C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

With Bruce in tow, 59 of 62 Reds have reported to Goodyear, Ariz.

Bruce, 28, is now the third-most tenured Red behind Phillips, Votto

Bruce had 26 home runs with 87 RBI in 2015

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Jay Bruce actually came into the Reds’ spring training clubhouse on Saturday night, set up his locker just so to be prepared for his 11th spring training as a Red, one many didn’t think he’d see.

On Sunday, Bruce officially reported and put on his Reds gear and worked out with his teammates two days before position players have to report to spring training.

Because of trade rumors — that are still rampant even as spring camps open — there was a distinct possibility that Bruce wouldn’t be in this clubhouse this year. Already gone are Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman, traded this offseason, as well as Mike Leake and Johnny Cueto, who were traded during the season last year.

Yet, there Sunday stood Bruce, now 28 (and 29 the day before Opening Day), as the Red with the third-most service time in the big leagues, behind Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto.

For now, at least, Bruce is a Red, right where he’s comfortable.

Because trade talk is more public than ever before, Bruce knows the team looked at moving him, and the team knows he knows, which could be awkward with some people, but not for Bruce.

Reds' Raisel Iglesias hopes more flexibility leads to stronger 2016

“No, not at all — if it were somewhere else, it’d be awkward right now,” Bruce said. “This is what I know, this organization has been much more to me than just a baseball team. I’ve been here since I was 18 years old, and this is all I know. I look forward to still being here and if something does happen, I completely understand. It’s part of the business. I mentioned before, obviously, I truly believe the Reds have to do everything they can to improve the organization and if they end up feeling that making a move with me is part of that plan, I respect them for that.”

Bruce was rumored to be moved at the trade deadline last year and again during the offseason. He is in the last year of his six-year deal, earning $12.5 million in 2016, but he does have a team option for one year at $13 million with a $1 million buyout for 2017, as well as a limited no-trade clause. Bruce can veto deals to eight different teams. Teammate Brandon Phillips has full no-trade rights and vetoed deals to the Nationals and Diamondbacks. Phillips has not yet officially reported to camp.

“It is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable to have players on your team at the trade deadline whose names are out there and are aware of the tenuous situation they’re in,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “I’m sure it’s very difficult for Walt (Jocketty), Mr. (Bob) Castellini and now Dick (Williams) to have it out there as well.”

If Bruce is uncomfortable, it doesn’t show. He made the rounds on Sunday, shaking hands, greeting old faces and new. Bruce noted there were 20 players in camp he hadn’t met, down from 21 only because he grew up playing against A.J. Morris in the Houston area.

Eugenio Suarez ready to be Reds' everyday third baseman

Here now, Bruce said all he can do is prepare himself for the upcoming season and not worry about any potential trade — “Until Opening Day comes and I walk out onto the field in Cincinnati, who knows what’s going to happen,” Bruce said. “I’m ready to go, I’m a Red until I’m not. It’s business as usual for me.”

That business, he hopes, is better than it has been the past two seasons. The last two seasons, he’s hit a combined .222/.288/.406 with 44 home runs. Of those 44 home runs, 26 came last season, when he had 87 RBI. Bruce struggled with a knee injury in 2014, when he hit just .217, but was healthy last year.

The irony is that the better he plays, the more value he has to the Reds as a trade piece. The Reds could keep him through the trade deadline and hope he’s more like the guy who was an All-Star in 2011 and 2012 and hit .262 with 109 RBI in 2013.

“Had I played better the last year and a half to two years, I would have definitely been moved,” Bruce said. “There’s definitely more of a possibility that I’d have already been traded. That’s just the way it is. That’s the game. I know good and well that I’m not the player I was last year and I’m not the player I was in 2014. The only way I can prove that is to go out and actually do that and get back to the real me.”