The Cincinnati Reds unsuccessfully shopped Jay Bruce at the 2015 MLB trade deadline, but the team appears more motivated to move the right fielder with the offseason officially underway.
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Reds Could Move Bruce as Rebuild Gets Underway
Tuesday, Nov. 10
According to FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Reds "finally are willing to trade" Bruce along with closer Aroldis Chapman, as members of the front office have publicly stated a desire to shake up the roster in hopes of contending down the line.
"We’re in a tough division," President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty said, per Rosenthal. "We’ve got to be realistic about it."
The Reds attempted to deal Bruce at the deadline, but according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, the trade fell apart when they had "second thoughts" about the return they would be receiving from the New York Mets.
"We still wanted to be somewhat protective of our club last year," Jocketty added, per Rosenthal. "We had certain guys we just didn’t want to move. We started at the deadline knowing that we would gear up—’16 would be a transition year and in ’17 and ’18, we think we could be stronger and more competitive."
According to Spotrac, Bruce is due an affordable $12.5 million next season before Cincinnati decides whether it wants to exercise a $13 million club option in 2017.
The two-time All-Star slumped in conjunction with the Reds' slide into the NL Central cellar. During the 2015 season, Bruce batted .226 with a shaky .294 on-base percentage while hitting 26 home runs and driving in 87 runs.
Rosenthal didn't peg potential suitors for the 28-year-old, but considering Bruce is under team control for two more seasons, he should be an attractive option to prospective contenders in need of cost-effective power.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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