Even in Spring Training, interesting trades can percolate:
3-way trade has legs. As said, Bruce to Jays, Saunders to angels.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 23, 2016
deal on table has bruce to #jays, michael saunders to #angels, prospects to #reds
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 23, 2016
Source: #Athletics pursued Saunders before getting K. Davis. Would have given up “B” prospect with Bruce going to TOR. @jeffpassan on it.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 23, 2016
Three-team deal involving #Angels, as reported by @jonheyman, likely would follow similar structure. Minor leaguer or two to #Reds.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 23, 2016
The Reds sure do love them some three-team trades that result in them acquiring a prospect package that folks question. Such was the case in the Todd Frazier deal, and, if they get Angels “B” prospects for Bruce, it’ll happen again. To be sure, Bruce doesn’t have a ton of trade value after two straight extremely down offensive seasons, but the Angels have one of the thinnest farm systems in baseball, so I can’t imagine this ending in a notable haul for the Reds.
If a deal goes through, it’ll be yet another slight shift in the NL Central, making the Reds a little worse (assuming Bruce was going to bounce back slightly this year), and disproportionately helping the Cubs, Cardinals, and Pirates in the Wild Card race.
UPDATE: Sounds like something will happen:
Now hearing that this Angels-Blue Jays-Reds trade is close to being finished.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) February 23, 2016
Source: Teams reviewing medicals in Bruce/Saunders trade. If completed, Bruce to #BlueJays, Saunders to #Angels, prospect(s) to #Reds.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 23, 2016
That’s not a nothing step, as each of Bruce and Saunders have had issues, but most deals that reach this stage seem to finish up.