The Reds are expected by rivals to become a full-fledged seller in coming days, perhaps shortly after the All-Star Game here, but to this point the one name being heard is Bruce, which is somewhat curious since they have multiple big players who are free agents after the year, and Bruce isn't one of them.
Bruce has been hot in recent weeks, raising his average from .160 to .251 and pushing his OPS above .800 (it's .806). So it's no surprise the Reds aren't currently offering to pay down significant money on Bruce's deal, which guarantees about $19.5 million through the end of 2016. Bruce makes $12 million this year and $12.5 million next year, and has a $13-million option for 2017 with a $1 million buyout. He has a no-trade provision to eight teams, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.
Teams considering outfielders this trade season include the Angels, Pirates, Royals and Giants. The Blue Jays may, too, but their priority is a starting pitcher, followed by a back-end bullpen piece. The Yankees may seek a hitter, but it's more likely to be one who bats righthanded. The Angels are one team that's been looking for a lefty bat since things didn't work out there with Josh Hamilton this year.
Once the Reds decide to sell, and rivals suggest they expect that day is coming, they should have quite an interesting sale. Ace pitcher Johnny Cueto and solid starter Mike Leake are free agents after the year and would be expected to be part of any sale, as could be reliever Manny Parra and others.
Rival teams are excitedly wondering whether Aroldis Chapman, baseball's hardest throwing pitcher and the best closer in the NL. Chapman isn't a free agent until after 2016, but the Reds may want to avoid going into his free agent year without a contract.
The Reds have been delaying a sale, but some believe it's natural their thinking could change after the All-Star Game, which has created a lot of excitement here in this great baseball city. The Reds are 39-47, 15 1/2 games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central and 7 1/2 games behind the second wild card.
According to Fangraphs, the Reds' chances to make the playoffs are down to 0.1 percent (or 1 in 1,000) though other sites are slightly more optimistic.
Reds GM Walt Jocketty didn't return a text.
There may be no better time to at least gauge interest in Bruce, as he has a .309/.389/.551 with 17 doubles, eight home runs and 26 RBI over 49 games, as the Cincinnati Enquirer recently noted. Bruce was hitting .162 on May 14, the newspaper also noted. Bruce has played superbly over the last 3 1/2 weeks, hitting .357 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 13 RBI over 22 games.
"People look at him and see he's at .245 or wherever he is, but this guy was at .160 in May," Reds manager Bryan Price told the hometown paper. "That's a lot of at-bats and a lot of time to make up in as far as getting your average up. For those of us who have been around Jay for a fair bit, you always anticipate that he was going to get through it.
"You just hope the frustration wasn't something he couldn't get away from. He knows he's a good player. He fought through it. He put in a lot of work on his swing and his approach. He's getting better pitches to hit in the zone. We're bearing the fruit of that approach."
Bruce told the paper, "I had a bad first month and 10 days. I left myself with a hole to dig out of. There's still a lot work to do. I'm still not close to where I want to be. I'm continuing to get better."
