A lot of teams need bullpen help and they are going to be calling the Blue Jays. Righties Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, Jason Frasor and Shawn Camp should be able to net the Jays a nice return prospect wise if they decide to move most or all of them. 3B Edwin Encarnacion and 2B Aaron Hill have disappointed with the bat for the Jays so far this year but teams in need of offense will be calling the Jays. The Blue Jays have also called the Padres about closer Heath Bell lately. Despite having a nice set of veteran relievers, the Jays don’t have any one of them they can count on in the 9th inning. The Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, Twins, Rangers, Angels, Phillies, Braves, Pirates and Diamondbacks are contenders that all need help in the bullpen. The only way I would consider dealing any of the relievers on the team to the Yankees or Red Sox is if they overpay grossly for one of them. Aaron Hill would likely be of interest to the Cardinals, but other than that I can’t see a team that really needs him among the contenders. Encarnacion is a different story though as the White Sox, Angels, Phillies, Brewers and Pirates have a need at 3B. The Blue Jays are going to be very busy this week.

The Toronto Blue Jays don’t have any pressure to sell but they have some nice assets to move. With that in mind I would deal lefty reliever Scott Downs to the White Sox for righty reliever Jhonny Nunez and 1B/OF Christian Marrero. Then I would go back to the candy store called the Reds and trade them Jason Frasor for outfielder Chris Heisey. The Rockies really have a need at 1B and I would offer them Lyle Overbay and pay him the rest of the way for 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Greg Smith. The Dodgers are desperate for a backup catcher so I would be willing to trade them Jose Molina for young catcher Gorman Erickson. These deals would help the Blue Jays reload without rebuilding as Heisey, Marrero, Nunez and Erickson are all solid prospects. Greg Smith also has been solid in the past in his time with the A’s so he could rebound.

The Blue Jays still have time to turn things around in the next couple of weeks as they are 41-42 on the season which has them in 4th place in the A.L. East, 10.5 games behind the Yankees. The Blue Jays will likely wait a big longer to see if they can get on a winning streak and turn into a buyer in the trade market. If things continue to go poorly look for the Jays to put Jose Bautista, Scott Downs, Kevin Gregg and Jason Frasor on the block. Each of those guys would likely bring the Blue Jays back a decent prospect or more. John Buck, Alex Gonzalez, Lyle Overbay and Edwin Encarnacion would also be likely on the block if the Jays fall out of contention. Backups like John McDonald, Jose Molina and lefty reliever Brian Tallet could be thrown in a trade to sweeten the pot. I like the way the Blue Jays have played this season but unless they get hot in the next couple of weeks I don’t see them keeping this team together.

The Blue Jays are all of a sudden a contending baseball team so they will need to act like one. The Chicago Cubs have been after Jason Frasor for quite a while so why not call them on the carpet about him. The Cubs are looking to put Carlos Zambrano back into the starting rotation likely pushing lefty starter Tom Gorzelanny to the pen. So a trade of Jason Frasor to the Cubs for Tom Gorzelanny would probably make both parties happy.

Rumors are going around that the Cubs are talking to the Blue Jays about a trade of Milton Bradley for Vernon Wells. The thing that will make the Blue Jays’ brass consider making this trade is that they are on the hook for 5 more years and $107 million bucks for Wells. Bradley is owed 2 more years at $21 million bucks. The Cubs would want to split the difference on salaries meaning that the Blue Jays would have to send them $43 million bucks with Wells. Sure, Wells had one of the worst seasons in his career but does that mean you off him for the biggest head case in all of sports just to save $43 million bucks? I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision because I can see where it might tempt them especially if they think that Wells is going to continue to decline. Wells played in 158 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 164 for 630 (.260 avg, .711 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,236 games in his career for the Blue Jays and he is 1,368 for 4,880 (.280 avg, .799 OPS) with 710 runs scored, 192 homers, 725 RBIs and 84 stolen bases. Don’t forget another factor if they do indeed pull the trigger on this trade and that is the Blue Jays would have to get another center fielder in either another trade or free agency because they don’t have anyone ready to take Wells’ place on the current roster.

31-year old switch hitting Milton Bradley would likely be the DH for the Blue Jays if he were to come to Canada. He played in 124 games for the Cubs last season and he was 101 for 393 (.257 avg, .775 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs. Bradley is a ticking time bomb every single day that he is on your baseball team and do the Blue Jays really want to deal with that just to save some cash? Bradley has now played in 941 games in his major league career and he is 904 for 3,260 (.277 avg, .821 OPS) with 501 runs scored, 115 homers, 439 RBIs and 76 stolen bases. The Blue Jays should just say no to Milton Bradley who is a injury prone team cancer.