Report: Toronto Blue Jays Trade for Jay Bruce On Hold Due to Medicals
Right when it looked like the Toronto Blue Jays were going to acquire Jay Bruce, the trade fell through because of medical concerns with one player in the deal.
Rumours connecting the Toronto Blue Jays and Jay Bruce have floated around all offseason, and now apparently there is a third team involved to potentially help complete the trade.
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The only problem, however, is there are medical concerns with at least one of the players involved in the deal, which was suspected to be Michael Saunders. These concerns are large enough that the trade has been placed on hold because of it.
The proposed deal, according to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, would send Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders to the Angels, a collection of prospects to the Reds, and Bruce to the Jays.
Jays are said to like Jay Bruce very much. Word is, deal could be in works.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 22, 2016
3-way trade has legs. As said, Bruce to Jays, Saunders to angels.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 23, 2016
After a few hours of speculation, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported that the trade was put on hold due to medical reasons, specifically with a player other than Bruce.
Source: Talks are on hold in the potential Jay Bruce deal. Players were agreed upon, but issue came up with a non-Bruce player's medicals.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 23, 2016
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick suspected Saunders to be the player who possibly had medical issues, but this is still not known for certain. Given his long history of injuries, including his left knee injury last season, it is easy to see why someone would suspect Saunders to be the issue.
A report Tuesday morning from Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal seemed to dispel that notion, however.
Source: Medical concerns in Bruce deal involved #BlueJays minor leaguer, not Saunders. Player presumably was going to CIN. Trade off for now
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 23, 2016
While some may be very pleased to see this trade not happen, the condition of Saunders’ knee is a genuine concern going forward if a trade was nixed after reviewing medicals. Hopefully Saunders is healthy, but anytime you hear medicals and Saunders, there’s reason for concern.
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One thing to mention about this nixed deal, though, is that the Blue Jays seem to have found some extra money lying around in the payroll. Bruce would have cost the Blue Jays almost $10 million more than the $2.9 million contract Saunders is owed.
All winter long we’ve been told how the Blue Jays are financially strapped. Well, considering how close they were to acquiring Bruce, I’d say that’s not exactly the case. Of course, the Reds could be eating a substantial part of Bruce’s contract, which would change everything.
Without the full details of the proposed trade it’s tough to fully opine on whether it was a good or bad deal for the Jays. If it truly was a medical issue with a minor league player, I’d fully expect the three teams to go back to the drawing board and hammer out a trade.
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What do you think about Jay Bruce potentially coming to Toronto, Jays’ fans? Let us know your thoughts in the commons below.