Toronto Blue Jays

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.

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.

Last Night Rewind

With the season's true mid point having passed this week and its unofficial end to the first half looming with next week's All-Star break, the timing couldn't be better to project how the Blue Jays will perform from here on out. With several unexpected offensive performances, both good and bad, this process will be closer to guessing than projecting.

Kyle Drabek is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.  The son of former Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek, Kyle showed just how capable he is yesterday, throwing a complete game no-hitter.  In fact, according to Minor League Baseball’s website, he has now gone 13.1 innings without allowing a hit.

On Sunday afternoon the Blue Jays finally got a bit of good news after a few weeks of utter despair.

Outfielders Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista were odds on favorites to make the American League All-Star team and did so, but to everyone's surprise, catcher John Buck was also named to the team as a replacement for injured Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez. This is Buck's first ever all-star selection.

All three made it as reserves.

As we approach the middle of the season and the All-Star break, I thought it would be a good idea to see how our position players stack up against the rest of the league.

To be eligible for the batting average and on-base percentage category, a player must have 175 at-bats or more up to this point in the season.

This is the third installment of what I hope is going to be a bi-monthly article updating fans on the Toronto Blue Jays ' minor league teams and prospects. A new one should be available every second Thursday.

Las Vegas 51's (AAA) —(37-43, Third in PCL Pacific South Division)

The 51's remain in the same place they were as of last update. Pitching is still a huge problem, while the offense has been firing on all cylinders since day one of the 2010 season.

Right on the heels of Jose Bautista's 20 home runs is Vernon Wells with 18. Going into Sunday afternoon's game, the two men had nearly identical OPSs of .900 (Bautista) and .898 (Wells).

Wells' slugging percentage is actually .020 points higher than Bautista's, but the latter walks more, and has a .022 higher OBP.

Bautista has 47 and 49 runs and RBIs respectively. Wells' totals are 43 and 45. The difference between the two mens' offensive values is a statistical tie.

As the Blue Jays season approaches the half way mark, several positive and negative trends have carried along long enough that extra attention is warranted. By far the two most concerning trends are the continuing futility of Aaron Hill and Adam Lind. Both have been bad enough at the plate this year to generate serious concern about their futures.