No deal: It ain’t over if you want to have Yogi included

There are a number of players in major-league history who could share a tale or two with all-stars Michael Saunders of the Blue Jays and the Reds’ Jay Bruce, who were almost involved in a spring deal. Some other nixed trades:

Wilmer Flores was in tears while playing shortstop for the New York Mets in a game just a few days before last year’s deadline. Word spread during the game of a deal sending Flores and injured Mets pitcher Zach Wheeler to Milwaukee for Carlos Gomez. New York GM Sandy Alderson blamed those who jumped the gun — via social media — for prematurely reporting the deal, which was nixed due to medical concerns.

In 1976, Oakland A’s owner Charlie Findley, certainly not new to controversy and sensational headlines, tried to sell star players Vida Blue, Joe Rudi, and Rollie Fingers, for a combined $3.5 million. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the moves, saying the deal “was not in the best interests of baseball.”

Shortly after the 2003 World Series, the Texas Rangers apparently had a deal that would have sent among others, Alex Rodriguez — then baseball’s best player — to Boston for Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra and prospect Jon Lester. The trade fell through because the players’ association objected to the deal since A-Rod’s contract was going to be restructured so he could take less money to play with a winner. Rodriguez ended up with the Yankees two months later in a deal for Alfonso Soriano. The Red Sox had the last laugh, ending up winning the World Series in 2004, with Ramirez one of the hitting heroes of the post-season.

Perhaps the ultimate nixed deal: The Yankees and Red Sox willing to swap Joe DiMaggio and Ted Willaims. That was in 1947, and little was known about the deal until the New York Times wrote about it in 1980. The Yankees’ Dan Topping and Boston’s Tom Yawkey apparently tentatively agreed to the swap while having a drink at a bar on West 51st street in Manhattan. It fell through the next day because Boston asked for one more player: Yogi Berra. Mark Zwolinski