"There's a lot of emotions that come with this. I tell myself all the time, 'Don't listen to the rumors,' but it's hard. I'm a human being. I pay attention to the stuff. It hasn't happened yet, and that's the bottom line. I'm here until I'm not. We'll see what happens.''