Four-and-a-half games.

That's all that separates the American League East-leading New York Yankees and fourth-place Toronto coming out of the all-star break, with 71 games remaining in the Blue Jays' season.

The number dips to four games back of Houston if you're looking at the wild-card standings.

So, if you go by the old line that if a team is within seven games of a division lead at the break, then the 45-46 Blue Jays are clearly within striking distance of a playoff spot.

With that in mind, we take a look at five areas of the team entering the unofficial second half of the season that could make or break the team's chances of ending the longest active playoff drought in the major leagues at 21 seasons.

1) Should the Blue Jays sacrifice future assets to make a playoff run this year?

Yes. Who knows how long the AL East will be this wide open. The offence, which is top three in the 15-team AL in runs, home runs, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, is playoff calibre. The starting pitching, besides the consistent Mark Buehrle, needs improvement. The Jays are 12th in the AL in ERA, 11th in quality starts and 10th in batting average against. How about dangling a Daniel Norris, Aaron Sanchez or Miguel Castro to upgrade the starting rotation with post-season experience? The Jays would still have starters such as Marcus Stroman and Jeff Hoffman, plus reliever Roberto Osuna, going forward.

2) Should designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion be used as trade bait?

Perhaps this is the player Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was thinking of when he talked about getting "creative" before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Encarnacion, who holds a team option for next season, would bring value in return based on his 30-home run, 100-RBI pace and not his .233 batting average.

Maybe he's the bait to acquire a proven starter rather than surrendering a young arm. Is it risky? You bet. But with a potent and balanced Blue Jays offence, Anthopoulos would be dealing from a position of strength. However, EE's departure combined with a serious injury to either Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista or Jose Reyes would be crippling.

3) Is the presence of Jose Bautista, whose attitude and leadership have been questioned, potentially damaging to a playoff run?

Sure, Bautista has had his run-ins with umpires while standing in the batter's box and at last year's all-star game questioned whether the Jays were good enough to contend, but has toned things down in both areas this season. The acquisitions of third baseman Josh Donaldson and catcher Russell Martin no doubt has taken pressure off Bautista having to be the lone leader. He prefers to be a leader by example but cost his team in this area on April 21 when he strained his right shoulder attempting to throw out the Orioles' Delmon Young at first base after a verbal exchange with numerous Baltimore players. That move prevented Bautista from playing right field for 30 games, so keeping his competitive spirit in check is crucial.

4) Should the Blue Jays stick with Roberto Osuna as closer or look to acquire help?

His performance to date, converting four of five save chances and posting a 2.25 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 40 innings, suggests yes, but it would be foolish for Anthopoulos not to explore the market for a more experienced major league closer.

The hard-throwing Osuna is only 20 and could learn plenty working in the eighth inning and watching the likes of Jonathan Papelpon or Francisco Rodriguez, two stoppers said to be available, perform in high-leveraged situations down the stretch. Durability could be a concern post-all-star break as Osuna has never reached 44 innings in any of the previous four seasons.

5) Upon Aaron Sanchez's return from injury, should he be used as a starter or reliever?

Well, it appears the team wants him to start, based on Sanchez's rehab outings from a strained lat. But it's always easier for a pitcher to move from the rotation to the bullpen rather than having to get stretched out as a starter. Should Toronto trade for a starter, moving Sanchez to the 'pen might help address concerns in that area. It also makes sense to have the hard-throwing Sanchez work late in games rather than, say, Marco Estrada. Sanchez was stellar in relief late last season, posting a 1.09 ERA and holding the opposition to a .128 batting average. In 11 starts this season, he has a 3.55 ERA but has walked 37 and struck out 42 in 66 innings.