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PHOENIX — If you want to analyze the various ways the non-waiver trade deadline can affect a team on the bubble, you only need to compare and contrast what happened to the Toronto Blue Jays the last two years.

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Heading into the 2014 deadline, the Blue Jays were in a strong position. They were 10 games over .500 and only 2.5 games out on July 31, deadline day. The players were expecting something to happen that day, a deal of some sort to prove that ownership was on their side.

That hope was greeted by the sounds of silence. His hands tied by a rigid budget, general manager Alex Anthopoulos did nothing.

The air immediately went out of the Blue Jay balloon. They lost four games in a row, six of their next seven and 17 of their next 24. By Aug. 19, they were nine games out.