Alex Gonzalez

Five players capable of handling the middle infield made the Yankees' Opening Day roster. Eduardo Nunez was not one of them.

When the Atlanta Braves traded for shortstop Alex Gonzalez on July 14^th last year, he was hitting .259 with 17 homers and 50 RBIs for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Most Braves’ fans thought moving on from Yunel Escobar, a guy who rarely hit for any power, to a guy that was hitting homeruns at a career pace was a great move.

Gonzalez’s year took a downturn after the trade, however, as he hit just .240 with 6 homers and 38 RBIs the rest of the way for the Braves.

The 2010 Atlanta Braves ended their season with a line-up that had seven different starters from the one that ended the 2009 season.

Brain McCann was the only stable.

Through off-season trades, signings and in-season trades, Braves General Manager Frank Wren, significantly redesigned the team's roster.

Although the Atlanta Braves have been leading the NL East for some time now, they made a number of trades to try and strengthen their team for the stretch run.

With the Phillies getting key players back in their lineup seemingly every day, the Braves were looking for guys like Rick Ankiel, Derek Lee, and Kyle Farnsworth to fill in some holes that the team had.

Yunel Escobar is the main player Alex Anthopoulos acquired when he dealt Alex Gonzalez away. Anthopoulos had stated that his plan to build (not rebuild) the Toronto Blue Jays is to get young, controllable players—players whose salary we can control for several years.

The Atlanta Braves have traded SS Yunel Escobar and P Jo-Jo Reyes to the Toronto Blue Jays for SS Alex Gonzalez, P Tim Collins, and SS Tyler Pastornicky

The Toronto Blue Jays showed their first decisive sign that they're starting to look beyond 2010 and gear up for the future with a five-player trade with the Atlanta Braves in which the Jays received shortstop Yunel Escobar and left-handed pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes.

The MLB trade deadline is just weeks away, and the Toronto Blue Jays new GM, Alex Anthopoulos, is expected to continue putting his stamp on the team.

With that in mind, here are the players Anthopoulos should consider trading:

John Buck

He was not meant to be much more than a stopgap catcher until a prospect (like JP Arencibia) comes up through the system.

Cliff Lee was the first big name to get traded, and certainly no player on the block has been more discussed this season. Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, Corey Hart, and Prince Fielder are the most recognizable of the remaining names that are being bandied about by sports commentators and trade "experts."

Still, others seem to be of interest to every team.

Rumours are swirling about Blue Jays shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

Joe Strauss reported in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch over the weekend that Toronto had scouts in St. Louis and that the Cardinals may be interested in acquiring the 33 year old veteran for the stretch run.

Gonzalez is having a big year at the plate power wise, with 17 homers and 50 RBIs at the All-Star break. Gonzalez's on base percentage is a brutal .296, but his power in the middle infield would be a welcome addition to the Cardinals' lineup.