The Yankees didn't go down easily, until they did.

Three separate times the Yankees managed to come from behind against the Blue Jays. But every time they managed to tie it, the Blue Jays came right back to retake the lead. And after Toronto took a lead for the fourth time, the Yankees couldn't come up with one last answer. The Blue Jays came away with a 5-4 win over the Yankees in the series finale.

Toronto got on the board early in the top of the first. Jose Reyes led off the game with an infield single, followed by Melky Cabrera lacing a double to right. Greene then got Jose Bautista to ground out, but that scored Reyes. Shane Greene escaped the inning with no more damage done, but the Blue Jays now had a 1-0 lead.

Greene settled down after that, but so did the Yankees' offense. Through four innings, the Yankees managed just one hit against J.A. Happ.

In the top of the fifth, the Blue Jays' offense picked up another run. Juan Francisco led off the top of the fifth inning with a home run that made it 2-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees finally got on the board. Chase Headley hit a one-out, solo home run to cut the Blue Jays' lead in half. The next person up was Francisco Cervelli, and he too went deep. Headley and Cervelli went back-to-back and suddenly the game was tied.

In the top of the sixth, the Blue Jays took the lead right back. Dan Johnson hit a one-out single and came around to score when Colby Rasmus doubled. After the double, Greene's day would be done. He went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks. David Huff came in and got two outs to keep the deficit at one run.

But in the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees got that run back thanks to a bit of luck. With one out in the inning, Derek Jeter reached on a single. Jacoby Ellsbury came up next. After a ten-pitch at bat, Ellsbury worked a walk, putting two on with one out. Carlos Beltran came up next but he grounded into a force out at third. That left the inning up to Brian McCann. McCann grounded one to second, but Bautista couldn't handle the throw to first. That allowed McCann to reach safely and Ellsbury scored, tying the game at three.

Huff remained in the game for the top of the seventh, but after allowing two-straight singles, Dellin Betances was brought in. It got pretty nerve-wracking, but Dellin got out of the jam and kept the game tied.

After the Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, Betances came back out for the eighth. He got out of trouble the inning before, but in the eighth, he got himself right back in some. Betances walked Rasmus to start the inning and then threw away a pick-off throw to first, which allowed Rasmus to go all the way to third. Munenori Kawasaki then hit a fly out to left field that was deep enough to score Rasmus and make it 4-3. Betances came back and got a strikeout for the second out, but would be pulled after that. Adam Warren came in and got the last out in the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees rallied yet again. Brett Gardner led off the inning with a single. Jeter came up next and very predictably laid down a bunt. Ellsbury then flew out, leaving the inning up to Beltran. Beltran wound up singling, scoring Gardner and tying the game again.

But in the top of the ninth, the Blue Jays once again took the lead. Cabrera reached when he hit a one-out single off David Robertson. Bautista came up next. While he wound up grounding into a fielder's choice at second, he would steal second during the next at bat, putting the go ahead run in scoring position. Dioner Navarro then dropped a single into right-center field. That scored Bautista and made it 5-4 Toronto.

In the bottom of the ninth, there would not be a fourth comeback. The Blue Jays sealed a 5-4 win and a series win over the Yankees.

The Yankees will now head to Texas for a series against the Rangers. Tomorrow's starters will be David Phelps and Yu Darvish and first pitch will be at 8:05 eastern.

Box score.

After a 5-4 victory this afternoon capped a series victory against New York, it seems unlikely that the Yankee Stadium losing streak will have to be talked about ever again this season. A back and forth affair came down to the ninth inning where Dioner Navarro drove in Jose Bautista against Yankees closer David Robertson, while Casey Janssen closed out the game in the bottom half.

The scoring got started early in the afternoon in the first inning with Bautista displaying some nice situational hitting by chopping it to the right side of the infield to score Jose Reyes from third. The Blue Jays almost added another run in the fourth inning when third baseman Munenori Kawasaki singled to right field, but Dan Johnson was gunned out at home by right fielder Zelous "is jealous I'm not Zack" Wheeler.

The scoreline finally changed in the fifth inning when Juan Francisco smashed a Shane Greene slider deep into the right field seats to make it 2-0 Toronto. The lead was quickly erased in the bottom half though, as Chase Headley and Francisco Cervelli went back-to-back on two fastballs off of starter J.A. Happ.

Toronto took the lead once again in the next inning as Colby Rasmus doubled home Dan Johnson, which chased Yankee starter Shane Greene from the game. The bottom half saw the lead relinquished once again as Brett Cecil allowed an inherited runner in Jacoby Ellsbury to come home on a Brian McCann single hit into the shift. Munenori Kawasaki, playing shallow right field, got the throw off in time but Jose Bautista was unable to collect it on the short hop at first base.

A big opportunity presented itself in the seventh inning as the Blue Jays loaded the bases with Dioner Navarro stepping up to the plate. Unfortunately Brian McCann was much more decisive today than yesterday and properly fielded a grounder at first base and got the ball home for a force out. With the bases still loaded Dan Johnson then had a chance to repeat his heroics from Saturday afternoon, but didn't.

The Sanchize came on to pitch the home half of the seventh and got three straight groundouts, mixing in 98 mph fastballs with knee-buckling curveballs. The Blue Jays ONCE AGAIN took the lead in the eighth as a brutal pickoff attempt at first base by Dellin Betances advanced Colby Rasmus all the way to third. A Kawasaki sac fly made it 4-3 Blue Jays with Aaron Sanchez once again coming out for the bottom of the eighth.

Unfortunately it is possible to get a hit off the highly-touted right-hander, as Brett Gardner singled off a 97 mph heater. A sac bunt that just oozed class by the GOAT Derek Jeter advanced Gardner to second where he was eventually driven home by Carlos Beltran. Sanchez was kind of up in the zone all day, but it was still a fairly impressive outing:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

The series victory was on the line as the teams went to the ninth inning locked at 4-4. Joe Girardi decided to not be a slave to the save and tossed out David Robertson to face the meat of the Blue Jays lineup. A Melky Cabrera single quickly led to a force out at second base on a Jose Bautsita grounder thanks to a great play by Chase Headley. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise though, as Bautista timed Robertson's high leg kick to perfection and stole second base without a throw. Dioner Navarro then came through in the clutch and looped a Robertson cutter to right field that easily scored Bautista.

Thankfully the bottom of the ninth was free of excessive sweating as Casey Janssen sat down three straight Yankees to collect his 16th save of the season. The victory locked up the third straight series win for the Blue Jays and pushed the team to 7-3 in their last 10 games. Aaron Sanchez also picked up his first major league win, which is exciting if you're into those types of things.

Players of note today include:

• J.A. Happ went 5.1 innings allowing three earned runs on four hits.
• Melky Cabrera and Jose Reyes both went 2-5 igniting the top of the lineup.
• Colby Rasmus was 1-2 with another two walks in a monster game for the centre fielder.
• Dan Johnson had a rough game going 1-4 with a walk, but leaving five men on base.

Jays of the Day are Casey Janssen (.195 WPA), Melky Cabrera (.133), Dioner Navarro (.128), and Colby Rasmus (.401). Suckage Jays are Dan Johnson (-.121) and Aaron Sanchez (-.116), but I am rescinding Aaron's because he is exciting and tall and good at baseball.

This graph really shows how many times the Blue Jays tried to hand this game back to the Yankees (extra touch thanks to Minor Leaguer):

The Blue Jays will now fly to Boston for a three-game midweek set with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The probables for tomorrow are R.A. Dickey and Clay Buchholz, while Marcus Stroman is set to take on Rubby De La Rosa on Tuesday evening. SERIES WINS! YANKEE STADIUM STREAK SNAPPED! SECOND PLACE! BASEBALL!

While I was at my own ball teams home diamond playing the second half of an afternoon doubleheader, the Toronto Blue Jays did the impossible and grabbed their second win in a row at Yankee Stadium after losing seventeen in a row and also took the three game series two games to one. I also missed out on some prospect porn today as I worked 3-9 shift after concluding the doubleheader, so I'll quickly recap what went on in minor league baseball action for the Toronto Blue Jays affiliates today. Feels like forever since I've done one of these, sorry Tom.

Buffalo Bisons 9, Lehigh Valley Ironpigs 4

The Bisons defeated the IronPigs today by a final of 9-4 thanks much in part to a seven run third inning for the Bisons offense against the other Reyes that has appeared in a Blue Jays uniform. Kevin Pillar had a solid game for the Herd in which he grab a pair of hits and nabbed three bags. Old friend Brad Mills started for his new AAA club and didn't get off to the greatest start in the International League after some very nice work with Nashville in the Pacific Coast League prior to coming back to the Jays organization. Former top prospect Kyle Drabek allowed one run in a pair of innings in relief of the aforementioned Mills.

via i.imgur.com

via i.imgur.com

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9, Harrisburg Senators 7

New Hampshire's game in Harrisburg was cancelled in the bottom of the 12 inning with one out due to rain. The Fisher Cats scored three times in the top of the 12th inning to take the lead 9-6 then the Senators scored one in the inning before play was suspended. Dalton Pompey is really starting to heat up in New Hampshire as he went three for four with a three bagger, a walk. Pompey along with two of his teammates were also caught trying to advance a base via the stolen base by none other than Moonlight Jeroloman. The old man on the Fisher Cats Cory Aldridge went two for three with a pair of long balls and drove in three runs. Mickey Storey pitched a pair of scoreless innings in this one for the Fisher Cats with three strikeouts after being bumped up to AA about a week back.

Charlotte Stone Crabs 9, Dunedin Blue Jays 2

The D-Jays added one to the loss column today as they fell to the visiting Charlotte Stone Crabs who pounded out 17 hits en route to the victory. Dunedin starter Efrain Nieves didn't get off to the greatest start as he allowed three Stone Crabs to cross the plate in just the second inning. Reliever Wil Browning didn't help much either as he allowed four runs in his lone inning of work in the top of the 8th inning, Maxx Tissenbaum started the scoring for the Stone Crabs in the eighth with a solo dinger off of Browning. Kevin Patterson's bat showed some signs of life today as he went three for four with a solo homer, the three hit performance bumped his average to .199 on the year.

via i.imgur.com

via i.imgur.com

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Burlington Bees 2

The Lansing Lugnuts defeated the Burlington Bees in a fifteen inning thriller in front of just over a thousand fans inside of the Bees home ballpark Community Field. Youngster Dawel Lugo had the game winning hit for the Lugnuts as he ripped a line drive into right field with the bases loaded to score Derrick Loveless. The Lugnuts received some terrific work out of the bullpen from their relievers, the most impressive perhaps was Francisco Gracesqui who pitched four shutout frames scattering to hits and ringing up four to get the win. Gracesqui was recently promoted from Vancouver and was pitching in just his second game with Lansing. On the offensive side, Mitch Nay had a standout performance as he went three for six with two doubles and a walk.

via i.imgur.com

via i.imgur.com

Spokane Indians 4, Vancouver Canadians 2

The Vancouver Canadians lost by a final score of 4-2 as they were unable to overcome the four run deficit that Zak Wasilewski put them in after he loaded the bases to start the first inning, all four came around to score. Vancouver received some sterling work from everyone that pitched in relief, starting with Mark Biggs, to Alberto Tirado, to Brett Barber then finally ending with Adaric Kelly. Franklin Barreto went one for three with a double and a walk in the loss whilst recently drafted Max Pentecost wore the collar (and sombrero) as he went o'fer four with three strikeouts.

via i.imgur.com

via i.imgur.com

Danville Braves 2, Bluefield Blue Jays 1

The Bluefield Blue Jays lost today to the Danville Braves in a 12 inning pitchers duel in front of the fans at Bowen Field, home of the Bluefield Blue Jays. Bluefield's lineup isn't exactly one that a scout would like to see as the only well known prospect in it would be Rowdy Tellez, Gabriel Cenas and maybe catcher Danny Jansen. Josh Almonte was very successful at the plate for the Blue Jays as he went three for five with a stolen base and a runs scored (he was also picked off and caught stealing but lets only report the positive, okay?). 6'5" southpaw Evan Smith started for Bluefield and pitched five scoreless frames scattering five hits, whilst walking and striking out one, he induced nine groundouts and just one flyout.

via i.imgur.com

via i.imgur.com

GCL and DSL Blue Jays had the day off

Carlos Santana isn't going anywhere, but Chris Antonetti is keeping his phone lines open regarding just about everything else

The weekend wasn't a total writeoff, as the Tribe managed a dominant win at KC to avoid the sweep yesterday. Will that provide the momentum needed for a second-straight magical playoff run?

Yesterday's game: Indians 10, Royals 3

Carlos Santana put on another showcase performance to silence the CleCommers, while Danny Salazar didn't pitch totally terribly. Yan Gomes and, gasp, Ryan Raburn got in on the fun, too! The Indians ended a five-game losing streak and a nightmare roadtrip with a resounding win.

• LGT recap (Jason Lukehart)
• Cleveland.com recap (Paul Hoynes)
• Indians.com recap (Jordan Bastian)

Indians news & notes

Indians exploring options as trade deadline nears | Indians.com - The Shaptonetti regime's trade success has arguably been its greatest strength. Can they pull a rabbit out of their collective hat to spark a surge in late 2014? Chris Antonetti refuses to talk specifics, but reassures Jordan Bastian that the FO is leaving no stone unturned:

"We're exploring a wide variety of things... Big, small. Anything and everything at this point."

Salazar finds form with 7's K's against KC | Indians.com - Danny Salazar 2014 looked a lot like Danny Salazar 2013 yesterday, and a step closer to the pitcher we were all hoping for. His solid performance left Yan Gomes and Terry Francona, among others, impressed and encouraged.

Santana's homerun tear continues | Cleveland.com - Look, you know Carlos Santana is having a helluva hot streak when even the CleCommers ackowledge it. Carlos credits a lot of his improvement to settling down and playing just one position. It's hard to say how much the 3B experiement really cost us in terms of his production earlier this year, but this seems like one of those things that had an obvious effect yet will never show up in the stats.

Cabrera returns, Kipnis rests, Chiz sick, and Bourn's rehab | Cleveland.com - There's still no timeframe for teh return of Michael Bourn, but it will almost certainly involve a rehab assignment. Meanwhile, Lonnie Chisenhall missed his second game in a row with "intestinal turmoil."

Tidbits from around MLB

• Over at Fangraphs, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor talks about the physical and psychological aspects of the shift

• Sports On Earth waxes on the end of an era of longevity for pitchers and managers, and also discusses the downfall of a Phillies team built to dominate (with a focus on the potential trade of LGFT Cliff Lee)

• NBC Sports collects a photo set of the new plaques for the 2014 Hall of Fame class, including Jason's favorite and least favorite players of all time

• Also at NBC Sports, Chris Archer is the latest to comment on how much of a jackass David Ortiz is after admiring a third inning homer

• The Blue Jays are "monitoring" the market for Asdrubal Cabrera

Whatever interest #BlueJays had in Rios was fleeting, sources say. Jays monitoring market; #Indians’ Cabrera an option.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 27, 2014

Let's jump right into the speculation pool on a Monday morning, shall we?

Yankees interested in Josh Willingham

The Yankees may actually prefer Willingham to Marlon Byrd or Alex Rios, perhaps partly because of Willingham's reasonable $7 million salary and status as a free agent after the season...

It's not just Willingham that the Bombers are checking out, but as Heyman points out there are a couple of things working in his favor. Hammer is hitting .219/.361/.421 in 57 games, including ten home runs.

Why it makes sense

At a surprising 54-50, the Yankees are just four games behind the catchable Orioles and are currently one game behind the Blue Jays for the second Wild Card spot. The team obviously needs starting pitching, but if there is a smart upgrade to make on the position player side there's no doubt they'd like to generate more offense, too.

With Jacoby Ellsbury in center, the Yankees are mostly fielding Brett Gardner (.272/.349/.419) in left and Ichiro Suzuki (.273/.324/.320) in right. Carlos Beltran (.228/.287/.427) is getting the starts at designated hitter, but - per Heyman - New York is concerned about whether or not he can stay healthy. By all accounts, Willingham is healthy and, looking at the lines of those three players, there's no doubt that he could provide New York with some extra punch.

To be honest, with the way their roster is constructed, adding yet another mid-30s veteran might be the only way that the Yankees can make one last run at a post-season. Derek Jeter is retiring after this season, and with not a lot of help on the horizon in 2015 it makes sense for Cashman and the Steinbrenners to give themselves one last shot. This organization is in serious trouble.

Why it doesn't make sense

Even with Willingham, the odds of the Yankee rotation and a batting order of has-beens making any real headway in October is close to zero. Teams lower than them in the standings would stand a better chance of winning a playoff series. And for an organization playing on borrowed time, is flipping even a marginal prospect the smart thing to do for a franchise that (regardless of its nearly inexhaustible resources) has a long and painful road to travel in terms of spending themselves out of their hole? It's an overused analogy, but the Yankees trading for Willingham is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's still going down.

The Orioles and Kurt Suzuki

Batlimore has been using Nick Hundley and Caleb Joseph after losing Matt Wieters for the year with elbow concern. They like the pair defensively, but Suzuki would be an offensive upgrade.

Suzuki has to seem an attractive target for a number of teams in contention, not just Baltimore, but now that the Cardinals are out of the picture nobody else has yet to be publicly linked to the Minnesota backstop. Armed with a .309/.367/.392 triple slash, he would constitute and upgrade almost everywhere.

Why it makes sense

In the AL East, the Orioles know that the Yankees will do anything they can to keep their heads above water for one last chance in October. There's also a talented team in the Blue Jays, who have spent plenty of time in first place this season. If Baltimore was in the Wild Card race, they'd own the second spot and are just as catchable. Baltimore made the post-season as the Wild Card in 2012, but otherwise hasn't been there since 1997. This club needs to do whatever it can to secure a post-season appearance.

Caleb Joseph (.586 OPS) and Nick Hundley (.549 OPS) are eminently replaceable, regardless of how much Baltimore management might like their defensive games. A catcher that can actually provide value on the offensive side of the ball would give a lineup featuring a few good producers but also a couple that aren't very reliable, another option. Depth is king in a pennant chase, and Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Manny Machado need all the help they can get.

Why it doesn't make sense

The Twins won't let Suzuki walk for less than an overpay, and for as much as Baltimore needs the help I don't think ownership or the front office is desperate enough to give Minnesota what they'd ask for. Instead, the Twins will continue to try to re-sign their catcher, and because both sides want to get something done it will eventually happen.

Final thoughts

If I had to put a number on either of these guys, I'd say that there's a 70% chance that Willingham goes by the deadline and just a 30% chance that the Twins move Suzuki. Minnesota will be content to take what they can get for the expiring contract of their aging left fielder, but because they see future value in a catcher on a career year it will be difficult to convince them it's in their best interest to part with him.

What do you think? Do you think either of these guys get flipped?

In a new series, we'll look back at the week in Yankee baseball, highlight some notable performances (both good and bad), and name the players of the week!

Record: 4-3 (3-1 against the Rangers, 1-2 against the Blue Jays)

The Yankees' week got off to a good start against Texas, and while they may have lost a totally winnable game in Game 1 (young righty Miles Mikolas was sporting a 10.05 ERA coming into New York) they still managed to take the series against the Rangers, winning the last three games.  Those wins included a thrilling 14 inning victory, as well as a rare triumph over Yu Darvish (2.80 FIP in 2014) in a game shortened to just five innings due to a horrendous deluge.  While they carried some of this momentum into the series against Toronto, taking the opener 6-4, some poor defense and mediocre relief pitching cost the Yankees the next two games, giving the Jays their first series win in the New York since 2012.

Quick hits:

Cervelli's huge week - Francisco Cervelli had a monster week, hitting .391 over the past six games with four doubles and a home run.  He now has a seven-game hitting streak, and this hot streak could be coming at the perfect time for the Yankees, as Cervelli appears to be garnering some interest on the trade market. While Cervelli has never been that good at the plate, he's never been a terrible hitter either - a lot of teams would gladly take a catcher with a lifetime 97 wRC+.  With his decent track record and recent hot hitting, now could be the perfect time to trade Cervelli.

Shane Greene's shame - Shane Greene had an absolutely dreadful defensive game on Monday.  Greene made three errors in the same game, helping the Texas Rangers to their 4-2 win, and making one miscue in particular that will no doubt be on everyone's list of the worst plays of the 2014 season.  Instead of discussing any of them, let's just bask in their terribleness:

Credit: CBS Sports

Yeesh, Shane.

Position Player of the week: Chase Headley

This could easily go to Cervelli, but since Headley got a walk-off single in his first game as a Yankee, he gets the nod.  Headley has been on fire since he got traded to the Yankees from San Diego, getting a hit in each of his first six games.  After hitting for a 122 wRC+ in the first three weeks of July with San Diego, he's hit .348/.565/.913 since arriving in the Bronx, and has added some stellar glove work at third to his hot bat.  He'll be an improvement in the field and at the plate, and looks like another terrific Ninja Cash move.

Pitcher of the week: Brandon McCarthy

The other new Yankee recently acquired by Ninja Cash, McCarthy has looked quite good in his first three starts in pinstripes.  In those three games, he's given up just three earned runs in almost 19 innings, amassing 17 strikeouts as well.  In the series finale against the Rangers, McCarthy threw six innings of one-run, four-hit ball, keeping the Yankees close until the offense finally got going in the fourth and fifth innings.  We all knew McCarthy wasn't as bad as his stats in Arizona, but he's looked like a steal so far, and is without a doubt an upgrade over Vidal Nuno.

The Prospect Watch section of MLB.com released their midseason Top 20 lists last night, with the rankings including recently drafted players from this June's entry draft. The Blue Jays have a new name at the top of the list as Daniel Norris jumped over Aaron Sanchez to grab the #1 spot in the organization. The people at Prospect Watch consider Norris a top-of-the-rotation starter with his newfound command and four pitches that are at least average, although his fastball is considered a '60' grade pitch.

Aaron Sanchez comes in at number two and has done nothing so far this season to warrant not being in the top two of every single version of these lists that are released. The Blue Jays third 'sexy' prospect rightfully comes in at #3 as switch-hitting outfielder Dalton Pompey continues his meteoric rise up the charts this season. Everything about Pompey sounds positive and it seems that the Canadian could very well be up with the big league squad sometime next season:

Pompey has always had an advanced approach at the plate and he's become more adept at working the count and drawing walks, important qualities for a top-of-the-order hitter. He is a plus runner and knows how to use his speed on the base paths. It also helps him cover a lot of ground in center field.

The first of the 2014 Blue Jays draftees comes in at #4 as righty Jeff Hoffman makes an appearance despite still being a long way from starting professional ball thanks to his Tommy John surgery. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that a pitcher who was selected only two months ago and is almost a year away from throwing again slots right into #4 in the organization's top prospects.

Hoffman hasn't fully grown into his lanky 6-foot-4 frame, yet at times he works in the mid 90s and hits 98 mph with his fastball. His big-breaking curveball can be equally devastating and his changeup can be a plus pitch at times. He throws a decent amount of strikes but will need to refine his command to become a frontline starter in the big leagues.

Seemingly forgotten former top prospect in Mexican Roberto Osuna gets the #5 spot as he begins his return from Tommy John surgery. The young righty is still just 19-years-old so his massive drop off preseason lists this year may have been a little bit of an overreaction.

The second of the Blue Jays first round picks in this year's draft comes in at #6 with Max Pentecost, who was drafted 11th overall. The former Kennesaw State man has already been promoted to Vancouver and has had no problem at all adjusting to the level of competition in the Northwest League. Pentecost is also rated the #9 catcher in all of baseball, which is definitely a nice thing to see.

Slots #7-#9 are filled with well-known prospects in Mitch Nay, Franklin Barreto, and D.J. Davis who haven't done much of note this season either positive or negative. (As many people have noted, it's a little unfair and lazy to say that Barreto has done nothing positive this year. In Vancouver the 18-year-old has an OBP of .401 and a wRC+ of 144 which is pretty impressive for a teenager in the Northwest League.) The Blue Jays second round pick this season in Sean Reid-Foley finishes out the top 10, which isn't all that surprising considering he went into the draft ranked as one of the best high school pitchers available.

Spots #11-#15 are littered with prospects who used to appear much higher on these lists. Sean Nolin is still plugging away in Buffalo and will eventually get a chance to show his stuff once again in Toronto, likely with a better result than the first time around. Dawel Lugo is one of the other potential shortstops to crack the list, along with Franklin Barreto and Richard Urena, although there's a fair chance that both Lugo and Barreto end up having to switch positions as they advance through the minor leagues. Matt Dean's bat comes in at #13 and his move to first base has not hurt his stock too much thanks to his massive power potential.

Catcher of the future A.J. Jimenez has dropped down the list a bit thanks to his bat stagnating, but his defense is still above average and it seems likely that the Puerto Rican will be a September call-up this season. Following Jimenez is a prospect who hasn't blown up as much as many thought he would in righty Alberto Tirado, who slots in at #15. Right behind him is another young pitcher on the Vancouver Canadians who is having some problems this year in Jairo Labourt.

One of the few major league-ready players on the list is John Stilson, who slots in at #17 thanks to how close he is to his ceiling. Pitching out of the bullpen in Buffalo, the righty should get the call to Toronto sometime this year when the bullpen needs some more help than just Esmil Rogers.

Two lottery tickets at this point in #18 Chase De Jong and #20 Matt Smoral sandwich young 18-year-old shortstop in Richard Urena who slots in at #19. The two tall 20-year-old pitchers have struggled this season, but are still filled with upside and could take a jump up the list next season if they are able to put it all together in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Meanwhile, Urena has impressed in Bluefield with the bat and has the best chance of the young shortstops in the organization to stay at the position.

The website also released a Top 100 list for the league as a whole, with Twins outfielder Byron Buxton leading the pack. Somewhat surprisingly, four Blue Jays players made the list including Daniel Norris (29th), Aaron Sanchez (40th), Dalton Pompey (95th), and Jeff Hoffman (97th). The highest 2014 draftee on the list was NC State left-hander Carlos Rodon who slotted in at #23.

Cabrera isn't an elite shortstop by any measure, but the Jays could use him for their depth-starved infield.

The Toronto Blue Jays are in prime position to make a run for the AL East crown, and FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the team's interest has shifted from Rangers outfielder Alex Rios to Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Interestingly, the Indians trail the Jays by 3.5 games in the race for the second wild card, though the teams are trending in opposite directions with the Indians' mediocre play since the All-Star break, including six losses in their last eight games.

Whether or not the two teams' competition for the American League's final playoff spot will come into play, the Blue Jays do have a serious lack of depth in the infield. Starting middle infielders Jose Reyes and Munenori Kawasaki have held down the fort, but the backup options behind them (Ryan Goins, Steve Tolleson) don't exude much confidence.

Cabrera would likely replace Kawasaki as the team's starting second baseman, though the latter has actually been a more valuable player by certain metrics. Kawasaki is hitting .283 with a solid .331 on-base percentage (compared to Cabrera's .249/.309 totals), and Cabrera's UZR at shortstop (-5.5, according to FanGraphs) doesn't speak well to his fielding ability.

And yet, a move to second base might do Cabrera well, as could a change of scenery in moving to the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre. The AL East in general favors hitters, so Cabrera would surely be in a better position to succeed offensively (and perhaps defensively with a move to the other side of the infield) in Toronto.

Trading away Cabrera would not necessarily be an indication of the Indians conceding their season, but it would be a sign that the team is trying to slowly phase in top prospect Francisco Lindor, who is currently tearing up Triple-A Columbus (.364/.440/.682) since his recent promotion from Double-A. MLB.com ranks him fifth on its list of top prospects, noting that some scouts consider Lindor to be the best defender in the Minor Leagues. He could make an impact with the big league club when rosters expand, and expecting him to be an upgrade over Cabrera is not unreasonable.

News is just breaking that pitcher Liam Hendriks and catcher Erik Kratz have both been traded to the Kansas City Royals. The trade was first reported by Shi Davidi and later followed up by Ken Rosenthal (so you know it's legit):

Sources: #BlueJays send RHP Liam Hendriks to #Royals.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 28, 2014

Sources: Erik Kratz, pulled from triple-A Buffalo lineup, also expected to be traded.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 28, 2014

As @ShiDavidi reported, Erik Kratz also expected to be traded, possibly with Hendriks to #Royals.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2014

Hendriks has started three games with the Blue Jays this year allowing nine earned runs over 13.1 innings. He had been pitching in Buffalo since being optioned back in June.  The Aussie is in his final option year, although he still has over one year of service time.

Kratz on the other hand has played 34 games with Toronto this year hitting a dismal .198/.226/.346 with three home runs. He lost out on the backup catcher competition with Josh Thole mainly thanks to Thole's ability to successfully catch R.A. Dickey's knuckleball. The 34-year-old is also in his final option year and is being paid $510,200 this season.

Obviously there will be more to come, such as who these players are being traded for.

Update 1

The Kansas City Royals have announced that the player coming back the other way is third baseman Danny Valencia. The 29-year-old right-handed hitting Valencia has appeared in 36 games this season with the Royals hitting .282/.328/.382.

#Royals acquire C Erik Kratz and RHP Liam Hendriks in a trade with Toronto for 3B Danny Valencia.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 28, 2014

The Florida native absolutely mashes lefty pitching (.333 average in his career), so he will fill the massive infield need against southpaw pitchers. Valencia is out of options meaning he will join the big league squad with either Steve Tolleson (no options), Ryan Goins or Munenori Kawasaki being sent back down to Buffalo to make room. Contrary to what Buck Martinez is currently blabbering about during the Sportsnet telecast, it will not be a reliever being sent down to the minor leagues as the bullpen currently has only seven pitchers in it.

Against right-handed pitching Juan Francisco can man the hot corner, while Valencia can start against lefties with Ryan Goins and potentially Steve Tolleson platooning at second base. Valencia has played at second base as well so there is additional flexibility when Brett Lawrie returns from the disabled list.

Both Hendriks and Kratz were on the Blue Jays 40-man roster meaning there will be an extra spot opened up. There is now two empty spots on the 40-man roster, which is just asking for Alex Anthopoulos to make some more waiver claims! Who wants to bet against the Blue Jays claiming Kenny Wilson once again?

Not enough sunscreen in the world could have prevented what happened to Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox tonight. Not enough fried chicken and beer will make the loss sting any less either, although I'd be willing to test that theory. After Boston blew out the Blue Jays 14-1 one week ago today, Toronto came back in a big way tonight to settle the score. R.A. Dickey's knuckler confounded the Red Sox and the bats provided more than enough support to seal the victory.

The game got off to a swell start for the Blue Jays with Melky Cabrera smashing a two-run homer in the first inning after Jose Reyes drew a leadoff walk. The home run came off a Clay Buchholz fastball, which he decided to throw a whole lot less afterwards. The Boston starter normally throws his fastball, cutter, or sinker about 70% of the time, but tonight the curveball and changeup saw a lot more action against the fastball-mashing Blue Jays. Only 60 of his 100 pitches were one of the three aforementioned fastballs, while the splitter was thrown 18 times against the lefty-heavy lineup of the Blue Jays.

With rain falling fairly hard in the fourth inning, John Gibbons decided to have Josh Thole sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second to try and get a third insurance run in case the game was going to come to a premature end. I'm not actually sure that's why Gibbons made the decision, but I'm trying to justify the move as best as I can. It worked out all right as Ryan Goins singled past a shallow Red Sox infield to score both runners.

The next action, aside from R.A. Dickey making Red Sox hitters look silly, came in the top of the sixth inning when things got WILD and WEIRD. After Munenori Kawasaki walked and Josh Thole singled off the Green Monster, Ryan Goins smashed one off the wall to score the Japanese fan favourite and advance Thole to third. Felix Doubront came on to relieve Clay Buchholz, unaware of the fact that he was about to have a very unenjoyable time.

Things get fun here so try to keep up okay? The score is 5-0 as we embark on this magical journey. Anthony Gose walked to load the bases, which brought up Jose Reyes who drove in Thole with a sacrifice fly. Then Melky Cabrera hit a ball out of the stadium for his second home run of the night and his fifth RBI as well as his first broken windshield of the evening. Jose Bautista proceeded to single, while Juan Francisco followed that up with a walk.

Melky Cabrera broke a windshield in the parking lot behind the Green Monster pic.twitter.com/07ve1GHpLe

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) July 29, 2014

The Blue Jays were hitting the ball wickeddd hardddd off of the lefty Doubront and the Red Sox faithful were beginning to leave Fenway Park to go count down the days until the Patriots season starts. Doubront couldn't leave though because he was pitching in the baseball game and he decided to allow back-to-back doubles to Colby Rasmus and Munenori Kawasaki to make it 12-0. Josh Thole followed with a single before Ryan Goins came up for his second at-bat of the inning and grounded into a force out that scored Kawasaki. Anthony Gose grabbed another single before Doubront was relieved to a sweet-sounding chorus of boos from the Fenway crowd. Burke Badenhop got Steve Tolleson, who was pinch hitting for Jose Reyes, to go down on strikes to mercifully end the inning.

R.A. Dickey's shutout was finally broken in the bottom of the sixth as David Ortiz singled home David Ross. There was no bat flip. The Blue Jays completed my football joke (this is a rouge) in the seventh when a wild pitch scored Melky Cabrera to make it 14-1. The most hilariously depressing playing of "Sweet Caroline" followed as Red Sox fans were forced to sit and look gloomily at Jays fans belting out the words to their famous song. Sweet Caroline indeed. SO GOOD SO GOOD. Rob Rasmussen came on for the final two innings and flashed a nice curveball to collect a few strikeouts in a fairly smooth end to the game.

There was some impressive performances tonight:

• R.A. Dickey went 7.0 innings allowing just one run on three hits, while recording 10 strikeouts.
• Melky Cabrera went 2-4 with a walk, two home runs, and five RBI.
• Munenori Kawasaki went 2-4 with a walk and three runs scored.
• Ryan Goins had his best game in the major leagues going 4-5 with four RBI.

Jays of the Day are R.A. Dickey (0.243 WPA), Melky Cabrera (.143), and Ryan Goins (.110). The game was already in the Blue Jays favour in the big sixth inning, so there wasn't a lot of WPA to be handed out despite the offensive explosion. There are no Suckage Jays obviously.

Source: FanGraphs

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 28th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W 6-4 vs. Pawtucket Red Sox

2B Jose Pirela 3-4
RF Rob Refsnyder 2-4, 2B
CF Adonis Garcia 1-3, 2 RBI, K
DH Kyle Roller 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K
1B Austin Romine 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI - hitting .325 over last 10 games 
C John Ryan Murphy 1-4, RBI
3B Rob Segedin 0-4, 4 K
LF Taylor Dugas 0-4, K
SS Carmen Angelini 0-3, BB, K

Chris Leroux 6.0 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR - 52 of 79 pitches for strikes, 7 GO/2 FO
Joel De La Cruz 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 K, HR, WP - 24 of 34 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/0 FO
Matt Daley 1.0 IP, H, K - 14 of 17 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/0 FO

Double-A Trenton Thunder: W 6-1 vs. New Britain Rock Cats

DH Jake Cave 1-3, 2 BB
LF Ben Gamel 2-5, 2B, RBI
C Gary Sanchez 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, K - hitting .341 over last 10 games
1B Peter O`Brien 1-2, BB, K, HBP - hitting .306 over last 10 games
RF Tyler Austin 1-3, BB
CF Mason Williams 1-4, 2 RBI, K
3B Dan Fiorito 1-4, RBI
2B Jose Toussen 0-4, K
SS Ali Castillo 3-4, SB, CS, PO

Zach Nuding 6.0 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 3 K - 61 of 90 pitches for strikes, 7 GO/7 FO
Mark Montgomery 1.0 IP, K - 8 of 10 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/1 FO
James Pazos 1.0 IP, H, 2 K, WP - 10 of 16 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/0 FO
Nick Rumbelow 1.0 IP, 2 K - 8 of 10 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/0 FO

High-A Tampa Yankees:L 1-3 vs. Charlotte Stone Crabs

LF Jose Rosario 0-5, 2 K
RF Aaron Judge 0-1, 4 BB
1B Greg Bird 0-3, BB, 2 K
3B Dante Bichette 0-4 - hitting .205 over last 10 games
DH Eric Jagielo 1-2, BB, HBP PO
2B Angelo Gumbs 1-4
SS Cito Culver 1-3, 3B, BB, 2 K
C Wes Wilson 0-4, RBI, 2 K
CF Claudio Custodio 1-3, BB, 2 SB, CS, outfield assist

Jhon Morban 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K, HBP - 4 GO/3 FO
Kyle Haynes 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 K - 3 GO/2 FO
Taylor Garrison 1.0 IP, BB, 2 K - 0 GO/1 FO

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 6-5 vs. Asheville Tourists

CF Mark Payton 2-4, HR, 3 RBI - hitting .341/.449/.537 over last 10 games
RF Michael O`Neill 0-4, 2 K
SS Tyler Wade 1-4
3B Miguel Andujar 1-4, K
DH Jackson Valera 0-3, BB, K
LF John Murphy 1-4, K
C Eduardo de Oleo 0-3, BB, K, two errors (10)
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-1, RBI, 2 BB
1B Reymond Nunez 1-4, HR, 2 RBI

Rookie Davis 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 2 HBP - 58 of 87 pitches for strikes, 5 GO/3 FO
Angel Rincon 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 K, HR - 35 of 45 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/1 FO
Stefan Lopez 0.2 IP, K - 0 GO/1 FO

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:L 4-5 vs. Connecticut Tigers

CF Devyn Bolasky 1-5
SS Vince Conde 0-4, BB, 2 K, SB
2B Ty McFarland 0-4, BB, K, throwing error (12)
DH Isaias Tejeda 0-3, BB, K
1B Connor Spencer 3-4, RBI - hitting .425 over last 10 games
LF Chris Breen 0-3, RBI, K
RF Austin Aune 1-3, BB, 2 K
3B Renzo Martini 2-4, 2B, RBI
C Collin Slaybaugh 1-4, 2B

Jordan Foley 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K - 4 GO/1 FO
Jonathan Holder 3.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R/0 ER, 2 K - 3 GO/3 FO
Rony Bautista 2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 K, WP, balk - 0 GO/1 FO, blown save (2)

Gulf Coast Yankees 1:L 0-5 vs. GCL Blue Jays

SS Bryan Cuevas 0-4, 3 K, throwing error (5)
DH Leonardo Molina 0-4
3B Drew Bridges 1-4, 2B, K, throwing error (5)
RF Alexander Palma 0-4 - hitting .200/.195/.325 over last 10 games
1B Alvaro Noriega 2-4, 2B
C Kyle Higashioka 0-3, K
CF Miguel Mojica 0-4
LF Griffin Gordon 2-3, 2B
2B Billy Fleming 0-2, HBP

Luis Cedeno 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/0 ER, 3 K - 5 GO/3 FO
Dayton Dawe 2.2 IP,2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP - 5 GO/1 FO
Francis Joseph 1.1 IP, H, 3 K - 1 GO/0 FO
Matt Marsh 1.0 IP, 2 H, ER, K - 2 GO/0 FO

Gulf Coast Yankees 2: L 3-6 vs. GCL Astros

RF Jose Figueroa 0-5, K, outfield assist
LF Ericson Leonora 2-3, 3B, 2 BB
SS angel Aguilar 0-4, BB, 2 K
1B Jake Hernandez 1-3, 2 BB
3B Allen Valerio 1-3, 2B, RBI, K
DH Frank Frias 3-5, 2B, K, SB
C Jesus Aparicio 1-3, RBI, BB, SB, pickoff
2B Tyler Palmer 1-5, 3B, RBI, 2 K - hitting .360 over last 10 games
CF Jordan Barnes 0-4, 2 K

Branden Pinder 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 2 K, WP, pickoff - 1 GO/0FO
Jonathan Padilla 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, BB, 4 K, WP - 3 GO/1 FO
Nestor Cortes 3.0 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 K, WP, pickoff - 0 GO/1 FO
Abel Mora 1.0 IP, 2 H, ER, K - 0 GO/1 FO

Surprising yet not surprising: the Blue Jays have chosen reliever Rob Rasmussen as the man to come off the 25-man roster to make room for the newest Jay, Danny Valencia. Rasmussen has been optioned to triple-A Buffalo, leaving Toronto with a six-man bullpen, at least temporarily. We learned this news from pretty much everyone on the beat so I'll choose to quote...(spins big wheel)... Scott MacArthur:

Bit of a surprise as #BlueJays announce they've optioned LHP Rob Rasmussen to Buffalo to make room for Danny Valencia. #MLB#Bisons

— Scott MacArthur (@TSNScottyMac) July 29, 2014

Some readers in the comments of yesterday's trade article mentioned that Rasmussen would probably be the one to go (kudos to RangerMan68. Considering that Rasmussen was the only reliever to pitch last night, going down to six relief pitchers isn't that risky of a move. I was barely awake by the time he took the mound but I did remember that his control wasn't all there at points. So even though going down to six relievers is a surprise, it really wasn't all that surprising. Should Marcus Stroman fail to go deep or should the game go long, someone like a Chad Jenkins (who just passed the 10-day minimum for optional assignments) could come up for an infielder with options. And who knows who would be on the roster by the time the Blue Jays need a seventh man in the bullpen.

According to the 40-man roster on BlueJays.com, Danny Valencia has been assigned #15--I assume he didn't even bother to ask Jose Bautista whether he could take over #19. Notable Blue Jays who have worn #15 include Shawn Green and Lloyd Moseby. It has also been worn by Tom's favourite outfielder, Fred Lewis, coach Gene Tenace, as well as television personalities Pat Tabler and Kevin Millar. Also, the latest edition of the Roster Tree Route Map is out, with a new configuration of the pink line (click to enlarge):

On an unrelated, personal note, it is very sad to hear about the layoffs that happened today at theScore. They had a really good thing going there for a while, hiring and developing a lot of great, young sportswriting talent right here in Canada. It is sad that feature writing just isn't that profitable.

Half the teams holding a division lead or standing close to the second wild card have a recent history of total failure. Maybe they should get crazy at the non-waiver trading deadline.

Are you used to the second wild card yet? Maybe, maybe not. The odds are good, though, that you're not a fan of one of the four teams that lost in the wild card round over the last two seasons. You won't know the feeling of "Wait, where did the last 162 games go?" until it happens to you and your team. The second wild card is the penalty kicks of playoff baseball -- never has opportunity felt so unfair.

As such, there's a bit of a backlash against the idea of playing for the wild-card playoff game. A team that mortgages its future for a chance at a playoff to make the playoffs -- with any ties going to a playoff for a playoff for the playoffs -- is being shortsighted and unrealistic. I don't disagree. There's too much that can happen in one game to forget about the 810 games over the next five seasons, so a win-now trade is incredibly foolish for a team that might not even be ready to contend for their division.

Except, let me show you a chart:

Those are all the teams in the American League who are within 1.5 games of a playoff spot right now. Note that if not for the Orioles, there would be a gigantic void at the top. I'd extend the parameters to 20 years, but the only difference is that you'd a) remember what kind of jerks the Yankees are and b) get some noise with the Edgar-era Mariners and Palmeiro-era Orioles, neither of which is especially comforting to fans today. Over half the contenders in the American League right now have been serious also-rans for the last decade or two.

You tell those teams they shouldn't care so much about a playoff game to get to the playoff games. I can't. I can't think of a reason they shouldn't go nuts, even if it defies logic.

Of the four teams, three of them have already made wild stabs at relevance. The Blue Jays repurposed the New Marlins and gave up a lot of young talent for a win-now pitcher approaching 40; the Royals traded their best and brightest prospect for a pitcher with a two-year window; the Mariners spent the GDP of Palau to get a star second baseman. It's not like the Orioles have been idle, either, giving up draft picks and cash for players like Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez. All four teams have been hustling, scrambling for this kind of season.

An all-in approach that falls flat could be a mess. The Royals already gave up six years of Wil Myers, and ditching another couple of prospects -- if they're the wrong ones, mind you -- could set them back another decade. Same goes for the Blue Jays. The Orioles had to wait decades to get the stable of young pitchers they've built.

Analysts and pundits -- myself included -- like to think in terms of probability. If a team has a 50-percent chance to grab a wild-card slot, then that's more like a 25-percent chance to make the real playoffs. And that's if you're optimistic. Current playoff odds for those four teams:

Playoff odds (from FanGraphs)
Orioles: 61.8%
Blue Jays: 48.9%
Mariners: 40.8%
Royals: 20.7%

That's as currently constructed, based on stats from the last 100 games and not projections for the next 60. That's just to get into the playoff for the playoff -- reaching the Division Series is even trickier -- all of which seems to point in the direction of prudence and discretion. Take the pieces that are working now, and add onto them in the offseason if it's not enough to make the playoffs this year. Pour prospects and youngsters into the bowl and stir. Figure out what's not working, and let the cost-efficient promise of pre-arbitration players help you. For goodness' sake, don't trade them away for a stab at 20-, 40-, or 60-percent chances at the playoffs.

Except Robinson Cano is good and healthy now. Nelson Cruz is freaking out now (or was -- he's hit .228/.301/.397 over his last 50 games, but may yet get hot again). Yordano Ventura is the rarest of Royals pitchers, effective and healthy, now. Jose Bautista is avoiding age-related decline now. If you don't think there's urgency, you're not watching baseball. There's a trap door that reads "2014 Rangers" under every team. There's a risk when it comes to trading prospects. There's a risk that comes with ignoring the now.

The clinical appeal to probabilities makes it sound like a binary thing, with a good (playoff) result against a bad (no playoffs) result. That's underselling it, though. There have been attempts to calculate the value of a playoff spot in a monetary sense, and each full playoff series generally makes their teams millions.  Beyond that, though, there's value in the shared experience of the playoffs, of a region talking about nothing else for a week, of remembering J.J. Hardy doubling against David Phelps. The Orioles are drawing more fans for the third straight season, and while it's easy to conflate causation and correlation, that's what the former also-rans are all chasing. Just one of those stupid seasons, and they're set up for it right now as well as they've been in over a decade.

I wouldn't say that I'd get goofy and shoot a roman candle filled with prospects into the sky. But I'm not sure I wouldn't do it, either. These teams don't have a 50-percent chance at a playoff for a playoff game; they have a 50-percent chance of doing something they haven't done much of since Chris Sale stopped playing with action figures. Don't judge them too harshly if they mortgage a bit of a future that might not have been waiting for them in the first place.

The blurriest photo of Michael Brantley you'll ever see on LGT has a purpose.

• A Jon Lester trade appears imminent. The Cardinals, Pirates, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Orioles and A's are involved. (Tweet) (SBN link)
  
• Hisashi Iwakuma walked Michael Brantley in 1st inning last night, which was the first he'd allowed in six starts. With Carlos Santana in the Indians lineup, I figured the streak would end tonight. But somewhat surprisingly, Carlos did not draw any walks off Iwakuma.
  
• The Marlinsreportedly have interest in Tommy Milone and Jim Johnson. Sounds to me like a "We'll take Johnson's salary off your hands if you give us Milone too" scenario.
  
• Multiple reports indicate that the Astros might be willing to trade one of their starting pitchers. Here, Jeff Sullivan writes that their rotation hasn't been nearly as bad as projected.
  
• Ever wonder which starting pitchers drive ticket sales the most? There's your answer. Personally, I'm kind of surprised that somebody completely random didn't show up, which makes me wonder if they looked at ALL pitchers. Like, where's the Mike Leake–type who slipped on the list for a reason nobody can explain?
  
• The RoyalsreleasedJoe Saunders from his minor league contract that I didn't even know existed.
• Some great news:
  

  The Dodgers just announced Vin Scully is coming back for another year of Dodgers baseball.

  — Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) July 30, 2014

• And finally, Bill Belichick on whether he likes having baseball players on his roster:
  

  Fascinating. RT @WillBrinson: Bill Belichick is very enthusiastic about getting baseball players on his roster: pic.twitter.com/K26qi13xcK

  — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 29, 2014

Here's your morning update, with a little over 30 hours remaining until the trade deadline.

Josh Willingham and Kurt Suzuki continue to be the most talked about commodities out of Minnesota. Here's what's been said over the last few hours.

Kurt Suzuki

Suzuki rumors haven't changed much since yesterday's reveal that the Orioles were "out" of the sweepstakes. I still find that a curious position, but going by Baltimore's lack of a playoff history over the last decade and a half I probably shouldn't be surprised. At any rate, Jayson Stark's brief mention of the situation jives with yesterday afternoon's news:

Teams asking the Twins about Kurt Suzuki are being told Minnesota hasn't given up on signing him, and it's possible the team could keep him past the deadline and revisit potential deals in August.

Suzuki doesn't seem like a great August candidate, because plenty of teams would like to bring in a catcher on a good season who they could they negotiate with exclusively for an extension. If the Twins' catcher doesn't go by 3:00pm central, tomorrow afternoon, I doubt he goes at all.

Josh Willingham

Mariners are talking with the Twins about Josh Willingham, sources say.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 30, 2014

All contending teams need better players, whether that's in their starting lineup or coming off the bench. The Yankees are still in play, as Jon Heyman notes, but Seattle enters play today with the exact same record as New York. Both squads are two games out of the second Wild Card spot, while the Yankees are 4.5 games back in the East (behind both the Orioles and Blue Jays) and Seattle is out of contention for the AL West pennant by 11 games.

Seattle's situation is dire. Not just because their only path to October seems to run through the Wild Card, but because they have two healthy above average bats in the lineup (Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager). The Yankees have a bit more parity, although their veterans could hit a hot streak at any point. The Mariners don't have that level of talent on offense.

In any case, the more teams there are that focus on a specific player, the better off the selling team will be. If the Twins play their cards right, they should be able to swing a solid C level prospect from somebody for their 35-year old left fielder.

The final game of the series gets underway tonight with the chance for the Blue Jays to sweep away the lowly Red Sox and improve their record to 9-3 after the All-Star break. Mark Buehrle starts for Toronto against someone who is definitely not Jon Lester, meaning the Red Sox dugout will be on #hugwatch during tonight's contest. The actual pitcher going to the mound for Boston is 25-year-old right hander Brandon Workman who started the year with the team as a reliever. After being optioned to AAA for a month, he came back up and was stretched out as a starter, which is a role he really hasn't done too poorly in. He had a bad start on July 2nd against the Cubs that makes his numbers appear worse than he's really been for the rest of his appearances in the rotation.

Workman mainly throws a fastball, cutter, and curveball with the curve being the pitch he heavily relies on to get hitters out. Staying true to his last name, the Texan mainly just eats innings without doing anything too flashy which is good enough for the situation the Red Sox are currently in. His curveball has some serious drop to it though, as it falls off the table and goes right through the floor into the basement:

Hopeful Lineup

Brandon Workman is pretty split-neutral, but he does have a tendency to give up the long ball to right field:

Source: FanGraphs

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera DH
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Dioner Navarro C
5. Colby Rasmus CF
6. Juan Francisco 1B
7. Danny Valencia 3B
8. Anthony Gose LF
9. Ryan Goins 2B

Bullpen Usage

Dustin McGowan spent the later innings staying warm last night, although he never entered the game.

Blue Jays

• Yesterday- Aaron Sanchez (0.1 IP, 2 pitches), Brett Cecil (0.2 IP, 15 pitches), Casey Janssen (1.0 IP, 20 pitches).
• Two Days Ago- Rob Rasmussen (2.0 IP, 33 pitches) OPTIONED

Inter-division trades are only bad for the rest of the division.

Jon Lester was scratched from his start today, in anticipation of a possible move at the trade deadline. Most of the chatter is about the Dodgers, the Cardinals, and the Pirates, but are two other teams allegedly in the mix that Rays fans should be rooting against in this market.

Six teams still in on Lester, according to source with direct knowledge: Dodgers, Cardinals, Pirates, Blue Jays, Orioles, Athletics

— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) July 30, 2014

Come on, National League. Outbid the Orioles and the Blue Jays.

Trading Within The Division

Deadline deals are all about transferring current wins to the teams who need them. When a team that's fallen out of contention sends its ace off, it's forfeiting wins this season. In return, it gets prospects, who it believes will contribute wins in future seasons, when they hope to contend.

There's a stigma against trading within the division, but that really doesn't make much sense. From the standpoint of the Orioles, for instance, trading for Jon Lester does double duty. On the one hand, they get to have Jon Lester right now, and he's a good pitcher who can help them win. On the other hand, they don't have to face Lester when they play the Red Sox, increasing their odds of winning those games as well.

Now think about this deal from the point of view of Boston. If they take Orioles prospects in a trade, they're decreasing Baltimore's ability to compete several years down the road, precisely at the time that the Red Sox believe they will once more be competitive.

The inter-division trade does good work for both sides.

The real losers in a Boston-Baltimore or Boston-Toronto trade are the Rays. Both sides of the trade hurt their chances. Right now, Baltimore or Toronto would become stronger, and the Rays would continue to face Jon Lester in inter-division games. On the other hand, the prospects that it took to acquire Lester stay within the division, and the Rays will still need to face them down the road. There would be no talent drain with the American League East.

So right now, Ned Colletti just might be Rays' fans best friend, and not because he's about to send us Joc Pederson for David Price.

Blue Jays fan Andy (@_rallycap on Twitter) is celebrating Marcus Stroman fever by making this custom cap at Lids for $30. This gets the Minor Leaguer Approved stamp:

Got a new cap this morning. #BlueJays@MStrooo7pic.twitter.com/YfreX5TbwV

— Andy (@_rallycap) July 30, 2014

Aaand the back. #StrorontoBlueJayspic.twitter.com/eOMCAZadM6

— Andy (@_rallycap) July 30, 2014

The STRORONTO cap is probably the best cap idea to have #54 on the back since FRASONTARIO. I am kind of disappointed that was never made.

Another thing that cool: Jays Days return to Tall Boys Craft Beer House (at Bloor and Shaw in downtown Toronto) tonight for the Red Sox - Blue Jays game. Details can be found here--hope to see you there (and bring your brooms)!

Toronto's bullpen is its Achilles' heel, and the team might be in the market for a reliever as we draw closer to the non-waiver deadline.

After much speculation about the Blue Jays' potential trade moves this season, it appears the team won't acquire a big-name player after all.

The Jays have been linked to trade candidates like Chase Headley, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jon Lester and others throughout the month, but according to a report by sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi, the Blue Jays are unlikely to acquire anybody more significant than a reliever to bolster the team's struggling bullpen, which ranks 26th in the majors in ERA.

Davidi writes that the Blue Jays are looking for someone along the lines of Diamondbacks closer Addison Reed, "a hard-throwing right-hander with two years of control remaining" on his contract.

The Jays aren't specifically after Reed, according to Davidi's report, but they have inquired about the Rangers' Neal Cotts, and really any solid reliever would fit the bill given the team's struggles out of the pen this year.

But finding a reliever with a non-expiring contract would certainly be a plus for the Blue Jays, who could lose closer Casey Janssen to free agency this offseason. Davidi notes general manager Alex Anthopoulos has a history of acquiring relievers who are under team control, and we shouldn't expect anything different this season.

As much as I'm not really expecting the Blue Jays to make any moves today, I thought we could have an open thread to discuss any trades or rumors of trades that come up today. Today is also my youngest son's birthday. Happy birthday Dylan.

Bovada sent out an email putting the over/under on deadline day trades is 11.5. I'd bet on the under if I was going to bet, but you never know.

I think a good starting pitcher would be a handy pickup, mostly because I'm worried about depth. If one of our starters were to go down, I'm not sure who would be the one to get the call from Buffalo, but I think it is safe to say there would be a drop off. I'd like to say I'm hopeful that Brandon Morrow could come back and be the start we need, but I'm not that optimistic.

We are in a good spot. We are hitting again. Our starting pitching has been doing the job. And the bullpen seems a lot better with the addition of Aaron Sanchez. We should get a lift when the guys on the DL start returning.

I am very thankful that we didn't trade away Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez. I'm glad our team management was smarter than the 'we have to do something, anything crowd' who were so vocal a couple of weeks ago.

Update: Trade #1: Red Sox send Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and $1 million to Oakland for Yoenis Cespedes and the A's competitive balance pick.

Update: Trade #2: A's send Tommy Milone to Twins for Sam Fuld. A's are busy. Fuld is hitting .274/.370/.354 in 53 games for the Twins. Fuld had started the season with the A's and was released. I'm surprised they didn't get more for Milone.

Update: Trade #3: Red Sox trade John Lackey to Cardinals. I don't know what the Red Sox are getting. I don't understand the move, since he has a very cheap year left on his contract. I would have thought the Red Sox would have liked to have him at $500,000 next year. Red Sox are getting Joe Kelly and Allen Craig, Cards are also getting a minor leaguer in the deal.

Editor's Note: SB Nation partner FanDuel is hosting a $10,000 one-day Fantasy Baseball league today. It is $2 to join and first prize is $1000. Deadline to enter is 1:08 Eastern. Here is the link. If you haven't tried it, take a look, it is fun.