AL East

With the nonwaiver trade deadline just around the corner, MLB trade rumors are swirling around at a furious pace. One such rumor that has gained a lot of momentum over the past few days is the potential dealing of Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester.

With the Sox out of contention, it appears as though the team may be willing to move the impending free agent.

Lost in all the respect and hoopla surrounding Derek Jeter’s last season as part of the New York Yankees is the fact that the squad is still very much in the race for an American League playoff spot.

We are now just days away from the July 31 MLB non-waiver trade deadline date and the Baltimore Orioles (58-46) have been on quite the hot streak since the second half of the season began.

As the MLB trade deadline approaches, the pressure is on for teams to bolster their organizations for the final push to the postseason.

The Toronto Blue Jays have gotten back into contention by winning five of their last seven games coming out of the All-Star break.

Toronto is now just three games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the top spot in the American League East. The Blue Jays are also tied with the New York Yankees for the second wild-card spot in the AL.

The Toronto Blue Jays designated reliever Sergio Santos for assignment on Monday, as reported by MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm (via MLB.com).

For Santos, this move was just the latest development during what has been a very frustrating career in Toronto.

A year or two ago, Chase Headley would have fetched a king’s ransom in a trade. That was not the case on Tuesday.

The New York Yankees and San Diego Padres agreed to send the third baseman to the Bronx, according to a tweet from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:

Despite an injury-plagued first half of the season for the New York Yankees, the team is still very much in the American League East race, and it appears they will be buyers at this season's trade deadline.

2014 has been a turbulent year for the Toronto Blue Jays up to this point. Ironically, it has also been an up-and-down season for several of the team’s top prospects in the minor leagues.

While some players in Toronto's farm system that were on the fringe previously have emerged as bona fide prospects this year, other players have regressed and seen their stocks significantly drop.

There's seldom good news when a player is ruled out for the rest of the season.