Blue Jays rumours: Jay Bruce deal reportedly dead

The pending deal sending Jay Bruce to the Toronto Blue Jays is reportedly dead following an issue that arose with one or more players during medical reviews

Cancel that Jay Bruce jersey order. For now.

After reports late into Monday night indicated that a three-way trade was in place and pending the review of player medicals, it appears to have fallen apart (or been put on a strong hold) at the 11th hour.

Jeff Passan added on to that report, revealing it was a “non-Bruce” player whose medicals caused the trade to be held up. Of course, while one of the prospects headed to Cincinnati could have triggered this, the smart money points to Michael Saunders and his surgically repaired knee.

The landscape of this trade has changed drastically over the past 12 hours, so it’s safe to continue expecting the unexpected.

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If the issue did, in fact, arise with the knee of Michael Saunders, that is not necessarily a surprise to the Blue Jays. Their medical team has worked with Saunders throughout his rehabilitation process, becoming familiar with the health of the knee and the risks involved. For Anaheim, this would be their first intimate look at the medicals. For them, too, it’s about risk appetite. This is all to say that, whatever Anaheim is (potentially) seeing, it’s not necessarily a surprise to Toronto.

It’s also critical not to judge the details of this trade given that they were not, and may not be, fully available. Given the great difference in salaries ($2.9 million for Saunders, $12.5 million for Bruce), It’s extremely likely that Cincinnati would be eating a significant chunk of that salary. The involvement of other players to balance finances or talent is possible, too.

Unless new life is breathed in to this deal, the Blue Jays are left with some bad P.R. brought on partly by themselves, and partly by poor luck. Besides, if this medical issue is with Saunders, the club had to think he would check out to attempt the deal initially.

Along with Jose Bautista‘s comments from the opening day of spring training, the Blue Jays are beginning to stockpile drama in the outfield, not depth.