Blue Jays GM won’t show cards on the direction of teams future

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins refused to divulge the direction of the club heading into the trade deadline, however, it is no secret that the Blue Jays will be taking a sell now approach.

Atkins appeared on the Fan 590 yesterday and spoke about the teams direction and the accelerated market heading into the trade deadline. The GM would not commit to whether or not the Jays would be buyers or sellers this time around.

"Atkins confirmed: the front office hasn’t decided whether or not his club will be buyers or sellers at the deadline. Ultimately we’ve got a little bit more time to understand where this team’s going to be and at some point, we clearly will have to make a more concrete decision as we had to make last season, unfortunately, but we’re not quite there yet."

The Jays brain trust is fully aware on what direction they are headed even if the GM won’t let the cat out of the bag. The Jays have the likes of Josh Donaldson, Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ and Steve Pearce all heading into free agency as the squad sits nearly12 games out of a wildcard berth.

Unfortunately for the Jays, Happ may have more trade value than the oft-injured former MVP who has battled calf and shoulder issues all season long.

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The trading may not be just limited to pending free agents as it would appear that nobody on the 25-man roster is untouchable. The Jays need a makeover to compete in the AL East so look for Atkins and company to get creative in their quest to shed some salary from the payroll.

After a successful start to the 2018 campaign, the Blue Jays have plummetted back to down to earth already sealing their fate on the season. The Jays inability to win within their division versus the Yankees and Red Sox continue to be their Achilles Heel.

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The Jays are 5-14 versus the two divisional powerhouses and sit 14.5 games out of first place in the AL East. Regardless of whether Atkins wants to admit it or not, the entire country knows where this team is headed.