Seems like the Jays don't really need Bruce but neither do the Reds.
The bitter "prospect or two" strikes me as another corn cob insertion for the Reds, who really just need to dump Bruce's salary.
I find it odd the holdup is Saunder's (going to Angels from Toronto) knee....isn't Bruce at least as good as Saunders ? Both are outfielders, and Bruce as bad as Bruce has been, his career stats dwarf Saunders (so does his salary, maybe that's the problem). Why do they need Saunders (or Toronto in the deal, at all ? Bruce is at least equal value for Bruce, so couldn't they could just ship Bruce to the Amgels for the "prospects" they were sending to the Reds anyway ?
I suppose the Jays want Jay and apparently have for awhile. Jay as a Jay is A-OK.
But it would seem that the Jays have very little that interests the Reds, which surprises me considering some of the dead weight Walt has reeled in since the days of Laynce Nix and Todd Redmond.
So I guess the Angels have a prospect the Reds want but the Angels don't want Bruce. So the Angels must have concocted a way of unloading Saunders to trigger the deal.
But Toronto learns Saunders can't run.
Maybe the Jay's see Bruce as a reclamation project like E-5..You know, feed him full of HGH and make him a 40HR 1b, then a DH when he's gained about 50 pounds.
In that lineup, a home run a week is a much different deal. For the Reds, it's just a couple of RBIs. Plus, they figure they are going to lose Bautista, so it's kind of not a bad plan -- if Bruce can hit AL pitching in a domed ballpark.
The report I saw said it was the minor leaguer that had the health concern. Saunders has a history of injury, but reportedly is healthy heading into ST. Of course healthy heading into ST doesn't mean he's going to stay healthy or be productive. The Jay's may just be tired of not knowing what they're going to get out of him.
The Angels may be like a few other teams with large payrolls.....trying to avoid the luxury tax. Saunders is cheaper than JB by around $10M, so that may have factored in for the Angels.
Meanwhile the Reds dump more salary. Most of the rebuilding to this point has been in the Reds' bank account. Players involved may change, but I look for that deal to resurface.
...meanwhile Barry Larkin is trying to get Jay Bruce to swing on a more horizontal path instead of a nearly vertical one. An epiphany...especially if Larkin can get him to actually swing at strikes instead of balls 8 inches out of the zone.
Jay Bruce never had an on-plane swing. He isn't going to develop one in this lifetime with the adjustments MLB pitching has made to him. In case he's not up on recent events, MLB hasn't tried to throw a fastball for a strike on him in years. They don't have to. What a pity.
I hope I'm proven wrong, but IMO, Bruce may try a few ST drills to pacify Larkin, but when he steps into the MLB box, he's going back to be the same low focus, twitching, ADD afflicted, dump in the bucket with his head in RF foul ground swing-aholic he's always been.
Dunno how long or may last, but at least Bruce did attempt a bunt AND an opposite field swing away against the shift, in the same game. Maybe an old dog can at least try new tricks, huh ? Now if they can get Hamilton to get a bunt down they might both hit .250.
Part of this is probably the way opponents pitch him, so as to neutralize the short porch in right field. Bruce has not adjusted well in the past to the shifts.
Revisiting an old thread. It doesn't look like Bruce has had a whole lot of success with the Mets. I kind of hate to see that but we have grown used to it. He'd be having better numbers in Cincy maybe?
There's nothing that hurts performance more than the pressure guys put on themselves. Some guys excel after a trade, others flounder like JB. It's one of the intangibles that doesn't appear on the back of your baseball card. Until you see a guy in an unfamiliar situation, you never know how he's going to respond.
I don't think moving to the Mets helped Jay (larger parks in the NL East), but he stopped his hot hitting before the trade. He's now hitting in the .240's, and anyone that watched him the last 2 years should be happier with him this year. He's still on a career pace for HR and RBI, but to me, the bottom line is...what goes around comes around...and Jay Bruce has been trending toward his BA norm for a while. He's never going to win a batting title...and unless I'm wrong, I don't think he's going to be with the Mets too long...I don't think they will give him a pay raise to stay after next season, and may deal him this winter. He might be a better fit closer to home- but can't see the Astros fitting him in, maybe as a Ranger or even a D-Back. He would rake in Colorado.
Pull off the ball whiffaholics regression rate is probably similar to heroin addicts. Early this year, he looked more like Joey Votto going oppage on breaking balls, than Joey Votto did. Bruce seems to always fall back to the same twitchy head down the RF line lunger he always struggled being, though. The last few years, he's a guy worth having for about 2 months of the 6 month season. This isn't one of them.