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TORONTO — Before we look at some numbers from the first half of the Toronto Blue Jays season and consider what they mean for the second, let’s get this one out of the way first: 10. And also: 5.

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That is, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, two-thirds of the heart of the Toronto batting order for the past half-decade, are both members of baseball’s 10-and-5 club — 10 years of major-league service, and at least five with the same team — that grants them the ability to scotch any trade involving them. And so, a scenario that was unlikely at the start of the season, in which one or both was dealt for prospects before they hit unrestricted free agency, but moved to at least conceivable as the Blue Jays offence lay dormant through the spring, is now a huge longshot. With just 14 games until the trade deadline, Toronto will be somewhere around the playoff race on July 31, if not at the front of it, meaning neither player would have reason to accept a trade to some other team that might also make the playoffs. Unless GM Ross Atkins wants to turn himself into a WWE-style villain in this town, he’ll stick with the two sluggers and worry about the off-season in the off-season. Toronto’s strong past month has made the nuclear option particularly untenable.